Christmas with the Singhs (2024) Movie Script
- Didn't think the ER
could ever feel so festive.
- Well, just because we're
in the ER on Christmas
doesn't mean it can't
be festive, right?
Oh, and I have a gift for you.
- For me?
- Here you go.
I heard you like ice skating,
so let's hope that
knee heals up soon
so we can get you back
on the ice in no time.
- Thank you so much, Asha.
- Do you wanna put
it on the tree?
Yeah?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
All right.
Oh, I'm getting a call, so
I'll see you soon, okay?
Put it on the tree.
Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
- Hello.
- Merry Christmas, Asha.
- Merry Christmas. Asha.
- Merry Christmas mom.
Merry Christmas, dad.
Oh, dad, I heard that
congratulations are in order
for winning the Ashford
decorating contest again this year?
- Well, I think at this point,
they should spare
everyone the effort,
and just to declare me
the winner from the start.
- That's like
winning a gold medal
without running the race.
What's the fun in that?
Well, I am really sad
I won't be home this year
to witness the epic display.
- Oh, Maglu. It's just not going
to be the same without you.
You've never missed
a single Christmas.
- Yeah. But we understand
work is important.
- Yeah, well, seven
years of successfully
dodging the Christmas shift.
I guess my luck finally ran out.
- Well, don't work too
hard. It's Christmas.
- She works in a
hospital, Nirmila.
She can't just slack off
because it's Christmas.
You know
what I mean, Samuel.
- Yeah. Well, speaking of work,
I do need to get back to it.
So please say hi to everybody
and have an extra
helping of Biryani
for me at Ravi's Christmas
party tonight, okay?
- We will. Bye-Bye.
- Bye-Bye. Asha.
Love you, Maglu. Love you.
- Love you.
Mr. Johnson.
Caught the ball.
He's bringing it up to court.
He's going for the layup.
- Wow, I have never seen so
much excitement in an ER before.
Everyone feeling
better all of a sudden?
Are you ready to
come with me now?
- Tyler.
Hey, Tyler. Can I grab
a quote for the Outlook?
- It's okay. He's
one of the good ones.
What do you need, Jake?
- That last shot was insane.
You gotta tell me, what was
going through your mind?
- I was thinking about our
fans spending Christmas,
watching the game
with their loved ones,
and how I can't let them down.
So I asked Santa for
a Christmas miracle,
and the big man came through.
Merry Christmas, Chicago.
- Alright man. You're a legend.
And Merry Christmas. Okay?
Hey Dad. Merry Christmas.
- What a game.
- Oh, you watched it?
- Of course.
It's the only way I get to
spend Christmas with my son.
- Yeah. Sorry I couldn't
make it home this year.
- Oh, you're not missing much.
- How are you celebrating?
- I got my kung pao
chicken, my favorite lager,
and a win for your Titans.
It makes for a pretty
merry Christmas.
- Mom's on the other line.
- Go ahead. Take her call.
Merry Christmas, son.
- Merry Christmas, dad.
Merry Christmas, mom.
- Merry Christmas, Jakey.
I'm just finishing up here
with the meal service.
How's your day going?
- Well, Titans won, I
snagged an exclusive quote
for the Outlook,
and despite not being
home for Christmas,
it's been a pretty good day.
- Oh, that's wonderful.
- How's the
gingerbread house competition?
- Oh, please. They should
just name the trophy after me.
- Nice work. Oh, hold on a sec.
Hey. Hey, let me
help you with that.
I got it.
Whoa, these are heavy.
How did you carry these?
- Jakey. Are you okay?
- Hello.
Okay. Jake?
- Here.
- Jake O'Brien?
- Wait, Asha Singh?
- Yeah.
- Wow. I mean, hi.
- Hi.
You should follow me.
- Okay.
- Okay. All right.
Yeah. Okay.
The old man versus ice showdown.
- Mm-hmm.
- Spoiler alert,
the ice always wins.
- Well, the ice
remains undefeated.
- I still can't believe it.
All the ERs in all the towns
in all the world, Jake
O'Brien walks into mine.
- I still can't believe
you remember me.
- Are you kidding me?
You're like
impossible to forget.
- I am?
- Huh?
- Huh?
- No-
- I'm not-
- I didn't,
I just meant you were
all things Ashford High.
Captain of the baseball team,
but you're not really living up
to your most athletic
title right now.
- Ouch. That hurt both places.
Tough, tough critic. Okay.
Well, for what it's worth,
I do actually remember you.
- You do.
- I do.
You're the only chemistry tutor
who could have gotten
me through senior year.
- If I remember correctly,
you were always more into
Thoreau than covalent bonds.
- Wow. Yes, that's
exactly right.
Huh. Well, thank you.
In case I didn't thank
you then. Thank you now.
- You're welcome.
So what have you been up
to for the last 18 years?
- Gosh, has it been that long?
I got a baseball
scholarship to Northwestern.
I double majored in
journalism and and literature.
- That's amazing.
- Yeah.
- So I take it you're
working out here now?
- Yes. I'm a sports writer
for the Chicago Outlook.
- Ah, you got both your
great loves in one.
- Yeah. Yeah, I guess I did.
So, what about you?
What are you up to these days?
- I'm a nurse practitioner.
- Oh, yes, of course. Wow.
You know, maybe we should
check to see if I hit my head
too, because I just...
- I'll add that to your chart.
- Great.
- Okay. Let's see.
We're gonna have
to amputate this.
- What? Oh gosh.
- It's not that bad.
Look, your mobility is great.
I'm guessing it's just a sprain.
But we can order an
X-ray just to be sure.
- Thank you.
Oh...
- Well, it was so
great to see you again.
- Yes.
- And the doctor
will be in shortly.
- Great. Can't wait.
- Okay.
- Oh, wait.
- Yeah?
- Do you wanna get
a drink with me?
We can catch up properly.
There's a bar across-
- I'm off at 8:00.
- Okay.
Tell me, what is
it about nursing
that made you want to
make a career out of it?
- I get to actually connect
with the patients, you know,
on a deeper level, being
there for them emotionally,
physically, whatever it takes
to make their day
a little brighter.
It's really nice.
- Not everyone gets to say
they can make a difference
in the world doing
what they love.
- Well, thank you. But nursing
wasn't always the plan.
- Oh, yeah?
- Yeah.
I was on the pre-med
track, but then I realized
and chasing my dad's dream,
not my dream, you know?
- But he must have come
around eventually, right?
- Oh, no. Not at first.
He still made me take the MCATs
and apply to med school anyway.
- Well, then how did you
become a nurse practitioner?
- The official story is
that my MCAT scores weren't
good enough to get
into med school.
- Oh, no way. Nope, I don't
believe that for a second.
Not the Asha Singh I remember.
- The truth is I aced
the MCATs, obviously.
- Yeah.
- But I told my dad
I bombed it.
- What? Asha, why wouldn't
you just tell him the truth?
- It was the only way to
get him to accept my choice.
My parents sacrificed so
much coming to this country
to give my brother and I
better life, but I don't know.
With that came this
need to protect us
and steer our lives for us.
- And my family's
the exact opposite.
My parents threw
me in the deep end
of the pool when I was
five and told me to swim.
I'm not joking.
- Wow.
- Mm-hmm.
- So they took sink or
swim pretty literally.
- Sure did. Yep.
But it turns out fear is actually
a pretty good swim coach.
- My dad was so protective,
he wouldn't let fear pass
the front door of our house.
- Yeah, well, every
family has its quirks.
But hey, look at us.
We turned out pretty good, huh?
- I'm still making
up my mind about you.
- Oh, you are?
Looks like I got
some work to do.
- How's the wrist feeling?
- Ah, better.
After a few of those, were
they candy cane martinis?
- Yes. And they were delicious.
- Oh, they were.
They did the trick.
- Isn't Christmas just the
most magical time of the year?
- Does your family
celebrate Christmas?
- Are you kidding?
If Christmas was
an Olympic sport,
my family would take
home all the gold.
- Yeah. Really?
- Yeah.
Well, we're Christians.
So Christmas is really
a big deal in my family.
- Huh?
- You seem surprised.
- No, it's just, I thought
most Indians were Hindu.
- No, you're right.
But my dad's family
has been Christian
for gosh, generations, and
my mom's side is Hindu,
but she converted
after they got married
and fell in love with the faith.
Even my Aji, my grandma,
and my mom's side, she
fully embraced Christmas.
It became one of her favorite
holidays before she passed.
- That's really beautiful.
- What about you?
Is your family? I
dunno, big on Christmas.
- Yeah.
Growing up, Christmas
was huge in our house.
My mom went all out,
but yeah, my parents
got a divorce,
so...
- I'm sorry.
When did that happen?
- Right after I went
away to college. Yeah.
He told me the first
Christmas I came home.
After that, Christmas just
kind of, I don't know,
lost its magic.
- Jake. The magic of
Christmas is always present.
Sometimes you just, I don't
know, need the right spark
to bring it back to life.
- Oh, yeah. The
right spark, huh?
Well, you know, it kind
of feels like being here
with you right now, maybe,
is that spark?
- This is me.
- Let me guess,
that one is yours.
- What gave it away?
Yes.
Well, who would've thought
being stuck working on Christmas
would turn into one of the
best holidays I've had in years?
- I know.
I didn't even bother to make
a Christmas wish this year.
- Well, you know,
the best wishes are ones you
don't even realize you made.
- I should, I should go in.
- Yeah. It's late.
- Thank you for tonight.
- Thank you. Good night.
- Good night.
- Asha?
- Yeah.
- I've been wanting
to do that all night.
- Me too.
- Hey, what are
you doing tomorrow
and the next day
and every day for
the whole year?
- Oh, thank you.
- The peppermint candy cane tart
from the night we reconnected.
- Mm-hmm. The very one.
I remember how
much you loved it.
- It was definitely the
best part of that night.
- Mm-hmm. The best part?
- Don't worry. You
were a close second.
- All good.
- So, if you had to pick,
what would be your favorite
moment from this last year?
- Wow. Okay.
This one might surprise you,
but remember that road
trip we took up North?
It was spontaneous.
We didn't have a
destination planned.
We just drove and drove
and drove until we lost
GPS ran out.
- And we ended up
at that tiny little
bed and breakfast
with the world's worst coffee.
- The worst.
- But the most amazing view.
- That's what I love about you.
You can find the
joy in anything.
Happy almost one
year anniversary.
- I cannot wait to see what
the future holds for us.
Happy almost anniversary.
- Asha Singh,
you are the single most magical
thing that has ever happened
to me on Christmas
or any other day.
Your laugh is contagious.
Your heart sees the
good in everything.
Your kindness knows no bounds.
When I am with you, I feel
like I am the luckiest man
in the world, but more
than anything, Asha,
you make me feel at home.
Asha, will you marry me?
- Yes.
- Yes?
- Yes.
- Yes!
Love you.
- Love you too.
- Now that we're
engaged, I can't wait
to finally meet your
family over Christmas,
especially your dad.
Seems like quite the character.
- Oh, be careful
what you wish for.
- Are you kidding? I'm
great with parents.
I even got a few dad
jokes up my sleeve.
- Well, as impressive
as your pun game is,
it's gonna take a
lot more than that
to win my dad over, trust me.
Speaking of which, I
can't believe we managed
to keep it a secret for so long.
I'm surprised my
parents didn't spoil it.
- Your parents?
- Yeah.
I mean, you asked my dad
for permission first. Right?
- You're joking.
- You didn't?
- No, I didn't,
I didn't realize that
was still a thing.
Was I supposed to?
- Oh, well...
- Well.
- Christmas with
the Singhs just got
a whole lot more interesting.
- I am so sorry, there
just doesn't seem
to be a reservation
under that name.
- No, no.
Look, it's Jake O'Brien. Okay.
I have the reservation right
here. SUV, sedan, or similar.
- Sir, I'm sorry, but
perhaps you didn't
confirm it all the way through.
- I don't even know
what that means.
- Ah, bingo.
- Yes.
- Oh, no, I didn't
find your reservation,
but I did find you a
super fun alternative.
- Great. Wonderful.
Thank you.
And Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
- Okay. Alright.
Alright.
- I love you.
- I love you.
Okay.
- Yep.
- Oh, great. Thanks.
- Okay, we need to have a
super organized game plan.
If we are going to make it to
December 26th in one piece.
This week is jam packed.
- All right. I'll drop
the will just in case
we don't make it.
- All right. Ready?
Today we have lunch
with my parents,
dinner with your
dad, and helping out
at your mom's toy drive.
Tomorrow, lunch with
both sets of parents
and the Christmas carnival
and the candlelight service at
the church on Christmas Eve.
And of course, our
annual Christmas
party at Ravi's Restaurant.
Hey, are you positive your
parents are okay with the fact
that you're spending Christmas
with my family this year?
- Yeah. Yes.
It's not like I have a
childhood home to go back to.
I didn't hear my mom's Christmas
pageant on the itinerary.
- Oh, no. When is that again?
- Christmas Eve.
- We're double booked
on Christmas Eve.
You better start
drafting that will now.
- I'll pull over.
- Wow. Dad really out
did himself this year.
Isn't this stunning?
- Stunning is
definitely the word.
- All right, well,
this is gonna be great.
We have nothing to worry about.
- Yeah, wait, worry?
- Nothing.
Come on. Let's go.
- Wait, what?
Hello!
- Hello.
- Hello, mom.
You look so beautiful.
- Oh, thank you.
I had to dress up to celebrate
my dear daughter's arrival
with her fiance.
- Mom, this is Jake.
- Jake, I'm Nirmila.
Welcome to our home.
- Mrs. Singh. It's a
pleasure to finally meet you.
- Please come in. Come in.
Hi.
- Hello.
- Hi.
- It's nice to meet
you. Oh, thank you.
Oh, oh, okay. Oh, the jacket.
Nice to meet you. Thank you.
Nice of you.
Okay, great. Thank you so much.
- Mom. What's going on?
- Well, when I told the rest
of the family that my one
and only daughter is
coming home for Christmas
with her new fiance, they
all just had to be here too.
Rekha.
- What's happening?
- It's to keep
the evil eye away.
- Who's got the evil eye?
- Hey, Ravi.
- The man of the hour.
- It's so nice to meet you.
I've heard so much about you.
- Ah, same here.
Hey, you're about to marry
a super special lady.
- Don't I know it.
- Michael, don't be shy.
Come say hi.
- Hi.
- Hi. I'm Sarah.
- Hi, Jake.
- Nice to meet you.
You have no idea how happy
I am that you're back.
Last year, I had to fend
off Aunty Rekha's blessings
all by myself.
- Isn't that one of the
perks of becoming a Singh?
- Merry Christmas, Asha.
Oh, I mean, sis.
- Oh, is it too early
to say Merry Christmas?
- No.
- Yeah, I don't care.
Merry, Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
- I'm a fellow in-law here.
So consider me your guide
to surviving your first
Christmas with the Singhs.
- Surviving?
Is there something I
should be worried about?
- Welcome home.
- Oh.
- Hi, dad.
- Did you see the
decorations I put outside?
I did all by myself. Your
brother helped a little.
- I did. They are stunning.
- Stunning.
Oh, hello, sir. Mr. Singh.
Or should I say dad?
- Sir will be just fine.
- Sir. Mr. Singh, Sir.
Asha told me
that you won the community
Christmas decorating competition.
That's great.
- The Singhs win every year.
- Oh, do they?
Well, congratulations on
keeping the streak alive.
- Dad, Jake was really
excited to meet you finally.
And Mom.
- Yes, sir. Very excited.
If you were so excited,
you could have come
and asked me for
my blessing before
so brazenly proposing
to my only daughter.
- Oh.
- Or,
were you not that excited?
- Dad.
- No, I was very excited.
- Is that the car you chose
to drive my daughter in on
these treacherous winter roads?
- That car?
No. I mean, yes.
Yes, but no. I didn't choose.
- Oh, so you just took
whatever was offered to you?
- Huh?
- Samuel,
why don't you go check the oven?
- It's a pleasure
meeting you, sir.
Nice.
- Well, that went really well.
- Did it?
- It did.
- Oh, okay. It did.
- It did.
- Yes.
Why don't I show
you to your rooms,
and then we can sit and eat.
- Great. Okay.
Let's see here.
- Guess what, Maglu,
we're throwing you
both a Nischitartham
during the Christmas party
at Ravi's Restaurant.
We thought it would be
nice to honor Aji and Tata.
- Thank you so much, mom.
That means so much to me.
- I have a question.
What's a nitshi?
- Nischitartham.
- Ah, okay. Nischitartham.
- It's a Hindu engagement
ceremony where both
of our families come together
to formally bless our marriage.
- Huh. That's cool.
- Jake,
I can't wait to meet
your parents tomorrow.
- They're very excited.
- Do they like spicy food?
- Ah, well...
- Nevermind.
I'll make sure
there's less spice.
Oh, it's so nice to have
you both for Christmas.
Here you go, sweetheart.
- Wow, most parents convert
their kids' bedrooms
into a gym when they leave home.
Yours made you a shrine.
- I wanted a home gym, but
Samuel wouldn't hear of it.
You know dad.
- Yeah.
- Come on. Let me
take you to your room.
- I'm not staying here?
No.
You're not yet married.
- Oh.
- Come on.
- Yeah. Okay.
- Now that's fine.
- Yeah. Yeah.
- Go this way?
- Uh huh.
- See you down-
- Bye.
- Change fast.
- Yeah.
- You sure you don't need help?
- No, no. I, yeah, I got it.
- Oh, you've got a lot of stuff.
- Mm, yes. Asha's shoes.
- Yeah. Oh.
See? Nice and private.
Change fast. Food's ready.
- Oh, okay.
- Hey.
- What's...
- Oh, my mom's side is
particularly superstitious,
and upside down
shoes are bad luck.
So just don't flip
them next time.
- Okay. Got it.
- Yeah.
- Hope everyone is hungry.
- That looks amazing.
Mr. Singh, sir, I heard
a little rumor that
you tell the Christmas story
at church on Christmas Eve.
You've been doing that long?
- Yes.
- My father's been
telling the story
to the children of
Ashford for 20 years now.
It's a tradition carried
on from his father
and his father's
father before that.
- Back in India, Sam's family
were the only Christian family
on the block, and the only
ones who celebrated Christmas.
His father would invite all
the neighborhood children over,
hand them candy canes
and read them the
Christmas story,
no matter their
background or faith.
He believed that the magic
of Christmas
belonged to everyone.
When we immigrated in
the eighties, Sam wanted
to carry on the tradition here.
- So every year, Asha will
spend the entire week-
- Oh gosh.
- Stuffing invitations
into every mailbox
she could find.
Snow or shine,
she was out there,
and it became an
Ashford tradition.
- You know, come to think of it.
I think we might have
gotten one of those invites.
- Yet you never
cared enough to come?
- No. No.
It, well, actually,
in our family,
on Christmas Eve,
we bake cookies.
- Oh, so you're saying
cookies are more important.
- Dad, that's not
what he's saying.
- No.
- Jake,
you haven't even had a bite yet.
How are you with spice?
- Oh, well, not to brag,
but I'm basically
immune to spice.
After spending a year
with Asha's cooking,
she makes the spicy Tandoori.
And at first I
couldn't handle it,
but now it basically
tastes like ketchup.
- Ketchup.
- Just watch.
I'll show you.
Mm, mm. See, it's delicious.
Not even a tingle.
- That is child's play.
Want to try some real heat?
- Hmm?
- Yeah.
- Dad? No.
- Yeah. Come on.
Try your chicken, come.
- Oh.
- Jake, no.
- No no no. It's okay.
I've had your Tandoori.
I'm just gonna
have one of these.
Okay.
- Good. Good.
All right.
Mm, mm-hmm!
- Are you okay?
- Yes, um...
- Are you sure?
- I'm fine.
It's warm in here?
It feels a little toasty.
It's delicious, though.
Now that heat's starting
to kick in, kick in a bit,
but it's thing I can...
You know what, I'm
just gonna have some-
- No no no no no!
- How did that make it spicier?
Oh, oh, oh...
- Ma.
- What?
- Is it just me, or is dad
being particularly hard on Jake?
- Oh, don't worry
about it, sweetie.
He just needs to feel that-
- He's good enough for my Asha.
- Ah, he is, he's amazing. And
I promise you'll see it too.
Just please try to
give him a chance.
- Well, Christmas is the
season for miracles, I suppose.
Dad.
Oh, come in. Come in.
- Dad. This is Asha.
- So nice to meet you, Asha.
- It's so great to finally
meet you. Mr. O'Brien.
- Call me Jake. Mr.
O'Brien was my dad.
- If it's okay with
you, sir, I would love
to stick to Mr. O'Brien.
Jake might just get
a little confusing
and awkward.
- Yeah.
- Let me just take my-
- Oh, no, no, no. Leave 'em on.
- Oh, no, no. It's okay.
I don't, I really don't
mind. I'm used to it.
- Leave 'em on.
- Leave 'em on.
- Yes.
- Are you sure-
- It's fine.
- Shoes in the house.
Okay, shoes in.
- Thank you. Sorry I didn't
whip up anything homemade.
- Oh, don't worry about it.
This Kung Pao
chicken is fantastic.
- That's our favorite dish.
- From our favorite place.
The Golden Dragon.
- Yeah, I guess getting
takeout from here
is kind of becoming a little
Christmas tradition, hasn't it?
- Yeah.
- I like what you've done
with the place. Yeah.
It's looking a little
more festive than usual.
- Nothing can compete
with your mother's holiday
spirit, that's for sure.
So Asha, Jake tells me you're
an ER nurse practitioner.
I hear the hours
are pretty brutal.
- Yeah, definitely. Shifts
are 12 hours minimum.
And overtime is common.
- Yeah, well, it
was a good thing
you're working last Christmas,
otherwise we might
never have reconnected.
- Yeah. So what's the plan
when you two have kids?
- I'm sorry, kids?
- Mr. O'Brien,
I still think
that's a ways away.
- Sure, but with all of
Jake's travel for work
and you're demanding schedule,
who's gonna stay home
and take care of the kids?
- Oh, I don't think
either one of us needs
to sacrifice our-
- But you do want
to have kids, right?
- Yes. Yes, of course.
Lots of kids.
- Lots?
- Yeah.
Lots of lots of kids.
Growing up, I was an
only child at home.
Sometimes it got
a little lonely.
- Lonely, you weren't up all
night with aunts and kids.
- I can take time.
- I'm at the hospital every day.
- Think about when
they're older.
They'll have someone
to play with.
- My mom's calling me.
- Yeah. Okay.
You know what?
How about we just
put a pin in all this
and we'll circle back?
- Yeah. Okay.
- Yes. Okay.
- Hi mom.
- Dad. What was that about?
- Asha's a wonderful girl.
Smart, warm, lighthearted.
She's the whole package.
- Yeah. Well, good.
Thank you. That means,
that means a lot.
But hey, can we lay
off the life choice
interrogation for a minute?
Alright? And yes, she is.
She is amazing.
- So you are sure
about getting married.
- You just told
me you liked her.
- I do like her, Jake.
I just wanna make sure you both
have really thought
this through.
I mean, you haven't
even settled on
how many kids you're gonna have.
Right?
- Okay. Okay.
So there are a
few things we need
to sort out, but dad,
we just got engaged.
- I just don't want you
to repeat the mistakes
that your mother and I made.
We loved each other, but
balancing our careers
and raising a family,
it wasn't easy.
And I just don't want
that for you and Asha.
- I'm sorry things didn't
work out between you and mom,
but you need to understand that
is not going to be us, okay?
I appreciate your
concern, but Dad,
can you just be happy for us?
- Ta-dah!
Oh, you guys give it a try.
I've got some very important
visitors I wanna attend to.
- Merry Christmas, Mom.
Oh, so good to see you.
Good to see you.
- Mom. This is Asha.
- Oh, such a pleasure to meet
my soon to be Daughter-in-Law.
- It's wonderful to meet
you as well, Mrs. O'Brien.
- Oh, please call me Mom.
Well, we're gonna
be family soon.
- Oh, yeah. Okay, mom.
- Oh, you know, I've
seen "Eat, Pray, Love,"
I don't know, 30 times now.
It's my favorite movie.
I just know I'd love India.
- Mom. The Christmas festival
looks incredible this year.
- Wait till you see
the Christmas pageant.
- Mom's the organizer of the
whole Christmas festival.
So the Christmas pageant,
all of this. That's all her.
- Oh, well...
- I mean, I thought my
family was into Christmas,
but seeing all this,
you could give them a
run for their money.
- Well, once Jake
went off to college,
I had all this extra
holiday spirit to share.
So I poured it all into
the Winter Festival,
and now I get to share
that holiday energy
with the whole community.
- That's really beautiful.
- Oh, everyone.
This is Asha, my
future daughter-in-Law.
Hi.
- So are you two ready
to wrap some presents?
- Yes. Consider us your
honorary elves for the day.
- Well then let's get started.
- Okay.
- Thank you both for
helping out today.
- Well, we loved
being a part of it.
Thank you for inviting us.
- Oh, you are welcome.
Listen, Asha, I'm so excited
to meet your family tomorrow.
Is there anything I can bring?
- Oh, no, nothing.
Just your appetite.
I hope you like Indian food.
- Oh, I love it. It's
my favorite food.
- Great. We will
see you tomorrow.
- See you tomorrow.
- Bye guys.
- Come on. Let's
get out of here.
- Hey, Jake.
- Ah, Ethan, Laura, what
are you guys doing here?
- Just came to check out
what your mom had
cooking this year.
Merry Christmas, man.
We're bummed that you
couldn't make it out
for drinks the other night,
but I'm glad we could
run into you here.
- Yeah, merry Christmas.
Wow. You're pregnant!
Congratulations!
Asha, this is Ethan and Laura.
You remember from high school?
- You mean the homecoming
king and queen?
How could I forget?
- Asha, it's so nice
to finally meet you.
- We had AP English together.
- Did we?
- Oh, no.
It's okay. It's okay.
I wasn't as memorable
as you in high school.
- Oh, no, no, no.
It's my pregnancy brain.
I can barely even remember
what I had for breakfast
this morning.
- I still can't
get over the fact
that you two ended up together.
- Why?
- Well,
because you guys were just
so different in high school.
Asha, weren't you the
Mathletes captain?
- Yes, I was. I won
the state title too.
- Wow.
- Well,
you have that in
common with Jake.
- That's right. Just two
state champs over here.
- Well, it was lovely to
bump into the both of you.
Jake, give me a call if you
want to do a proper catch up.
- Yeah, absolutely. All right.
You guys have a good one.
See ya.
- Day one of Holiday
madness in the books.
How do you think it went, babe?
- Fine.
- I mean,
I almost died by spice,
but other than that, I
think it went all right.
- I heard your dad
ask you if you're sure
about us getting married.
- Okay, but before he said that,
he said how wonderful you are
and how lucky I am
to have met you.
- But he still expressed
concerns to you, right?
- Yeah. Yeah, but
not about you, okay?
He's just skeptical about
marriage in general.
- Okay. 'cause I really
want him to like me.
- He does like you.
All right?
Now your dad, on the other hand.
- Yeah, I know. I am sorry.
My dad can be a bit much.
- That's one way to put it.
Surprised he hasn't
challenged me to a duel yet.
- He'll warm up
to you eventually.
My dad is like a car
defrosting on a winter morning,
and the ice, it will melt.
Just needs some time.
- Wow. That's poetic.
Hey, once our parents meet,
see how happy we
are with each other,
it's just gonna be a love
fest all around, okay?
That, or we elope.
- Elope?
- Mm-hmm.
- My dad will
actually challenge you
to a duel if we do that.
- Oh, really? Well, en
garde, Mr. Singh, en garde.
- Have you seen Jake?
- Yes. He's beautiful.
- No, seriously. Where is he?
- He's fine.
- Ravi, where is he?
- You know the lights on the
roof that are flickering?
Dad asked for help with those.
- All the way up there, huh?
- Yeah, up the ladder.
- Okay.
- We have to check each one
to see which one is out.
- Yeah, it's a good thing
I'm not afraid of heights.
- Are you afraid
of heights, Jake?
- No.
Listen, sir, I just
wanted to apologize.
Oh, I'm still alive.
For not thinking
to ask your permission
for Asha's hand.
It was an oversight,
And it will not happen again.
- What's done is done.
I mean, I know you kids think
it's a antiquated tradition,
but it's a matter of respect.
Yeah, green one, twist it.
- Ah, I got it.
- You know, Asha's
last boyfriend
at least had the
courtesy to ask me first.
Wait, what?
- Jake? Jake!
Dad, what happened?
Jake, are you okay?
- Jake, you have
to be more careful.
We need you in one
piece for Christmas.
- Dad.
What were you doing
on that ladder?
- What was I doing?
What were you doing?
Not telling me you were engaged.
- I was not engaged.
Look, he asked my dad for
permission, and my dad said yes,
but I said no.
- Oh, wow. That's better.
- He's a family friend.
And my dad really liked
the idea of us together,
but he never really
felt like the one.
And when we reconnected, I
knew I made the right decision.
- I love that.
How'd it make your dad feel?
- He wasn't thrilled.
- Oh, surprise, surprise.
- But at the end of the day,
it's my permission
that matters, right?
- Yeah, it is.
So why didn't you
tell me this before?
- I'm sorry. I should have.
I was just afraid
of upsetting you.
- Asha, come on.
I want you feeling comfortable
telling me anything,
even the hard truths, okay?
So from now on, promise,
no more secrets.
I don't think my body can take
another fall off a ladder.
- Oh, gosh.
Okay, I promise.
No more secrets.
- No more secrets.
Wait, what?
- Hmm?
- Hmm?
What? What was that?
- Okay, fine. In the
interest of being honest.
- Yes.
- You know
that spicy tandoori I've
been making for you?
- Delicious.
- It's actually totally mild.
- What?
- I've been adding ketchup
to cut down on the spice.
- Asha Singh, you little sneak.
That's why we keep
running out of ketchup.
Sorry.
- You're in so much trouble.
- I love you.
- I love you too.
- Oh.
- Molly.
Here.
- Oh, thank you.
Thanks.
Hold on. I've got a-
- You need a hand?
- No, I got fruit
cake. It's okay.
Getting heavier.
It must be more nuts
or something. Whoa.
- Looks like you
finally found your match
in Christmas spirit.
- Yeah. Looks like I have.
- They're here early.
- Mom. They're right on time.
Not everyone operates on IST.
- What's IST?
- It's Indian Standard Time.
Everyone's always
30 minutes late.
Okay.
- Hello.
- Hello.
Welcome to our home.
- Thank you.
- Thanks for having us.
- Hi.
- Mom.
What are you wearing?
- Oh, well, I wanted
to show Asha's family
that I appreciate their culture.
- Oh, that's, that's nice.
- You look so beautiful.
- Well, thank you.
- Please, come on in.
- Oh...
- It's for good luck.
- Well, you can never
have too much of that.
Please. I'm Molly.
I brought you fruit cake.
- Oh, thank you.
I'm Nirmila.
- Namala.
- Hmm...
Nirmila.
- Yeah, Narmala!
That's close
enough.
Please.
Oh, would you be more
comfortable with your shoes off?
- No.
- We're good. Thanks.
- We have slippers.
- No, I'm good.
- I am so sorry.
I didn't realize we were
going to start on time.
- Mr. Singh. Sir,
this is my mom.
- Hi, I'm Molly.
- Molly, Samuel.
- And this is my dad.
- Jake.
- Jake, Samuel.
Nice to meet you.
Well, please come, come in.
- Okay.
- Hello.
- Sorry.
- I just love Indian food.
- I'm so glad
you're enjoying it.
- Yes. Hope it's not too spicy.
Hey, Jake.
- I'm sticking to
the rice. Yeah.
- Please help
yourself to seconds.
- Don't have to twist my arm.
- Samuel, your Christmas
decorations are just incredible.
- Ah, it's just a little holiday
amusement for the children.
- Now, now, mom, Mr.
Singh is being modest.
He's won the Ashford Community
Christmas competition for,
how many years now?
- Oh, I don't keep
track of these things.
15 years.
- Molly, didn't you win a
few of those back in the day?
- Oh God. Who can
remember, Jake?
But well, yes, I did
sweep the early 2000s.
- Wait a minute, are
you Margaret O'Brien?
- Oh yeah, mm-hmm.
I prefer Molly now,
but I haven't been
Margaret O'Brien in years.
- Am I missing something?
- For years, dad would come in
second to a Margaret O'Brien.
I can't believe we're only
connecting the dots now.
- Well, I'm happy to see you
carried on the torch, Samuel.
These days, I channel all
of my holiday spirit
into the Winter festival.
It's amazing what you can
do with a bigger canvas.
- Well, dad, you can see some
of Molly's work tonight
at the Christmas carnival.
- Oh, I can't wait.
- Jake, Molly, we were thinking,
and we'd love to throw the
kids an engagement party.
- Oh, you read my mind, Normal.
In fact, I put a hold on
the community center for
that exact purpose.
- That will not be necessary.
We've already booked
Ravi's restaurant.
It's where we hold our
annual Christmas party.
- You went ahead and booked a
venue without consulting us?
- Isn't that what
you just did as well?
- Molly, we appreciate
your initiative,
but we were hoping
to have an engagement
ceremony called Nischitartham,
that's deeply meaningful
to our family.
- Oh, that's very nice.
But this is too sudden.
- Christmas is so soon and we,
we have no time to prepare.
- We've got everything
under control.
All all you have
to do is show up.
- Then what's the rush?
- Well, had your son taken
the proper steps to discuss
with us his
intention to propose,
rather than just impulsively
popping the question,
we would not be scrambling
now to prepare for an event
befitting of this milestone.
- Dad.
- So, how about
them Coyotes, huh?
Who else here loves basketball?
- Yeah, basketball.
- Oh, I love basketball.
But nothing beats the
beauty of a baseball game.
- Yes, baseball.
- Baseball is but
a cheap imitation of
the true sport Cricket.
- You're kidding, right?
- Cricket's been
around since the end
of the 16th century.
- And it should
have stayed there.
- Who's ready for some carols?
- Yeah. Let's, yeah-
- Let's go sing.
- Sure.
- Oh, that was
amazing. What was that?
- That's a Tabla.
My uncle's a genius with it.
- You guys do this every year?
- Yeah, it's one of
my favorite traditions
since I was a little girl.
Lots of singing
through the holidays.
- Come on, dad.
- Nope. Not this year.
- What's happening?
What's wrong? Does he not like
to play in front of people?
- He rarely plays anymore,
but Dad, at Christmas, please?
- For you one song.
- Alright, let's see it.
- Welcome. Welcome.
- Wow, Molly, I must
say I am very impressed.
- Oh, well, thank you, Samuel.
But I can't take all the credit.
I've got a great crew
and they really knocked it
out of the park this year.
- Mommy, daddy, can we
go play some games now?
- Of course, buddy.
- Yeah, let's go.
- Well, shall we join the fun?
- Yeah, let's do it.
- Get into teams, everybody.
- Time.
Ah, come on.
Mr. Singh wins.
- Time!
- Oh!
- The winner is Molly O'Brien!
Who, me? Oh my goodness.
Thank you.
- Molly. That was amazing.
You sure know how
to decorate a house.
Oh.
No hard feelings, right?
It's all in good fun, Samuel.
- Of course not, Molly. And
congratulations on the win.
Well deserved.
- It was a lovely evening.
Thank you for having us.
- We would love it
if you could join us
for our Christmas story reading
at our church on Christmas Eve.
It's a holiday Ian
that's been in our family
for generations.
- Oh, that sounds wonderful.
But I may still be tied up here
with the Christmas pageant,
but we'll definitely
try and make it, right?
- I was not aware that you were
going to be here instead of
with us on Christmas Eve, Asha.
- Oh no, dad.
The Christmas
pageant ends at 4:00.
That gives us plenty
of time to make it
to the church for the
candlelight service.
I mean, we were always
gonna attend both,
so we didn't think it was worth
bringing up and worrying you.
- I see.
Well, as long as you
can make it, we know
how important this
tradition is to our family.
- Yes, dad. We will.
We will be there.
- Good night.
What's wrong?
Still sour over losing
that silly competition?
- Let's just say my talents
are more suited to building
real houses, not
gingerbread ones.
I just, I just can't
shake this feeling.
Are our families too different?
How can we blend our traditions?
When the foundations
are so far apart.
- Samuel, remember how
everyone doubted us?
A Christian and a Hindu?
No one thought it would work,
but when I fell in
love with your faith
and made it my own,
my whole family
embraced you, us.
And we found a way
to make all our
traditions work together.
Jake and Asha will
make their own way.
- You're right.
As always.
- Thanks for the ride.
- Oh, no trouble.
- What a day, huh?
- Yeah.
- Asha's got
a really nice family,
but that's Samuel's
a real handful.
- Well, you're gonna
have to tolerate him
for the sake of
our son, you know?
- Fine. I'll tolerate him.
But if he thinks he's
converting me the Cricket,
he's got another thing coming.
- Jake,
- What?
- Where are your
Christmas decorations?
- Who's got the energy?
- Well, I'm coming by
tomorrow. Just a few things.
- No, no. That's not necessary.
Christmas season's
almost over. Why bother?
- Because Christmas is a time
of bringing a little
magic into our lives.
And it's never too late
for a little magic.
- A little magic, huh?
Good night, Molly.
- That's my favorite
Bollywood movie.
- Oh yeah? There's
a lot of dancing.
- I'm surprised the
VCR still works.
- I haven't seen one of these
since I had an AOL account.
- Yeah. My dad never
throws anything away.
There's probably a rotary
phone around here somewhere.
- Yep. Back corner.
What's wrong?
- Is this what our
future's gonna be like?
Family gatherings where they
either argue about Cricket
or compete over who has
more Christmas spirit?
- I just wish I could figure
out a way to win over your dad.
- Just keep being the
Jake I fell in love with.
Soon he'll love you
exactly like I do.
- I miss this. Just me and you.
Let's say we do it tomorrow. Hm?
Just the two of us. No family.
- It's another packed day.
- Come on. It's even more
reason why we need a break.
Come on, please.
- You're right. I'll make time.
- Good. You wanna finish the
rest of the movie with me?
- Sure, but we need to remember
to rewind the tape at the end,
or we won't hear the end
of it from my dad, okay?
- Got it. Be kind, rewind.
- Sorry, Jake. I just have
to put a few things away.
What is going on here?
- I lost my contact. My contact.
- Nothing to see here.
- Oh...
- Sir. About last night.
I don't want you to-
- How do you like
your eggs, Jake?
- Scrambled.
- Like your judgment
last night.
- Exactly. Because
I wasn't actually-
- Jake, ready to go?
- Yes, very ready to go.
- Okay.
- Where are you two going?
- Out.
Just the two of
us. No chaperones.
- Wear your coat, it's cold.
- Dad, what, am I five?
- And don't do
anything dangerous.
- Well, don't worry, dad.
We're just gonna go
sledding off a cliff.
Alright, let's go
before he decides
to follow us in
his car, let's go.
- I guess you can
have his eggs, then.
- This is absolutely divine.
- You have something.
Don't move.
Got it.
I miss this. I miss us.
- I know.
It just feels like it's
been forever since we had
a moment alone
together, hasn't it?
But today's been nice.
I mean, I feel like we're
finally getting our rhythm back.
- Yeah, we are. Hey, you
want to go ice skating?
- Oh, no.
- No?
- I never learned how.
- How on earth does the
Princess of Christmas grow up
without learning
how to ice skate?
- Stop. You saw how worried
my dad was just now.
I mean, if there was a
risk of a broken neck,
it's off the table.
- You know, it is sort of cute
how protective he is over you.
- Cute?
- Yeah.
- It wasn't that cute when he
gave me a curfew in college.
I wish I had the kind of
freedom you had growing up.
- I had a lot of freedom, but
my parents also dragged me
into a lot of their issues.
I even ended up playing mediator
to their fights sometimes.
- I'm sorry.
- Yeah.
- That was probably
really tough.
- Yeah.
But hey, I know your
family can be a bit
overwhelming at times,
but they're there for
you when it matters.
And that counts for a lot.
- Yeah. Yeah, you're right.
I guess I am pretty lucky.
But you don't be too hard
on your parents either.
I mean, their way of doing
things shaped you into
the independent and
fearless man you are today.
Speaking of which,
my mom is calling.
- Huh? Mine is too.
- Hi, mom.
- Hi.
- Oh, oh, the
engagement shopping?
- Yeah, sure, I'll be right-
- I'm so sorry. I just, I
completely lost track of time.
Okay. I'll be right here.
- Okay, great.
- I forgot.
I promised my mom and aunts
I'd go engagement shopping
today, I am so sorry.
- My mom wants me to come over
and help her bring my dad a
Christmas tree for some reason.
- Well, at least we had a
couple hours of freedom today.
- Yeah. You want to come
over after you're done?
- Yeah. That sounds good.
- Bye.
- Bye.
- Did someone order
a Christmas tree?
- What in the world?
- I told you I'd stop by today
with a little Christmas spirit.
- Come on in.
- How about here?
- No, no, no. Jake,
they're too clustered.
You gotta spread them
out more. Hold on.
- Yes, ma'am. How about this?
- Perfect.
Now that's what I
call Christmas spirit.
- Thank you.
I didn't realize how
much I needed this.
- Well, that's what the
season's all about, isn't it?
Bringing a little warmth
where it's needed.
- Didn't even notice
that the details.
- Oh, take a look at this one.
- Okay.
- Oh, Maglu. You look
absolutely stunning.
- I think this might be the one.
- No, Asha!
Picking a Sari is like dating.
You gotta shop around a
little before you commit.
Sarah.
- We've got plenty of options.
Look at the detailing
on this one.
- This could also work for
Christmas. What do you think?
Don't worry about what we like.
You choose what
makes you happiest.
- Thanks, mom.
I just wish dad felt that
way when it came to Jake.
- Don't worry about your father.
He just wants you to be
happy. Jake is a sweet boy.
If you are sure, we are sure.
- I'm sure.
- Good.
Speaking of Jake, we need
to find him a Sherwani.
- Yes.
- Ooh!
- Okay, come on. I wanna
see how you look in this.
Oh...
- That's nice.
- So, what do you think?
- You've never looked
more handsome, honey.
- That fits you perfectly, son.
- Right?
- Yeah.
Oh, that must be Asha.
My lady.
- Wow. You look amazing.
- I cleaned up nice, huh?
- Yeah.
- Come on in.
- Oh, Asha.
- Hi.
- Wow. Look at this place.
- Yeah, mom wanted
to bring a little
Christmas spirit to dad, so-
- Molly, your talents
never cease to amaze me.
- Oh, thank you, Asha.
You're too sweet.
- So what's the vest for?
- It's the vest I wore
to my engagement party.
It's a family heirloom
handed down from my father.
- Oh.
- We thought it would be
meaningful if Jake wore it
to his engagement party.
- Oh, but we already
got Jake a Sherwani
for the engagement party.
- A she what?
- Oh, that's-
- Oh, it's
a traditional Indian
outfit worn by men
on special occasions.
- Listen, we really
respect your traditions,
but don't we get to
represent ours too?
- It's our son's
engagement party as well.
- I have an idea.
How about we find a
way to incorporate
both traditions into
the ceremony, hmm?
- Okay, that should work.
- Yes.
- I feel so bad
about the Sherwani.
- No, don't worry about it.
It's just a misunderstanding.
- Why didn't you say something
when they mentioned the suit?
- Honestly, I didn't
think it was gonna be
such a big deal for me
to wear something
that's meaningful,
especially since your family
has been super involved in
planning the whole
engagement party.
- Super involved? What's
that supposed to mean?
- That came out
wrong. All right?
What I meant is my
parents, they just,
they want to feel like
they're a part of this too.
You know, not just guests at
an Indian engagement party.
- Jake, this is supposed
to be our engagement party.
I didn't know you saw my
traditions as something
separate or something foreign.
- Asha, no. Okay, I'm sorry.
- That's fine.
We're both under a lot
of pressure right now.
Oh, it's so pretty.
- I know.
- How can I ever thank you.
- You've supported me
through everything, Asha.
This is the least I could do.
Jake didn't come with you?
- No. He went on a
jog with a friend.
- So you gonna tell me what's
going on with you and Jake?
- Hmm. That obvious, huh?
- Come on, dude. I've known
you literally my whole life.
I know when something's up.
- Ever since we got home,
it's been one thing
after the other.
Look, I knew that blending our
families was gonna be difficult.
I didn't think it was
gonna be this hard.
Maybe some things aren't
meant to go together.
- Asha, it's not about
blending two families from
opposite worlds.
It's about
complementing each other
and learning to live
alongside the differences.
- Yes, but what if the
differences are just
too incompatible?
Like ketchup and Tandoori.
I mean, good intentions, but
just don't belong together.
- Okay, first of all,
ketchup and Tandoori?
What kind of blasphemy is that?
- I know, it's a long story.
Can we focus on what
I'm talking about?
- How did he not notice?
- Ravi?
- Okay.
Look, even a pairing as
unusual as ketchup and Tandoori
can work surprisingly
well, you just have
to find the right balance.
You and Jake have
something special, right?
Don't let the family drama
make you forget why you fell in
love in the first place.
- How are you my baby brother?
- Well, I had a good role
model. Hello, my queen.
- How did you two do it?
Blending the families together.
- Asha, as someone who was
initiated into the Singh family,
let me tell you, it
wasn't always easy,
but you gotta remember,
it's not about squeezing
Jake into your world.
It's about building
a new one together.
- Thank you, Sarah.
She's seriously the sister
I didn't know I needed.
- Aw, hear that?
- Okay. I did literally just
give that same advice though.
- Yeah, but I said
it better right?
- This trip, man,
it's been way more
challenging than I expected.
- How so?
- Ever since we got here,
our families have been pulling
us in opposite directions.
And no matter what we do,
someone always ends up upset.
- You still love her?
- Yes, of course
I still love her.
- That's all that matters.
- It's her dad.
That guy is
impossible to please.
- The only people
who need to be okay
with your relationship
are you and Asha.
Who cares what
her father thinks?
- That's just it,
Ethan. She does.
She cares very, very
deeply what he thinks.
- If her family is that
important to her, you need
to find a way to coexist.
All right, nothing good
ever came from getting
between your wife
and her family.
- How are you so good at this?
- Years of practice, my friend.
Laura's parents have
taught me a lot about
the art of patience.
All right, let's go.
- Okay. Hey, wait up!
Hey, Asha.
- Hi.
- How is Ravi's?
- Oh yeah, it's good.
Yeah, everything's
looking good for tomorrow.
- Good. I'm glad.
Hey, listen, about
last night, I'm sorry,
I should have been more
understanding about
how important it's to
honor your grandparents.
- I'm sorry too.
I should have been more
considerate of your
culture as well.
- So we good?
- Yeah, we're good.
Okay.
- Right. Make sure
they're right side up.
Aunty Rekha's gonna kill you.
- Yes. Of course.
- Hi, dad. Headed to
the church already?
- Yeah, we have to get
there early to help set up.
- Okay, well, we are gonna
hit Molly's Christmas pageant
and then we'll meet you
at the church after.
- Don't be late.
- We won't.
- Promise.
- Okay.
- Good luck.
- What are you guys
still doing here?
You should be out on stage.
Oh, come on. Come on, go, oh.
- We just came to wish you
good luck before the show.
- Oh, thank goodness
you're here.
I've lost my Mary and Joseph.
Food poisoning from a
bad batch of eggnog.
- Oh, no!
- That'll do it.
- Can you two fill in?
I know it's last minute,
but you're my only hope.
Please tell me you'll do it.
- Oh, I don't know.
- I guess today
is the day I make
my big stage debut.
- Oh, you're lifesavers.
Okay. Here are the costumes.
- Costumes?
- Here are the co-
Yes.
- We're wearing costumes.
- Oh yes, scripts.
- Scripts.
- You're on in 15 minutes.
- Okay, alright alright alright.
- Oh, what did I
get myself into?
- How did the preparations go?
- Good. Has Asha arrived yet?
- Not yet.
- The service is about to start.
- She'll come.
- As we gather tonight on
this most blessed of evenings,
let us reflect on the true
spirit of Christmas, the spirit
of giving, of
forgiving, and of hope.
And now please welcome
our dear friend,
Mr. Samuel Singh, to
come up for a reading.
- Come on.
Are there any children
here who would like
to hear the Christmas story?
Well then why don't you
come up here and join us.
Have any of you heard the
Christmas story before?
I think I was about your
age when I first heard it.
Many, many years ago.
Once upon a time in a
town called Bethlehem,
there was a special night,
a young couple named Mary
and Joseph were traveling
to Bethlehem for a census
ordered by the emperor.
- Just look.
- My dad's gonna kill me.
That's okay.
- I'm sorry. Hi.
Please continue.
Where was I? Mary
was going to have a baby.
- Samuel. That was beautiful.
- Where were you?
- Dad, I am so sorry.
- And why are you
dressed like this?
You trying to make
a mockery out of me?
- No, no, no. Not at all.
We were actually just
helping with Molly's pageant.
- It's kind of a funny story.
You see, the actors
playing Mary and Joseph
came down with food poisoning.
- And then we stepped in
to help with the roles.
But then-
- That's enough.
You know this is your
family's most cherished
Christmas tradition.
But because you were too
busy helping your new family,
you completely
disregarded your own.
- Dad, it's not
like that at all.
- Sir, I know how
much this means to you
and I'm sorry we're late.
But it is not Asha's fault.
You don't need to
talk to her like that.
- This is a family discussion.
And the last time I checked you,
were not yet a member
of this family, Jake.
- Excuse me. That's no
way to speak to my son.
- Yes, we missed one tradition,
but we've been doing
our best to respect
and honor your customs
every step of the way.
- And we haven't been trying?
Asha just dropped
everything to help out
with Molly's pageant.
From day one, I knew our
families will never fit.
And if the families don't fit,
the marriage will never work.
- Sir, you can give me a
hard time all you want,
but please keep my
family out of it.
They have gone out of
their way to welcome Asha,
which is more than
I can say about
the way you've treated me.
So I think you need to
take a hard look at who's
really causing the divide.
- Jake, please stop.
Not like this. Okay?
- Are you gonna take his side?
- Why do I have to take a side?
- Asha.
- Jake.
I don't think this
is gonna work.
- What?
- If we have to
constantly choose
between our families
and each other,
then look at what
happened this week.
This was supposed to
be a time of pure joy
and it's turned into
a complete disaster.
Jake, I do not want to put you
through a lifetime of stress.
It's not fair to you.
I know that and I know
my family can be a lot,
but they mean so much to me,
just like yours does to you.
And I don't know, somehow I
thought we could come together
and it would work out,
but right now I just,
I don't think it can.
- Maglu.
- I need some space.
Please, from both of you.
- May I join you?
- Oh, please.
I'm really sorry, Jake.
I was way out of line.
- I'm sorry too.
We are both just looking out
for our families in our own way.
You know, Samuel, you
and I aren't as different
as you might think.
- No?
- My mom passed away
when I was just a boy,
and my dad uprooted us
from Ireland to America
for a better life.
Just the same as well
you did by coming here.
It may seem like we're
from different worlds,
but there is something
we have in common.
We both want the best
for our children.
We want them to be happy.
We love our kids, Samuel.
- Yeah.
- And they love each other.
- Yeah.
- How about
we put our differences aside
and support them together?
- I would love that
more than anything else.
Can you tell me where I can
find Jake? I owe him an apology.
- Yeah, I can take you to him.
- Hey, how about we watch a
baseball game together sometime.
- Oh, how about we make
it a Cricket match?
- Oh, Christmas really
is a time for miracles.
- Forget about the shoes.
- Mr. Singh.
- Please sit.
- No, I'll just
leave you two to it.
- Can we talk?
- Yeah. Yeah, of course.
- Look, Asha is my little girl
and I'm always going
to want to protect her,
but she's all grown up now
and I don't wanna stand in
the way of your happiness,
especially when I see how
much joy you bring her.
- Sir, all I want to do is
make your daughter happy.
- Can you forgive an
overprotective father
and accept my blessing
to marry my daughter?
- Mr. Singh, are
you proposing to me?
- Don't make me ask again.
- Then the answer is yes.
- Thank you, Jake.
Now come on.
- What?
- There's something
you have to do.
- What?
- Asha, can I come in?
Maglu, I'm so sorry about Jake.
- Well, you got your wish. So.
- Asha, the only thing we want
is our children's happiness.
I'm sorry if I never
always made that clear.
- You know, I've
spent my whole life
terrified of
disappointing you, right?
You and mom sacrificed
so much for us
and came from another country
with no friends and no family.
And I know that.
But because of that,
I felt so much pressure
to live the life
that you envisioned for me.
What's this?
- I aced my MCATs.
- I don't understand.
- I told you I failed
because I knew you
wouldn't allow me
to pursue nursing otherwise.
- It breaks my heart to realize
that you went to these steps
to hide who you truly are.
- Well, now you
know what it's like
to live under your
impossible expectations
and I can't do it anymore, Dad.
I love Jake.
I love him so much
and I'm going to marry him,
assuming he'll
still even have me.
But I'm going to do it with
or without your blessing.
- That is why I am here.
You have my full blessing.
Jake is a wonderful
young man. I see it now.
Especially after I
saw how he stood up
for his family tonight.
I was wrong
and I'm so sorry
for not giving
him a fair chance.
- Really?
- And for making him eat
all that spicy curry.
- That was so mean. It
was kind of funny though.
- Sorry.
What is that?
- Go outside and
see for yourself.
- Jake?
- There's that smile.
- What are you doing?
- It's from the movie
you watch. Remember?
Your dad thought it might
cheer you up a little bit.
Pretty good, right?
- This was your idea?
Thank you.
- Go.
- Jake.
- You are everything to me.
I know our families meeting
have been an adventure,
but you, your family, your
traditions, your culture,
they're all part of what
make you who you are.
And I love every part of you.
- Jake. I'm so sorry
I ever doubted us.
And I know, I know the road
ahead is gonna be challenging,
but we can make it work
because you are the best thing
that's ever happened to me
and I cannot imagine
my life without you.
- I love you so much, Asha.
- I love you too.
- Merry Christmas. Hey.
Congratulations.
- Thank you so much
for doing all of this.
- Anything for my
favorite sister.
- I'm so lucky to
have you as a brother.
- Yes you are.
Hold that thought. Not yet.
That's for later.
- Hey, hey.
- This party is incredible.
- Thank you so much for
including us, both of you.
- Are you kidding?
Thanks for coming.
It means a lot to both of us.
- Please enjoy the party.
- Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
- I know you two still
haven't eaten. Here.
Have some spiced eggnog.
Drink. Drink.
- Oh, here.
- Ah, toughen up. O'Brien.
A blessed marriage is
worth a little pain.
- Wow. Aunty Rekha speaks,
and she means business.
- Thank you.
- Congratulations to you. Hi.
- Hey, big guy. Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
- Welcome to the family, son.
- Does that mean I finally
get to call you Dad?
- Let's not get
ahead of ourselves.
How about we start with Samuel?
- Sounds good, Samuel.
Looking extra
sharp tonight, pops.
Any reason?
- No, it's a big day.
Of course I'm gonna dress up.
Two right here.
- Any other reason?
- It's just a date,
but you never know, huh?
- Pretty cute.
- Thank you for joining us today
to celebrate not only Asha
and Jake's engagement,
but to also celebrate the joy
and spirit of this wonderful
holiday, Christmas.
- Christmas is a time to
bring people together,
to set aside our differences
and embrace the love
and joy we share.
And it's fitting that
we celebrate their
engagement on this day.
Because just like
Christmas, Asha and Jake
brought our two families
and traditions together.
- Now, please exchange
your engagement rings.
In the Hindu tradition
of the Nischitartham,
fathers formally
give their permission
for the Children's Union.
It is my honor to give
my blessing to Asha
and Jake's engagement.
- And it is with great joy
that I give my blessing
to Asha and Jake.
- It is our great pleasure
to formally announce
the engagement
of our daughter, Asha Singh.
- And our son, Jake O'Brien.
- Merry Christmas, Asha.
- Merry Christmas.
could ever feel so festive.
- Well, just because we're
in the ER on Christmas
doesn't mean it can't
be festive, right?
Oh, and I have a gift for you.
- For me?
- Here you go.
I heard you like ice skating,
so let's hope that
knee heals up soon
so we can get you back
on the ice in no time.
- Thank you so much, Asha.
- Do you wanna put
it on the tree?
Yeah?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
All right.
Oh, I'm getting a call, so
I'll see you soon, okay?
Put it on the tree.
Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
- Hello.
- Merry Christmas, Asha.
- Merry Christmas. Asha.
- Merry Christmas mom.
Merry Christmas, dad.
Oh, dad, I heard that
congratulations are in order
for winning the Ashford
decorating contest again this year?
- Well, I think at this point,
they should spare
everyone the effort,
and just to declare me
the winner from the start.
- That's like
winning a gold medal
without running the race.
What's the fun in that?
Well, I am really sad
I won't be home this year
to witness the epic display.
- Oh, Maglu. It's just not going
to be the same without you.
You've never missed
a single Christmas.
- Yeah. But we understand
work is important.
- Yeah, well, seven
years of successfully
dodging the Christmas shift.
I guess my luck finally ran out.
- Well, don't work too
hard. It's Christmas.
- She works in a
hospital, Nirmila.
She can't just slack off
because it's Christmas.
You know
what I mean, Samuel.
- Yeah. Well, speaking of work,
I do need to get back to it.
So please say hi to everybody
and have an extra
helping of Biryani
for me at Ravi's Christmas
party tonight, okay?
- We will. Bye-Bye.
- Bye-Bye. Asha.
Love you, Maglu. Love you.
- Love you.
Mr. Johnson.
Caught the ball.
He's bringing it up to court.
He's going for the layup.
- Wow, I have never seen so
much excitement in an ER before.
Everyone feeling
better all of a sudden?
Are you ready to
come with me now?
- Tyler.
Hey, Tyler. Can I grab
a quote for the Outlook?
- It's okay. He's
one of the good ones.
What do you need, Jake?
- That last shot was insane.
You gotta tell me, what was
going through your mind?
- I was thinking about our
fans spending Christmas,
watching the game
with their loved ones,
and how I can't let them down.
So I asked Santa for
a Christmas miracle,
and the big man came through.
Merry Christmas, Chicago.
- Alright man. You're a legend.
And Merry Christmas. Okay?
Hey Dad. Merry Christmas.
- What a game.
- Oh, you watched it?
- Of course.
It's the only way I get to
spend Christmas with my son.
- Yeah. Sorry I couldn't
make it home this year.
- Oh, you're not missing much.
- How are you celebrating?
- I got my kung pao
chicken, my favorite lager,
and a win for your Titans.
It makes for a pretty
merry Christmas.
- Mom's on the other line.
- Go ahead. Take her call.
Merry Christmas, son.
- Merry Christmas, dad.
Merry Christmas, mom.
- Merry Christmas, Jakey.
I'm just finishing up here
with the meal service.
How's your day going?
- Well, Titans won, I
snagged an exclusive quote
for the Outlook,
and despite not being
home for Christmas,
it's been a pretty good day.
- Oh, that's wonderful.
- How's the
gingerbread house competition?
- Oh, please. They should
just name the trophy after me.
- Nice work. Oh, hold on a sec.
Hey. Hey, let me
help you with that.
I got it.
Whoa, these are heavy.
How did you carry these?
- Jakey. Are you okay?
- Hello.
Okay. Jake?
- Here.
- Jake O'Brien?
- Wait, Asha Singh?
- Yeah.
- Wow. I mean, hi.
- Hi.
You should follow me.
- Okay.
- Okay. All right.
Yeah. Okay.
The old man versus ice showdown.
- Mm-hmm.
- Spoiler alert,
the ice always wins.
- Well, the ice
remains undefeated.
- I still can't believe it.
All the ERs in all the towns
in all the world, Jake
O'Brien walks into mine.
- I still can't believe
you remember me.
- Are you kidding me?
You're like
impossible to forget.
- I am?
- Huh?
- Huh?
- No-
- I'm not-
- I didn't,
I just meant you were
all things Ashford High.
Captain of the baseball team,
but you're not really living up
to your most athletic
title right now.
- Ouch. That hurt both places.
Tough, tough critic. Okay.
Well, for what it's worth,
I do actually remember you.
- You do.
- I do.
You're the only chemistry tutor
who could have gotten
me through senior year.
- If I remember correctly,
you were always more into
Thoreau than covalent bonds.
- Wow. Yes, that's
exactly right.
Huh. Well, thank you.
In case I didn't thank
you then. Thank you now.
- You're welcome.
So what have you been up
to for the last 18 years?
- Gosh, has it been that long?
I got a baseball
scholarship to Northwestern.
I double majored in
journalism and and literature.
- That's amazing.
- Yeah.
- So I take it you're
working out here now?
- Yes. I'm a sports writer
for the Chicago Outlook.
- Ah, you got both your
great loves in one.
- Yeah. Yeah, I guess I did.
So, what about you?
What are you up to these days?
- I'm a nurse practitioner.
- Oh, yes, of course. Wow.
You know, maybe we should
check to see if I hit my head
too, because I just...
- I'll add that to your chart.
- Great.
- Okay. Let's see.
We're gonna have
to amputate this.
- What? Oh gosh.
- It's not that bad.
Look, your mobility is great.
I'm guessing it's just a sprain.
But we can order an
X-ray just to be sure.
- Thank you.
Oh...
- Well, it was so
great to see you again.
- Yes.
- And the doctor
will be in shortly.
- Great. Can't wait.
- Okay.
- Oh, wait.
- Yeah?
- Do you wanna get
a drink with me?
We can catch up properly.
There's a bar across-
- I'm off at 8:00.
- Okay.
Tell me, what is
it about nursing
that made you want to
make a career out of it?
- I get to actually connect
with the patients, you know,
on a deeper level, being
there for them emotionally,
physically, whatever it takes
to make their day
a little brighter.
It's really nice.
- Not everyone gets to say
they can make a difference
in the world doing
what they love.
- Well, thank you. But nursing
wasn't always the plan.
- Oh, yeah?
- Yeah.
I was on the pre-med
track, but then I realized
and chasing my dad's dream,
not my dream, you know?
- But he must have come
around eventually, right?
- Oh, no. Not at first.
He still made me take the MCATs
and apply to med school anyway.
- Well, then how did you
become a nurse practitioner?
- The official story is
that my MCAT scores weren't
good enough to get
into med school.
- Oh, no way. Nope, I don't
believe that for a second.
Not the Asha Singh I remember.
- The truth is I aced
the MCATs, obviously.
- Yeah.
- But I told my dad
I bombed it.
- What? Asha, why wouldn't
you just tell him the truth?
- It was the only way to
get him to accept my choice.
My parents sacrificed so
much coming to this country
to give my brother and I
better life, but I don't know.
With that came this
need to protect us
and steer our lives for us.
- And my family's
the exact opposite.
My parents threw
me in the deep end
of the pool when I was
five and told me to swim.
I'm not joking.
- Wow.
- Mm-hmm.
- So they took sink or
swim pretty literally.
- Sure did. Yep.
But it turns out fear is actually
a pretty good swim coach.
- My dad was so protective,
he wouldn't let fear pass
the front door of our house.
- Yeah, well, every
family has its quirks.
But hey, look at us.
We turned out pretty good, huh?
- I'm still making
up my mind about you.
- Oh, you are?
Looks like I got
some work to do.
- How's the wrist feeling?
- Ah, better.
After a few of those, were
they candy cane martinis?
- Yes. And they were delicious.
- Oh, they were.
They did the trick.
- Isn't Christmas just the
most magical time of the year?
- Does your family
celebrate Christmas?
- Are you kidding?
If Christmas was
an Olympic sport,
my family would take
home all the gold.
- Yeah. Really?
- Yeah.
Well, we're Christians.
So Christmas is really
a big deal in my family.
- Huh?
- You seem surprised.
- No, it's just, I thought
most Indians were Hindu.
- No, you're right.
But my dad's family
has been Christian
for gosh, generations, and
my mom's side is Hindu,
but she converted
after they got married
and fell in love with the faith.
Even my Aji, my grandma,
and my mom's side, she
fully embraced Christmas.
It became one of her favorite
holidays before she passed.
- That's really beautiful.
- What about you?
Is your family? I
dunno, big on Christmas.
- Yeah.
Growing up, Christmas
was huge in our house.
My mom went all out,
but yeah, my parents
got a divorce,
so...
- I'm sorry.
When did that happen?
- Right after I went
away to college. Yeah.
He told me the first
Christmas I came home.
After that, Christmas just
kind of, I don't know,
lost its magic.
- Jake. The magic of
Christmas is always present.
Sometimes you just, I don't
know, need the right spark
to bring it back to life.
- Oh, yeah. The
right spark, huh?
Well, you know, it kind
of feels like being here
with you right now, maybe,
is that spark?
- This is me.
- Let me guess,
that one is yours.
- What gave it away?
Yes.
Well, who would've thought
being stuck working on Christmas
would turn into one of the
best holidays I've had in years?
- I know.
I didn't even bother to make
a Christmas wish this year.
- Well, you know,
the best wishes are ones you
don't even realize you made.
- I should, I should go in.
- Yeah. It's late.
- Thank you for tonight.
- Thank you. Good night.
- Good night.
- Asha?
- Yeah.
- I've been wanting
to do that all night.
- Me too.
- Hey, what are
you doing tomorrow
and the next day
and every day for
the whole year?
- Oh, thank you.
- The peppermint candy cane tart
from the night we reconnected.
- Mm-hmm. The very one.
I remember how
much you loved it.
- It was definitely the
best part of that night.
- Mm-hmm. The best part?
- Don't worry. You
were a close second.
- All good.
- So, if you had to pick,
what would be your favorite
moment from this last year?
- Wow. Okay.
This one might surprise you,
but remember that road
trip we took up North?
It was spontaneous.
We didn't have a
destination planned.
We just drove and drove
and drove until we lost
GPS ran out.
- And we ended up
at that tiny little
bed and breakfast
with the world's worst coffee.
- The worst.
- But the most amazing view.
- That's what I love about you.
You can find the
joy in anything.
Happy almost one
year anniversary.
- I cannot wait to see what
the future holds for us.
Happy almost anniversary.
- Asha Singh,
you are the single most magical
thing that has ever happened
to me on Christmas
or any other day.
Your laugh is contagious.
Your heart sees the
good in everything.
Your kindness knows no bounds.
When I am with you, I feel
like I am the luckiest man
in the world, but more
than anything, Asha,
you make me feel at home.
Asha, will you marry me?
- Yes.
- Yes?
- Yes.
- Yes!
Love you.
- Love you too.
- Now that we're
engaged, I can't wait
to finally meet your
family over Christmas,
especially your dad.
Seems like quite the character.
- Oh, be careful
what you wish for.
- Are you kidding? I'm
great with parents.
I even got a few dad
jokes up my sleeve.
- Well, as impressive
as your pun game is,
it's gonna take a
lot more than that
to win my dad over, trust me.
Speaking of which, I
can't believe we managed
to keep it a secret for so long.
I'm surprised my
parents didn't spoil it.
- Your parents?
- Yeah.
I mean, you asked my dad
for permission first. Right?
- You're joking.
- You didn't?
- No, I didn't,
I didn't realize that
was still a thing.
Was I supposed to?
- Oh, well...
- Well.
- Christmas with
the Singhs just got
a whole lot more interesting.
- I am so sorry, there
just doesn't seem
to be a reservation
under that name.
- No, no.
Look, it's Jake O'Brien. Okay.
I have the reservation right
here. SUV, sedan, or similar.
- Sir, I'm sorry, but
perhaps you didn't
confirm it all the way through.
- I don't even know
what that means.
- Ah, bingo.
- Yes.
- Oh, no, I didn't
find your reservation,
but I did find you a
super fun alternative.
- Great. Wonderful.
Thank you.
And Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
- Okay. Alright.
Alright.
- I love you.
- I love you.
Okay.
- Yep.
- Oh, great. Thanks.
- Okay, we need to have a
super organized game plan.
If we are going to make it to
December 26th in one piece.
This week is jam packed.
- All right. I'll drop
the will just in case
we don't make it.
- All right. Ready?
Today we have lunch
with my parents,
dinner with your
dad, and helping out
at your mom's toy drive.
Tomorrow, lunch with
both sets of parents
and the Christmas carnival
and the candlelight service at
the church on Christmas Eve.
And of course, our
annual Christmas
party at Ravi's Restaurant.
Hey, are you positive your
parents are okay with the fact
that you're spending Christmas
with my family this year?
- Yeah. Yes.
It's not like I have a
childhood home to go back to.
I didn't hear my mom's Christmas
pageant on the itinerary.
- Oh, no. When is that again?
- Christmas Eve.
- We're double booked
on Christmas Eve.
You better start
drafting that will now.
- I'll pull over.
- Wow. Dad really out
did himself this year.
Isn't this stunning?
- Stunning is
definitely the word.
- All right, well,
this is gonna be great.
We have nothing to worry about.
- Yeah, wait, worry?
- Nothing.
Come on. Let's go.
- Wait, what?
Hello!
- Hello.
- Hello, mom.
You look so beautiful.
- Oh, thank you.
I had to dress up to celebrate
my dear daughter's arrival
with her fiance.
- Mom, this is Jake.
- Jake, I'm Nirmila.
Welcome to our home.
- Mrs. Singh. It's a
pleasure to finally meet you.
- Please come in. Come in.
Hi.
- Hello.
- Hi.
- It's nice to meet
you. Oh, thank you.
Oh, oh, okay. Oh, the jacket.
Nice to meet you. Thank you.
Nice of you.
Okay, great. Thank you so much.
- Mom. What's going on?
- Well, when I told the rest
of the family that my one
and only daughter is
coming home for Christmas
with her new fiance, they
all just had to be here too.
Rekha.
- What's happening?
- It's to keep
the evil eye away.
- Who's got the evil eye?
- Hey, Ravi.
- The man of the hour.
- It's so nice to meet you.
I've heard so much about you.
- Ah, same here.
Hey, you're about to marry
a super special lady.
- Don't I know it.
- Michael, don't be shy.
Come say hi.
- Hi.
- Hi. I'm Sarah.
- Hi, Jake.
- Nice to meet you.
You have no idea how happy
I am that you're back.
Last year, I had to fend
off Aunty Rekha's blessings
all by myself.
- Isn't that one of the
perks of becoming a Singh?
- Merry Christmas, Asha.
Oh, I mean, sis.
- Oh, is it too early
to say Merry Christmas?
- No.
- Yeah, I don't care.
Merry, Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
- I'm a fellow in-law here.
So consider me your guide
to surviving your first
Christmas with the Singhs.
- Surviving?
Is there something I
should be worried about?
- Welcome home.
- Oh.
- Hi, dad.
- Did you see the
decorations I put outside?
I did all by myself. Your
brother helped a little.
- I did. They are stunning.
- Stunning.
Oh, hello, sir. Mr. Singh.
Or should I say dad?
- Sir will be just fine.
- Sir. Mr. Singh, Sir.
Asha told me
that you won the community
Christmas decorating competition.
That's great.
- The Singhs win every year.
- Oh, do they?
Well, congratulations on
keeping the streak alive.
- Dad, Jake was really
excited to meet you finally.
And Mom.
- Yes, sir. Very excited.
If you were so excited,
you could have come
and asked me for
my blessing before
so brazenly proposing
to my only daughter.
- Oh.
- Or,
were you not that excited?
- Dad.
- No, I was very excited.
- Is that the car you chose
to drive my daughter in on
these treacherous winter roads?
- That car?
No. I mean, yes.
Yes, but no. I didn't choose.
- Oh, so you just took
whatever was offered to you?
- Huh?
- Samuel,
why don't you go check the oven?
- It's a pleasure
meeting you, sir.
Nice.
- Well, that went really well.
- Did it?
- It did.
- Oh, okay. It did.
- It did.
- Yes.
Why don't I show
you to your rooms,
and then we can sit and eat.
- Great. Okay.
Let's see here.
- Guess what, Maglu,
we're throwing you
both a Nischitartham
during the Christmas party
at Ravi's Restaurant.
We thought it would be
nice to honor Aji and Tata.
- Thank you so much, mom.
That means so much to me.
- I have a question.
What's a nitshi?
- Nischitartham.
- Ah, okay. Nischitartham.
- It's a Hindu engagement
ceremony where both
of our families come together
to formally bless our marriage.
- Huh. That's cool.
- Jake,
I can't wait to meet
your parents tomorrow.
- They're very excited.
- Do they like spicy food?
- Ah, well...
- Nevermind.
I'll make sure
there's less spice.
Oh, it's so nice to have
you both for Christmas.
Here you go, sweetheart.
- Wow, most parents convert
their kids' bedrooms
into a gym when they leave home.
Yours made you a shrine.
- I wanted a home gym, but
Samuel wouldn't hear of it.
You know dad.
- Yeah.
- Come on. Let me
take you to your room.
- I'm not staying here?
No.
You're not yet married.
- Oh.
- Come on.
- Yeah. Okay.
- Now that's fine.
- Yeah. Yeah.
- Go this way?
- Uh huh.
- See you down-
- Bye.
- Change fast.
- Yeah.
- You sure you don't need help?
- No, no. I, yeah, I got it.
- Oh, you've got a lot of stuff.
- Mm, yes. Asha's shoes.
- Yeah. Oh.
See? Nice and private.
Change fast. Food's ready.
- Oh, okay.
- Hey.
- What's...
- Oh, my mom's side is
particularly superstitious,
and upside down
shoes are bad luck.
So just don't flip
them next time.
- Okay. Got it.
- Yeah.
- Hope everyone is hungry.
- That looks amazing.
Mr. Singh, sir, I heard
a little rumor that
you tell the Christmas story
at church on Christmas Eve.
You've been doing that long?
- Yes.
- My father's been
telling the story
to the children of
Ashford for 20 years now.
It's a tradition carried
on from his father
and his father's
father before that.
- Back in India, Sam's family
were the only Christian family
on the block, and the only
ones who celebrated Christmas.
His father would invite all
the neighborhood children over,
hand them candy canes
and read them the
Christmas story,
no matter their
background or faith.
He believed that the magic
of Christmas
belonged to everyone.
When we immigrated in
the eighties, Sam wanted
to carry on the tradition here.
- So every year, Asha will
spend the entire week-
- Oh gosh.
- Stuffing invitations
into every mailbox
she could find.
Snow or shine,
she was out there,
and it became an
Ashford tradition.
- You know, come to think of it.
I think we might have
gotten one of those invites.
- Yet you never
cared enough to come?
- No. No.
It, well, actually,
in our family,
on Christmas Eve,
we bake cookies.
- Oh, so you're saying
cookies are more important.
- Dad, that's not
what he's saying.
- No.
- Jake,
you haven't even had a bite yet.
How are you with spice?
- Oh, well, not to brag,
but I'm basically
immune to spice.
After spending a year
with Asha's cooking,
she makes the spicy Tandoori.
And at first I
couldn't handle it,
but now it basically
tastes like ketchup.
- Ketchup.
- Just watch.
I'll show you.
Mm, mm. See, it's delicious.
Not even a tingle.
- That is child's play.
Want to try some real heat?
- Hmm?
- Yeah.
- Dad? No.
- Yeah. Come on.
Try your chicken, come.
- Oh.
- Jake, no.
- No no no. It's okay.
I've had your Tandoori.
I'm just gonna
have one of these.
Okay.
- Good. Good.
All right.
Mm, mm-hmm!
- Are you okay?
- Yes, um...
- Are you sure?
- I'm fine.
It's warm in here?
It feels a little toasty.
It's delicious, though.
Now that heat's starting
to kick in, kick in a bit,
but it's thing I can...
You know what, I'm
just gonna have some-
- No no no no no!
- How did that make it spicier?
Oh, oh, oh...
- Ma.
- What?
- Is it just me, or is dad
being particularly hard on Jake?
- Oh, don't worry
about it, sweetie.
He just needs to feel that-
- He's good enough for my Asha.
- Ah, he is, he's amazing. And
I promise you'll see it too.
Just please try to
give him a chance.
- Well, Christmas is the
season for miracles, I suppose.
Dad.
Oh, come in. Come in.
- Dad. This is Asha.
- So nice to meet you, Asha.
- It's so great to finally
meet you. Mr. O'Brien.
- Call me Jake. Mr.
O'Brien was my dad.
- If it's okay with
you, sir, I would love
to stick to Mr. O'Brien.
Jake might just get
a little confusing
and awkward.
- Yeah.
- Let me just take my-
- Oh, no, no, no. Leave 'em on.
- Oh, no, no. It's okay.
I don't, I really don't
mind. I'm used to it.
- Leave 'em on.
- Leave 'em on.
- Yes.
- Are you sure-
- It's fine.
- Shoes in the house.
Okay, shoes in.
- Thank you. Sorry I didn't
whip up anything homemade.
- Oh, don't worry about it.
This Kung Pao
chicken is fantastic.
- That's our favorite dish.
- From our favorite place.
The Golden Dragon.
- Yeah, I guess getting
takeout from here
is kind of becoming a little
Christmas tradition, hasn't it?
- Yeah.
- I like what you've done
with the place. Yeah.
It's looking a little
more festive than usual.
- Nothing can compete
with your mother's holiday
spirit, that's for sure.
So Asha, Jake tells me you're
an ER nurse practitioner.
I hear the hours
are pretty brutal.
- Yeah, definitely. Shifts
are 12 hours minimum.
And overtime is common.
- Yeah, well, it
was a good thing
you're working last Christmas,
otherwise we might
never have reconnected.
- Yeah. So what's the plan
when you two have kids?
- I'm sorry, kids?
- Mr. O'Brien,
I still think
that's a ways away.
- Sure, but with all of
Jake's travel for work
and you're demanding schedule,
who's gonna stay home
and take care of the kids?
- Oh, I don't think
either one of us needs
to sacrifice our-
- But you do want
to have kids, right?
- Yes. Yes, of course.
Lots of kids.
- Lots?
- Yeah.
Lots of lots of kids.
Growing up, I was an
only child at home.
Sometimes it got
a little lonely.
- Lonely, you weren't up all
night with aunts and kids.
- I can take time.
- I'm at the hospital every day.
- Think about when
they're older.
They'll have someone
to play with.
- My mom's calling me.
- Yeah. Okay.
You know what?
How about we just
put a pin in all this
and we'll circle back?
- Yeah. Okay.
- Yes. Okay.
- Hi mom.
- Dad. What was that about?
- Asha's a wonderful girl.
Smart, warm, lighthearted.
She's the whole package.
- Yeah. Well, good.
Thank you. That means,
that means a lot.
But hey, can we lay
off the life choice
interrogation for a minute?
Alright? And yes, she is.
She is amazing.
- So you are sure
about getting married.
- You just told
me you liked her.
- I do like her, Jake.
I just wanna make sure you both
have really thought
this through.
I mean, you haven't
even settled on
how many kids you're gonna have.
Right?
- Okay. Okay.
So there are a
few things we need
to sort out, but dad,
we just got engaged.
- I just don't want you
to repeat the mistakes
that your mother and I made.
We loved each other, but
balancing our careers
and raising a family,
it wasn't easy.
And I just don't want
that for you and Asha.
- I'm sorry things didn't
work out between you and mom,
but you need to understand that
is not going to be us, okay?
I appreciate your
concern, but Dad,
can you just be happy for us?
- Ta-dah!
Oh, you guys give it a try.
I've got some very important
visitors I wanna attend to.
- Merry Christmas, Mom.
Oh, so good to see you.
Good to see you.
- Mom. This is Asha.
- Oh, such a pleasure to meet
my soon to be Daughter-in-Law.
- It's wonderful to meet
you as well, Mrs. O'Brien.
- Oh, please call me Mom.
Well, we're gonna
be family soon.
- Oh, yeah. Okay, mom.
- Oh, you know, I've
seen "Eat, Pray, Love,"
I don't know, 30 times now.
It's my favorite movie.
I just know I'd love India.
- Mom. The Christmas festival
looks incredible this year.
- Wait till you see
the Christmas pageant.
- Mom's the organizer of the
whole Christmas festival.
So the Christmas pageant,
all of this. That's all her.
- Oh, well...
- I mean, I thought my
family was into Christmas,
but seeing all this,
you could give them a
run for their money.
- Well, once Jake
went off to college,
I had all this extra
holiday spirit to share.
So I poured it all into
the Winter Festival,
and now I get to share
that holiday energy
with the whole community.
- That's really beautiful.
- Oh, everyone.
This is Asha, my
future daughter-in-Law.
Hi.
- So are you two ready
to wrap some presents?
- Yes. Consider us your
honorary elves for the day.
- Well then let's get started.
- Okay.
- Thank you both for
helping out today.
- Well, we loved
being a part of it.
Thank you for inviting us.
- Oh, you are welcome.
Listen, Asha, I'm so excited
to meet your family tomorrow.
Is there anything I can bring?
- Oh, no, nothing.
Just your appetite.
I hope you like Indian food.
- Oh, I love it. It's
my favorite food.
- Great. We will
see you tomorrow.
- See you tomorrow.
- Bye guys.
- Come on. Let's
get out of here.
- Hey, Jake.
- Ah, Ethan, Laura, what
are you guys doing here?
- Just came to check out
what your mom had
cooking this year.
Merry Christmas, man.
We're bummed that you
couldn't make it out
for drinks the other night,
but I'm glad we could
run into you here.
- Yeah, merry Christmas.
Wow. You're pregnant!
Congratulations!
Asha, this is Ethan and Laura.
You remember from high school?
- You mean the homecoming
king and queen?
How could I forget?
- Asha, it's so nice
to finally meet you.
- We had AP English together.
- Did we?
- Oh, no.
It's okay. It's okay.
I wasn't as memorable
as you in high school.
- Oh, no, no, no.
It's my pregnancy brain.
I can barely even remember
what I had for breakfast
this morning.
- I still can't
get over the fact
that you two ended up together.
- Why?
- Well,
because you guys were just
so different in high school.
Asha, weren't you the
Mathletes captain?
- Yes, I was. I won
the state title too.
- Wow.
- Well,
you have that in
common with Jake.
- That's right. Just two
state champs over here.
- Well, it was lovely to
bump into the both of you.
Jake, give me a call if you
want to do a proper catch up.
- Yeah, absolutely. All right.
You guys have a good one.
See ya.
- Day one of Holiday
madness in the books.
How do you think it went, babe?
- Fine.
- I mean,
I almost died by spice,
but other than that, I
think it went all right.
- I heard your dad
ask you if you're sure
about us getting married.
- Okay, but before he said that,
he said how wonderful you are
and how lucky I am
to have met you.
- But he still expressed
concerns to you, right?
- Yeah. Yeah, but
not about you, okay?
He's just skeptical about
marriage in general.
- Okay. 'cause I really
want him to like me.
- He does like you.
All right?
Now your dad, on the other hand.
- Yeah, I know. I am sorry.
My dad can be a bit much.
- That's one way to put it.
Surprised he hasn't
challenged me to a duel yet.
- He'll warm up
to you eventually.
My dad is like a car
defrosting on a winter morning,
and the ice, it will melt.
Just needs some time.
- Wow. That's poetic.
Hey, once our parents meet,
see how happy we
are with each other,
it's just gonna be a love
fest all around, okay?
That, or we elope.
- Elope?
- Mm-hmm.
- My dad will
actually challenge you
to a duel if we do that.
- Oh, really? Well, en
garde, Mr. Singh, en garde.
- Have you seen Jake?
- Yes. He's beautiful.
- No, seriously. Where is he?
- He's fine.
- Ravi, where is he?
- You know the lights on the
roof that are flickering?
Dad asked for help with those.
- All the way up there, huh?
- Yeah, up the ladder.
- Okay.
- We have to check each one
to see which one is out.
- Yeah, it's a good thing
I'm not afraid of heights.
- Are you afraid
of heights, Jake?
- No.
Listen, sir, I just
wanted to apologize.
Oh, I'm still alive.
For not thinking
to ask your permission
for Asha's hand.
It was an oversight,
And it will not happen again.
- What's done is done.
I mean, I know you kids think
it's a antiquated tradition,
but it's a matter of respect.
Yeah, green one, twist it.
- Ah, I got it.
- You know, Asha's
last boyfriend
at least had the
courtesy to ask me first.
Wait, what?
- Jake? Jake!
Dad, what happened?
Jake, are you okay?
- Jake, you have
to be more careful.
We need you in one
piece for Christmas.
- Dad.
What were you doing
on that ladder?
- What was I doing?
What were you doing?
Not telling me you were engaged.
- I was not engaged.
Look, he asked my dad for
permission, and my dad said yes,
but I said no.
- Oh, wow. That's better.
- He's a family friend.
And my dad really liked
the idea of us together,
but he never really
felt like the one.
And when we reconnected, I
knew I made the right decision.
- I love that.
How'd it make your dad feel?
- He wasn't thrilled.
- Oh, surprise, surprise.
- But at the end of the day,
it's my permission
that matters, right?
- Yeah, it is.
So why didn't you
tell me this before?
- I'm sorry. I should have.
I was just afraid
of upsetting you.
- Asha, come on.
I want you feeling comfortable
telling me anything,
even the hard truths, okay?
So from now on, promise,
no more secrets.
I don't think my body can take
another fall off a ladder.
- Oh, gosh.
Okay, I promise.
No more secrets.
- No more secrets.
Wait, what?
- Hmm?
- Hmm?
What? What was that?
- Okay, fine. In the
interest of being honest.
- Yes.
- You know
that spicy tandoori I've
been making for you?
- Delicious.
- It's actually totally mild.
- What?
- I've been adding ketchup
to cut down on the spice.
- Asha Singh, you little sneak.
That's why we keep
running out of ketchup.
Sorry.
- You're in so much trouble.
- I love you.
- I love you too.
- Oh.
- Molly.
Here.
- Oh, thank you.
Thanks.
Hold on. I've got a-
- You need a hand?
- No, I got fruit
cake. It's okay.
Getting heavier.
It must be more nuts
or something. Whoa.
- Looks like you
finally found your match
in Christmas spirit.
- Yeah. Looks like I have.
- They're here early.
- Mom. They're right on time.
Not everyone operates on IST.
- What's IST?
- It's Indian Standard Time.
Everyone's always
30 minutes late.
Okay.
- Hello.
- Hello.
Welcome to our home.
- Thank you.
- Thanks for having us.
- Hi.
- Mom.
What are you wearing?
- Oh, well, I wanted
to show Asha's family
that I appreciate their culture.
- Oh, that's, that's nice.
- You look so beautiful.
- Well, thank you.
- Please, come on in.
- Oh...
- It's for good luck.
- Well, you can never
have too much of that.
Please. I'm Molly.
I brought you fruit cake.
- Oh, thank you.
I'm Nirmila.
- Namala.
- Hmm...
Nirmila.
- Yeah, Narmala!
That's close
enough.
Please.
Oh, would you be more
comfortable with your shoes off?
- No.
- We're good. Thanks.
- We have slippers.
- No, I'm good.
- I am so sorry.
I didn't realize we were
going to start on time.
- Mr. Singh. Sir,
this is my mom.
- Hi, I'm Molly.
- Molly, Samuel.
- And this is my dad.
- Jake.
- Jake, Samuel.
Nice to meet you.
Well, please come, come in.
- Okay.
- Hello.
- Sorry.
- I just love Indian food.
- I'm so glad
you're enjoying it.
- Yes. Hope it's not too spicy.
Hey, Jake.
- I'm sticking to
the rice. Yeah.
- Please help
yourself to seconds.
- Don't have to twist my arm.
- Samuel, your Christmas
decorations are just incredible.
- Ah, it's just a little holiday
amusement for the children.
- Now, now, mom, Mr.
Singh is being modest.
He's won the Ashford Community
Christmas competition for,
how many years now?
- Oh, I don't keep
track of these things.
15 years.
- Molly, didn't you win a
few of those back in the day?
- Oh God. Who can
remember, Jake?
But well, yes, I did
sweep the early 2000s.
- Wait a minute, are
you Margaret O'Brien?
- Oh yeah, mm-hmm.
I prefer Molly now,
but I haven't been
Margaret O'Brien in years.
- Am I missing something?
- For years, dad would come in
second to a Margaret O'Brien.
I can't believe we're only
connecting the dots now.
- Well, I'm happy to see you
carried on the torch, Samuel.
These days, I channel all
of my holiday spirit
into the Winter festival.
It's amazing what you can
do with a bigger canvas.
- Well, dad, you can see some
of Molly's work tonight
at the Christmas carnival.
- Oh, I can't wait.
- Jake, Molly, we were thinking,
and we'd love to throw the
kids an engagement party.
- Oh, you read my mind, Normal.
In fact, I put a hold on
the community center for
that exact purpose.
- That will not be necessary.
We've already booked
Ravi's restaurant.
It's where we hold our
annual Christmas party.
- You went ahead and booked a
venue without consulting us?
- Isn't that what
you just did as well?
- Molly, we appreciate
your initiative,
but we were hoping
to have an engagement
ceremony called Nischitartham,
that's deeply meaningful
to our family.
- Oh, that's very nice.
But this is too sudden.
- Christmas is so soon and we,
we have no time to prepare.
- We've got everything
under control.
All all you have
to do is show up.
- Then what's the rush?
- Well, had your son taken
the proper steps to discuss
with us his
intention to propose,
rather than just impulsively
popping the question,
we would not be scrambling
now to prepare for an event
befitting of this milestone.
- Dad.
- So, how about
them Coyotes, huh?
Who else here loves basketball?
- Yeah, basketball.
- Oh, I love basketball.
But nothing beats the
beauty of a baseball game.
- Yes, baseball.
- Baseball is but
a cheap imitation of
the true sport Cricket.
- You're kidding, right?
- Cricket's been
around since the end
of the 16th century.
- And it should
have stayed there.
- Who's ready for some carols?
- Yeah. Let's, yeah-
- Let's go sing.
- Sure.
- Oh, that was
amazing. What was that?
- That's a Tabla.
My uncle's a genius with it.
- You guys do this every year?
- Yeah, it's one of
my favorite traditions
since I was a little girl.
Lots of singing
through the holidays.
- Come on, dad.
- Nope. Not this year.
- What's happening?
What's wrong? Does he not like
to play in front of people?
- He rarely plays anymore,
but Dad, at Christmas, please?
- For you one song.
- Alright, let's see it.
- Welcome. Welcome.
- Wow, Molly, I must
say I am very impressed.
- Oh, well, thank you, Samuel.
But I can't take all the credit.
I've got a great crew
and they really knocked it
out of the park this year.
- Mommy, daddy, can we
go play some games now?
- Of course, buddy.
- Yeah, let's go.
- Well, shall we join the fun?
- Yeah, let's do it.
- Get into teams, everybody.
- Time.
Ah, come on.
Mr. Singh wins.
- Time!
- Oh!
- The winner is Molly O'Brien!
Who, me? Oh my goodness.
Thank you.
- Molly. That was amazing.
You sure know how
to decorate a house.
Oh.
No hard feelings, right?
It's all in good fun, Samuel.
- Of course not, Molly. And
congratulations on the win.
Well deserved.
- It was a lovely evening.
Thank you for having us.
- We would love it
if you could join us
for our Christmas story reading
at our church on Christmas Eve.
It's a holiday Ian
that's been in our family
for generations.
- Oh, that sounds wonderful.
But I may still be tied up here
with the Christmas pageant,
but we'll definitely
try and make it, right?
- I was not aware that you were
going to be here instead of
with us on Christmas Eve, Asha.
- Oh no, dad.
The Christmas
pageant ends at 4:00.
That gives us plenty
of time to make it
to the church for the
candlelight service.
I mean, we were always
gonna attend both,
so we didn't think it was worth
bringing up and worrying you.
- I see.
Well, as long as you
can make it, we know
how important this
tradition is to our family.
- Yes, dad. We will.
We will be there.
- Good night.
What's wrong?
Still sour over losing
that silly competition?
- Let's just say my talents
are more suited to building
real houses, not
gingerbread ones.
I just, I just can't
shake this feeling.
Are our families too different?
How can we blend our traditions?
When the foundations
are so far apart.
- Samuel, remember how
everyone doubted us?
A Christian and a Hindu?
No one thought it would work,
but when I fell in
love with your faith
and made it my own,
my whole family
embraced you, us.
And we found a way
to make all our
traditions work together.
Jake and Asha will
make their own way.
- You're right.
As always.
- Thanks for the ride.
- Oh, no trouble.
- What a day, huh?
- Yeah.
- Asha's got
a really nice family,
but that's Samuel's
a real handful.
- Well, you're gonna
have to tolerate him
for the sake of
our son, you know?
- Fine. I'll tolerate him.
But if he thinks he's
converting me the Cricket,
he's got another thing coming.
- Jake,
- What?
- Where are your
Christmas decorations?
- Who's got the energy?
- Well, I'm coming by
tomorrow. Just a few things.
- No, no. That's not necessary.
Christmas season's
almost over. Why bother?
- Because Christmas is a time
of bringing a little
magic into our lives.
And it's never too late
for a little magic.
- A little magic, huh?
Good night, Molly.
- That's my favorite
Bollywood movie.
- Oh yeah? There's
a lot of dancing.
- I'm surprised the
VCR still works.
- I haven't seen one of these
since I had an AOL account.
- Yeah. My dad never
throws anything away.
There's probably a rotary
phone around here somewhere.
- Yep. Back corner.
What's wrong?
- Is this what our
future's gonna be like?
Family gatherings where they
either argue about Cricket
or compete over who has
more Christmas spirit?
- I just wish I could figure
out a way to win over your dad.
- Just keep being the
Jake I fell in love with.
Soon he'll love you
exactly like I do.
- I miss this. Just me and you.
Let's say we do it tomorrow. Hm?
Just the two of us. No family.
- It's another packed day.
- Come on. It's even more
reason why we need a break.
Come on, please.
- You're right. I'll make time.
- Good. You wanna finish the
rest of the movie with me?
- Sure, but we need to remember
to rewind the tape at the end,
or we won't hear the end
of it from my dad, okay?
- Got it. Be kind, rewind.
- Sorry, Jake. I just have
to put a few things away.
What is going on here?
- I lost my contact. My contact.
- Nothing to see here.
- Oh...
- Sir. About last night.
I don't want you to-
- How do you like
your eggs, Jake?
- Scrambled.
- Like your judgment
last night.
- Exactly. Because
I wasn't actually-
- Jake, ready to go?
- Yes, very ready to go.
- Okay.
- Where are you two going?
- Out.
Just the two of
us. No chaperones.
- Wear your coat, it's cold.
- Dad, what, am I five?
- And don't do
anything dangerous.
- Well, don't worry, dad.
We're just gonna go
sledding off a cliff.
Alright, let's go
before he decides
to follow us in
his car, let's go.
- I guess you can
have his eggs, then.
- This is absolutely divine.
- You have something.
Don't move.
Got it.
I miss this. I miss us.
- I know.
It just feels like it's
been forever since we had
a moment alone
together, hasn't it?
But today's been nice.
I mean, I feel like we're
finally getting our rhythm back.
- Yeah, we are. Hey, you
want to go ice skating?
- Oh, no.
- No?
- I never learned how.
- How on earth does the
Princess of Christmas grow up
without learning
how to ice skate?
- Stop. You saw how worried
my dad was just now.
I mean, if there was a
risk of a broken neck,
it's off the table.
- You know, it is sort of cute
how protective he is over you.
- Cute?
- Yeah.
- It wasn't that cute when he
gave me a curfew in college.
I wish I had the kind of
freedom you had growing up.
- I had a lot of freedom, but
my parents also dragged me
into a lot of their issues.
I even ended up playing mediator
to their fights sometimes.
- I'm sorry.
- Yeah.
- That was probably
really tough.
- Yeah.
But hey, I know your
family can be a bit
overwhelming at times,
but they're there for
you when it matters.
And that counts for a lot.
- Yeah. Yeah, you're right.
I guess I am pretty lucky.
But you don't be too hard
on your parents either.
I mean, their way of doing
things shaped you into
the independent and
fearless man you are today.
Speaking of which,
my mom is calling.
- Huh? Mine is too.
- Hi, mom.
- Hi.
- Oh, oh, the
engagement shopping?
- Yeah, sure, I'll be right-
- I'm so sorry. I just, I
completely lost track of time.
Okay. I'll be right here.
- Okay, great.
- I forgot.
I promised my mom and aunts
I'd go engagement shopping
today, I am so sorry.
- My mom wants me to come over
and help her bring my dad a
Christmas tree for some reason.
- Well, at least we had a
couple hours of freedom today.
- Yeah. You want to come
over after you're done?
- Yeah. That sounds good.
- Bye.
- Bye.
- Did someone order
a Christmas tree?
- What in the world?
- I told you I'd stop by today
with a little Christmas spirit.
- Come on in.
- How about here?
- No, no, no. Jake,
they're too clustered.
You gotta spread them
out more. Hold on.
- Yes, ma'am. How about this?
- Perfect.
Now that's what I
call Christmas spirit.
- Thank you.
I didn't realize how
much I needed this.
- Well, that's what the
season's all about, isn't it?
Bringing a little warmth
where it's needed.
- Didn't even notice
that the details.
- Oh, take a look at this one.
- Okay.
- Oh, Maglu. You look
absolutely stunning.
- I think this might be the one.
- No, Asha!
Picking a Sari is like dating.
You gotta shop around a
little before you commit.
Sarah.
- We've got plenty of options.
Look at the detailing
on this one.
- This could also work for
Christmas. What do you think?
Don't worry about what we like.
You choose what
makes you happiest.
- Thanks, mom.
I just wish dad felt that
way when it came to Jake.
- Don't worry about your father.
He just wants you to be
happy. Jake is a sweet boy.
If you are sure, we are sure.
- I'm sure.
- Good.
Speaking of Jake, we need
to find him a Sherwani.
- Yes.
- Ooh!
- Okay, come on. I wanna
see how you look in this.
Oh...
- That's nice.
- So, what do you think?
- You've never looked
more handsome, honey.
- That fits you perfectly, son.
- Right?
- Yeah.
Oh, that must be Asha.
My lady.
- Wow. You look amazing.
- I cleaned up nice, huh?
- Yeah.
- Come on in.
- Oh, Asha.
- Hi.
- Wow. Look at this place.
- Yeah, mom wanted
to bring a little
Christmas spirit to dad, so-
- Molly, your talents
never cease to amaze me.
- Oh, thank you, Asha.
You're too sweet.
- So what's the vest for?
- It's the vest I wore
to my engagement party.
It's a family heirloom
handed down from my father.
- Oh.
- We thought it would be
meaningful if Jake wore it
to his engagement party.
- Oh, but we already
got Jake a Sherwani
for the engagement party.
- A she what?
- Oh, that's-
- Oh, it's
a traditional Indian
outfit worn by men
on special occasions.
- Listen, we really
respect your traditions,
but don't we get to
represent ours too?
- It's our son's
engagement party as well.
- I have an idea.
How about we find a
way to incorporate
both traditions into
the ceremony, hmm?
- Okay, that should work.
- Yes.
- I feel so bad
about the Sherwani.
- No, don't worry about it.
It's just a misunderstanding.
- Why didn't you say something
when they mentioned the suit?
- Honestly, I didn't
think it was gonna be
such a big deal for me
to wear something
that's meaningful,
especially since your family
has been super involved in
planning the whole
engagement party.
- Super involved? What's
that supposed to mean?
- That came out
wrong. All right?
What I meant is my
parents, they just,
they want to feel like
they're a part of this too.
You know, not just guests at
an Indian engagement party.
- Jake, this is supposed
to be our engagement party.
I didn't know you saw my
traditions as something
separate or something foreign.
- Asha, no. Okay, I'm sorry.
- That's fine.
We're both under a lot
of pressure right now.
Oh, it's so pretty.
- I know.
- How can I ever thank you.
- You've supported me
through everything, Asha.
This is the least I could do.
Jake didn't come with you?
- No. He went on a
jog with a friend.
- So you gonna tell me what's
going on with you and Jake?
- Hmm. That obvious, huh?
- Come on, dude. I've known
you literally my whole life.
I know when something's up.
- Ever since we got home,
it's been one thing
after the other.
Look, I knew that blending our
families was gonna be difficult.
I didn't think it was
gonna be this hard.
Maybe some things aren't
meant to go together.
- Asha, it's not about
blending two families from
opposite worlds.
It's about
complementing each other
and learning to live
alongside the differences.
- Yes, but what if the
differences are just
too incompatible?
Like ketchup and Tandoori.
I mean, good intentions, but
just don't belong together.
- Okay, first of all,
ketchup and Tandoori?
What kind of blasphemy is that?
- I know, it's a long story.
Can we focus on what
I'm talking about?
- How did he not notice?
- Ravi?
- Okay.
Look, even a pairing as
unusual as ketchup and Tandoori
can work surprisingly
well, you just have
to find the right balance.
You and Jake have
something special, right?
Don't let the family drama
make you forget why you fell in
love in the first place.
- How are you my baby brother?
- Well, I had a good role
model. Hello, my queen.
- How did you two do it?
Blending the families together.
- Asha, as someone who was
initiated into the Singh family,
let me tell you, it
wasn't always easy,
but you gotta remember,
it's not about squeezing
Jake into your world.
It's about building
a new one together.
- Thank you, Sarah.
She's seriously the sister
I didn't know I needed.
- Aw, hear that?
- Okay. I did literally just
give that same advice though.
- Yeah, but I said
it better right?
- This trip, man,
it's been way more
challenging than I expected.
- How so?
- Ever since we got here,
our families have been pulling
us in opposite directions.
And no matter what we do,
someone always ends up upset.
- You still love her?
- Yes, of course
I still love her.
- That's all that matters.
- It's her dad.
That guy is
impossible to please.
- The only people
who need to be okay
with your relationship
are you and Asha.
Who cares what
her father thinks?
- That's just it,
Ethan. She does.
She cares very, very
deeply what he thinks.
- If her family is that
important to her, you need
to find a way to coexist.
All right, nothing good
ever came from getting
between your wife
and her family.
- How are you so good at this?
- Years of practice, my friend.
Laura's parents have
taught me a lot about
the art of patience.
All right, let's go.
- Okay. Hey, wait up!
Hey, Asha.
- Hi.
- How is Ravi's?
- Oh yeah, it's good.
Yeah, everything's
looking good for tomorrow.
- Good. I'm glad.
Hey, listen, about
last night, I'm sorry,
I should have been more
understanding about
how important it's to
honor your grandparents.
- I'm sorry too.
I should have been more
considerate of your
culture as well.
- So we good?
- Yeah, we're good.
Okay.
- Right. Make sure
they're right side up.
Aunty Rekha's gonna kill you.
- Yes. Of course.
- Hi, dad. Headed to
the church already?
- Yeah, we have to get
there early to help set up.
- Okay, well, we are gonna
hit Molly's Christmas pageant
and then we'll meet you
at the church after.
- Don't be late.
- We won't.
- Promise.
- Okay.
- Good luck.
- What are you guys
still doing here?
You should be out on stage.
Oh, come on. Come on, go, oh.
- We just came to wish you
good luck before the show.
- Oh, thank goodness
you're here.
I've lost my Mary and Joseph.
Food poisoning from a
bad batch of eggnog.
- Oh, no!
- That'll do it.
- Can you two fill in?
I know it's last minute,
but you're my only hope.
Please tell me you'll do it.
- Oh, I don't know.
- I guess today
is the day I make
my big stage debut.
- Oh, you're lifesavers.
Okay. Here are the costumes.
- Costumes?
- Here are the co-
Yes.
- We're wearing costumes.
- Oh yes, scripts.
- Scripts.
- You're on in 15 minutes.
- Okay, alright alright alright.
- Oh, what did I
get myself into?
- How did the preparations go?
- Good. Has Asha arrived yet?
- Not yet.
- The service is about to start.
- She'll come.
- As we gather tonight on
this most blessed of evenings,
let us reflect on the true
spirit of Christmas, the spirit
of giving, of
forgiving, and of hope.
And now please welcome
our dear friend,
Mr. Samuel Singh, to
come up for a reading.
- Come on.
Are there any children
here who would like
to hear the Christmas story?
Well then why don't you
come up here and join us.
Have any of you heard the
Christmas story before?
I think I was about your
age when I first heard it.
Many, many years ago.
Once upon a time in a
town called Bethlehem,
there was a special night,
a young couple named Mary
and Joseph were traveling
to Bethlehem for a census
ordered by the emperor.
- Just look.
- My dad's gonna kill me.
That's okay.
- I'm sorry. Hi.
Please continue.
Where was I? Mary
was going to have a baby.
- Samuel. That was beautiful.
- Where were you?
- Dad, I am so sorry.
- And why are you
dressed like this?
You trying to make
a mockery out of me?
- No, no, no. Not at all.
We were actually just
helping with Molly's pageant.
- It's kind of a funny story.
You see, the actors
playing Mary and Joseph
came down with food poisoning.
- And then we stepped in
to help with the roles.
But then-
- That's enough.
You know this is your
family's most cherished
Christmas tradition.
But because you were too
busy helping your new family,
you completely
disregarded your own.
- Dad, it's not
like that at all.
- Sir, I know how
much this means to you
and I'm sorry we're late.
But it is not Asha's fault.
You don't need to
talk to her like that.
- This is a family discussion.
And the last time I checked you,
were not yet a member
of this family, Jake.
- Excuse me. That's no
way to speak to my son.
- Yes, we missed one tradition,
but we've been doing
our best to respect
and honor your customs
every step of the way.
- And we haven't been trying?
Asha just dropped
everything to help out
with Molly's pageant.
From day one, I knew our
families will never fit.
And if the families don't fit,
the marriage will never work.
- Sir, you can give me a
hard time all you want,
but please keep my
family out of it.
They have gone out of
their way to welcome Asha,
which is more than
I can say about
the way you've treated me.
So I think you need to
take a hard look at who's
really causing the divide.
- Jake, please stop.
Not like this. Okay?
- Are you gonna take his side?
- Why do I have to take a side?
- Asha.
- Jake.
I don't think this
is gonna work.
- What?
- If we have to
constantly choose
between our families
and each other,
then look at what
happened this week.
This was supposed to
be a time of pure joy
and it's turned into
a complete disaster.
Jake, I do not want to put you
through a lifetime of stress.
It's not fair to you.
I know that and I know
my family can be a lot,
but they mean so much to me,
just like yours does to you.
And I don't know, somehow I
thought we could come together
and it would work out,
but right now I just,
I don't think it can.
- Maglu.
- I need some space.
Please, from both of you.
- May I join you?
- Oh, please.
I'm really sorry, Jake.
I was way out of line.
- I'm sorry too.
We are both just looking out
for our families in our own way.
You know, Samuel, you
and I aren't as different
as you might think.
- No?
- My mom passed away
when I was just a boy,
and my dad uprooted us
from Ireland to America
for a better life.
Just the same as well
you did by coming here.
It may seem like we're
from different worlds,
but there is something
we have in common.
We both want the best
for our children.
We want them to be happy.
We love our kids, Samuel.
- Yeah.
- And they love each other.
- Yeah.
- How about
we put our differences aside
and support them together?
- I would love that
more than anything else.
Can you tell me where I can
find Jake? I owe him an apology.
- Yeah, I can take you to him.
- Hey, how about we watch a
baseball game together sometime.
- Oh, how about we make
it a Cricket match?
- Oh, Christmas really
is a time for miracles.
- Forget about the shoes.
- Mr. Singh.
- Please sit.
- No, I'll just
leave you two to it.
- Can we talk?
- Yeah. Yeah, of course.
- Look, Asha is my little girl
and I'm always going
to want to protect her,
but she's all grown up now
and I don't wanna stand in
the way of your happiness,
especially when I see how
much joy you bring her.
- Sir, all I want to do is
make your daughter happy.
- Can you forgive an
overprotective father
and accept my blessing
to marry my daughter?
- Mr. Singh, are
you proposing to me?
- Don't make me ask again.
- Then the answer is yes.
- Thank you, Jake.
Now come on.
- What?
- There's something
you have to do.
- What?
- Asha, can I come in?
Maglu, I'm so sorry about Jake.
- Well, you got your wish. So.
- Asha, the only thing we want
is our children's happiness.
I'm sorry if I never
always made that clear.
- You know, I've
spent my whole life
terrified of
disappointing you, right?
You and mom sacrificed
so much for us
and came from another country
with no friends and no family.
And I know that.
But because of that,
I felt so much pressure
to live the life
that you envisioned for me.
What's this?
- I aced my MCATs.
- I don't understand.
- I told you I failed
because I knew you
wouldn't allow me
to pursue nursing otherwise.
- It breaks my heart to realize
that you went to these steps
to hide who you truly are.
- Well, now you
know what it's like
to live under your
impossible expectations
and I can't do it anymore, Dad.
I love Jake.
I love him so much
and I'm going to marry him,
assuming he'll
still even have me.
But I'm going to do it with
or without your blessing.
- That is why I am here.
You have my full blessing.
Jake is a wonderful
young man. I see it now.
Especially after I
saw how he stood up
for his family tonight.
I was wrong
and I'm so sorry
for not giving
him a fair chance.
- Really?
- And for making him eat
all that spicy curry.
- That was so mean. It
was kind of funny though.
- Sorry.
What is that?
- Go outside and
see for yourself.
- Jake?
- There's that smile.
- What are you doing?
- It's from the movie
you watch. Remember?
Your dad thought it might
cheer you up a little bit.
Pretty good, right?
- This was your idea?
Thank you.
- Go.
- Jake.
- You are everything to me.
I know our families meeting
have been an adventure,
but you, your family, your
traditions, your culture,
they're all part of what
make you who you are.
And I love every part of you.
- Jake. I'm so sorry
I ever doubted us.
And I know, I know the road
ahead is gonna be challenging,
but we can make it work
because you are the best thing
that's ever happened to me
and I cannot imagine
my life without you.
- I love you so much, Asha.
- I love you too.
- Merry Christmas. Hey.
Congratulations.
- Thank you so much
for doing all of this.
- Anything for my
favorite sister.
- I'm so lucky to
have you as a brother.
- Yes you are.
Hold that thought. Not yet.
That's for later.
- Hey, hey.
- This party is incredible.
- Thank you so much for
including us, both of you.
- Are you kidding?
Thanks for coming.
It means a lot to both of us.
- Please enjoy the party.
- Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
- I know you two still
haven't eaten. Here.
Have some spiced eggnog.
Drink. Drink.
- Oh, here.
- Ah, toughen up. O'Brien.
A blessed marriage is
worth a little pain.
- Wow. Aunty Rekha speaks,
and she means business.
- Thank you.
- Congratulations to you. Hi.
- Hey, big guy. Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
- Welcome to the family, son.
- Does that mean I finally
get to call you Dad?
- Let's not get
ahead of ourselves.
How about we start with Samuel?
- Sounds good, Samuel.
Looking extra
sharp tonight, pops.
Any reason?
- No, it's a big day.
Of course I'm gonna dress up.
Two right here.
- Any other reason?
- It's just a date,
but you never know, huh?
- Pretty cute.
- Thank you for joining us today
to celebrate not only Asha
and Jake's engagement,
but to also celebrate the joy
and spirit of this wonderful
holiday, Christmas.
- Christmas is a time to
bring people together,
to set aside our differences
and embrace the love
and joy we share.
And it's fitting that
we celebrate their
engagement on this day.
Because just like
Christmas, Asha and Jake
brought our two families
and traditions together.
- Now, please exchange
your engagement rings.
In the Hindu tradition
of the Nischitartham,
fathers formally
give their permission
for the Children's Union.
It is my honor to give
my blessing to Asha
and Jake's engagement.
- And it is with great joy
that I give my blessing
to Asha and Jake.
- It is our great pleasure
to formally announce
the engagement
of our daughter, Asha Singh.
- And our son, Jake O'Brien.
- Merry Christmas, Asha.
- Merry Christmas.