In this slow-burning romance, charismatic leads Jean Dujardin and Elsa Zylberstein play opposites attracting in postcard India. Celebrated film composer Antoine arrives in Mumbai to record the music for a Bollywood take on Romeo and Juliet. Already bored with the idea of scoring yet another “movie for festivals”, the womanizing charmer sets his sights on Anna, the younger wife of the French Ambassador. Ever since his arrival, Antoine has been unable to shake a headache, exacerbated it seems by his much younger girlfriend, who keeps calling from Paris. Anna, on the other hand, is convinced that a child is the only thing missing from her relationship, and decides to go on a “fertility pilgrimage” to the holy city of Varanasi to commune with Amma, the “hugging saint.” With his awards and his self-satisfaction, Antoine doesn’t see the need for spiritual quests, but with his girlfriend’s arrival a few days away, he’s got some time to kill. And who knows, a motherly hug might be just the thing for that nagging migraine of symbolic import.
