Vishal Bharadwaj’s Mumbai Dragon is a good representation of the immigrant Chinese community living in Mumbai. And even though, it was able to capture the complexities of different relationships quite beautifully, they only seem good as individual stories and do not work when put together.
Ming played by Meyong Chang (a Chinese immigrant ) is a singer trying to get a big break in the industry who is in a relationship with an Indian girl Megha played by Wamiqa Gabbi. The hindrance in their love story is created by Ming’s mother Sui. She is a woman deeply rooted in her tradition (their food and their temple) and therefore, does not want her son to be with a girl of some other culture.
Now, think of this, how many times can you watch a film about lovers of two different familial backgrounds trying to convince their respective families for letting them be with each other? Once? Ok, let’s say twice? But can you watch it again and again with just different protagonists? Did you get the problem now?
After all of this, what makes Mumbai Dragon a little good to watch are two factors. First off, Vishal Bharadwaj is good at creating metaphors, here, he has used food, for the same. Food is used to express all the different kinds of emotions by almost every leading character of the episode. Secondly, you get to see and learn about the Chinese community which resides in Mumbai, just like Indians while also celebrating their culture simultaneously.
