No heart for Indians

The Neufund family is expecting an exchange student from England! The host parents Martin Brambach and Aglaia Szyszkowitz see this as a chance to finally make a friend for their headstrong 16-year-old daughter. But at the airport, it is not the expected “hip” Sandy McCartney from London who is standing in front of them, but a 13-year-old Indian boy! They want to get rid of the little Hindu as soon as possible. In a roundabout way, Zayn Baig in the role of the unwanted guest and Lena Urzendowsky as the loner become pretty much best friends after all. The endearingly turbulent culture clash comedy “No Heart for Indians” by screenwriter Sathyan Ramesh plays with expectations and provides a few surprises.

16-year-old Fiona Neufund (Lena Urzendowsky) is a real loner. To finally find a friend for her, her parents Charlotte (Aglaia Szyszkowitz) and Erik (Martin Brambach) try a student exchange on the advice of the class teacher (Anna Stieblich). Without asking for long, the passionate Beatles fans choose a kid named “Sandy McCartney” from the list. This sounds like a hip British girl who could bring some coolness to the headstrong Fiona and get her out of her lethargy. Fiona doesn’t feel like it, but she has no choice. When the guest child stands before them, the Neufunds are astonished. It is a 13-year-old boy of Indian descent named Sacchidananda (Zayn Baig), who calls himself “Sandy” and is full of surprises. At school he confidently quotes from “Faust”, at home it’s guru wisdom, and besides, he promotes harmonious coexistence with a pure heart. Of all things, the stressed family can use a miniature Gandhi least of all now: Dad is desperately struggling with the tax office, Mom is secretly having an affair, and Fiona’s older sister Annika (Mercedes Müller) wants nothing to do with the others. The fact that Sandy is soon to be heartlessly “deported” doesn’t leave even the super-cool Annika cold. Fiona is also upset when the little boy surprisingly proves himself to be a true hero in the playground.

Copyright Photos: ARD Degeto / Stephan Rabold, Christiane Pausch