Spin movie review: Avantika Vandanapu, Abhay Deol film is a welcome deviation from typical high school flicks

Rhea (Avantika Vandanapu) is a busy 15-year-old Indian American girl. She has school during the day, coding club after classes and later in the evening she slips on an apron and waitresses at Spirit of India, her family’s Indian restaurant. Her father Arvind (Abhay Deol) is an affable widower who is raising his children Rhea and Rohan (Aryan Simhadri) with the help of his mother-in-law Asha (Meera Syal). All four chip in at the restaurant, with grandma Asha adding garnish to Sunday evenings with her spirited Bollywood dance performance.

Before Rhea’s mother passed away, she left Rhea with one crucial life lesson – there is music everywhere. Rhea comes to realise her flair for tunes when she meets the new kid in school Max (Michael Bishop), an aspiring DJ who shows her the basics of scratching, mixing, pitch control and back spins.

Avantika Vandanapu

Rhea is not a diffident wallflower seeking validation from the cool kids. In fact she’s content and secure enough to tell the self-seeking boy crush to take a hike. Besides the integrated Indian family at the centre, this character trait is another welcome deviation from the high school movie formula.

Rhea selects Holi as the theme for a school fundraiser which is put together by her and her BFFs Molly (Anna Cathcart), Watson (Jahbril Cook) and the school social media star Ginger (Kerri Medders) who describes The Festival of Colors as a time to “colour bomb each other till it looks like a giant unicorn exploded into a rainbow.” While it’s being celebrated in school, it’s barely remembered by Rhea’s family and it possibly doesn’t even take place on the precise Holi holiday. But the “festival” becomes the catalyst for Rhea’s metamorphosis, culminating in a showdown at the DJ Beat Master’s contest.

Abhay Deol and Avantika Vandanapu

This is a coming-of-age story about a teenager caught between duty and responsibility on one hand, and following your passion on the other. Director Manjari Makijany takes a script by Carley Steiner and Josh A Cagan and gives it a shot of Indian spice, which comes through most palatably in Rhea’s fusion fashion and the way she mixes her South Asian culture with western beats. The musical score blends in without being overpowering.

Avantika is a delight. With sparkling eyes, she glides through the restaurant with as much ease as she finds her groove behind the mixing console. Syal is the perfect nani (maternal grandmother). She’s perceptive, playful and supportive. Deol brings geniality to Arvind, a character that once again upturns the controlling father stereotype as he consciously works to be a better parent.

Spin is a Disney Channel movie (aimed at children and teenagers) that’s colourful, clean and musical. What sets it apart are the Indian American teenager at the centre, her easy-going Indian family and their genuine assimilation into life in America, whims and culture intact.

Rating: 3/5

Spin is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. Watch the trailer here —