If knowing the tunes of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) gives a guy the path to your heart, then A Nice Indian Boy will make you swoon. This irresistible romantic comedy adapts the play by Canadian writer Madhuri Shekar with heart and humour. The script by Eric Randall lovingly recognizes the challenge—and thrill—of staging the perfect wedding when one’s family lacks precedent. But the vibrant colours and jubilant joy of classic Bollywood movies like DDLJ and their big and gay (but not in that way) weddings provides a template for two men to celebrate their love, Indian style. Get ready for the best gay wedding since Schitt’s Creek.

Naveen (Karan Soni, Deadpool & Wolverine) is a nice Indian boy, but he’s not the titular DDLJ crooner in question. Naveen’s parents reluctantly accept his sexuality, especially since his awkwardness and shyness yield a low success rate. He’s yet to bring home a guy to introduce to the folks.

That changes, though, when Naveen trudges off to temple to say his prayers. He eyes another guy—some white boy with curls who shoots glances in his direction—but he’s off before Ganesh gives his blessing. Days later, though, Naveen sits down for his staff portrait at the hospital and the photographer is the man from the temple: Jay Kurundkar (Hamilton‘s Jonathan Groff). A nice Indian-named boy. The gods might call that fate.

A little flirting and a three-hour retro Bollywood movie later, and Jay, who was adopted by Indian parents, belts out DDLJ love songs to Naveen in the streets. It’s as cringe as it sounds. But it’s also sweetly endearing. Despite his Indian upbringing, Jay lacks Naveen’s self-consciousness and shyness. The clash between Soni’s interpretation of Naveen as a bashful, cautious boy and Groff as a lifetime member of the glee club makes the cultural contrast doubly striking. Naveen feels mildly smitten, but a little weirded out by the white guy who out-Indians him in the streets. Once he accepts Jay’s nurtured Indianness, though, and realises that it’s not just an awkward fetish, they quickly gel.

Randall’s script moves the relationship along smartly. There’s a warm honeymoon period as Naveen gets comfortable with Jay and their mutual wants and desires. Soni and Groff have terrific chemistry, too, and find a natural groove for the courtship. Moreover, director Roshan Sethi, Soni’s own partner in life, affords a necessary window of intimacy with the characters so that audiences bask in the honeymoon period with them. A Nice Indian Boy is a big warm hug of a movie that gives you all the feels.

First comes love and then comes marriage as a proposal arises spontaneously to resolve a small quarrel. That sets the stage for a bigger challenge, though, as Naveen readies to introduce his parents to the nice “Indian” boy. Their approval, he knows, will he even harder to win when they learn of the surprise engagement.

With both heart and humour, A Nice Indian Boy explores the very different life paths that Naveen, Jay, and Naveen’s family must confront. Jay, adopted by his parents late in their lives, said goodbye to his parents with love and whole-hearted acceptance. But he recognizes his privileged status even though Indian parents raised both boys: Naveen carries a very different weight of expectations as the son of immigrant parents who united through an arranged marriage, grew into their fate, and moved abroad to give their kids a better life.

The film smartly expands beyond the grooms-to-be in its second act. Naveen’s mother Megha (Zarna Garg) puts on an enthusiastic face about the wedding for her “only gay son” to a white boy. She aims to spare no expense, especially given that Naveen’s sister Arundhathi (Sunita Mani) finds her own (arranged) marriage at its end. Meanwhile, Naveen’s dad, Archit (Haresh Patel, arguably the rock in an ensemble full of wonderful performances), recognizes that he must finally confront his discomfort with his son’s sexuality—but also the likelihood that their nice Indian family lineage is changing.

The tension for Naveen’s family comes less from his sexual orientation and more over the element of choice. It’s a refreshing spin for a queer comedy that celebrates the right to choose who we love. Megha and Archit share differing opinions about their arranged marriage: she often puts him down as a pudgy oaf, but he still beams in her presence. Arundhathi, meanwhile, disagrees with her mother’s adage that love eventually finds its way. For everyone building long-term relationships, it’s a constant work in progress.

But like the best of Bollywood love stories, A Nice Indian Boy finds complications along the way and brings everyone to the dance floor to work things help. Some prior knowledge of its Bollywood references will bring additional rewards. However, the film is smart enough to use its references in an accessible way, often opening them up for characters without the same fondness for, say, DDLJ that Naveen and Jay share. Exploring questions of culture clashes and generational divides and love both familial and romantic, A Nice Indian Boy celebrates love that is at once specific and universal—and has a dance number to boot.

A Nice Indian Boy opens at TIFF Lightbox on April 3.