Ravi Patel & Geeta Patel On Doc ‘Meet The Patels,’ Indian-American Dating [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO]

Siblings Ravi Patel and Geeta Patel teamed up to make a documentary, Meet the Patels, that gives an inside look at what it’s like for Indian-Americans who decide to stick with tradition and submit themselves to the idea of an arranged marriage.

Ravi & Geeta Patel Video Interview

Meet the Patels follows Ravi, an actor in his 30s who is facing increasing pressure from his parents to find a suitable wife. After hiding a relationship with a caucasian woman named Aubrey for two years, Ravi finds himself single and stressed about the future of his romantic life. Enter Geeta, his sister, and an amateur documentary filmmaker, who realizes that Ravi’s quest for a wife could yield some interesting footage.

“I thought the last thing I would wanna do is make a documentary, I was like no,” said Geeta, who brought her camera with her to their family’s annual trip to India. “So I’m on this trip just doing my own thing, filming dad’s charity work and Ravi is like really suffering. It’s really funny, so I of course decide to film it, because that’s what sisters do.”

In conversation with his sister, Ravi told of how only his Indian friends could understand and empathize with his failure to introduce his ex-girlfriend to his parents – while his other friends could not.

“I was talking about how it’s crazy that I’m a grown man and I’m hiding a girlfriend from my parents. There’s this weird thing where I would tell my non-Indian friends that I hadn’t told my parents about her. They were like, ‘You are an asshole, how could you do that to her, that’s so disrespectful, you are a small man,'” Ravi explained to uInterview. “Then I turn to my Indian friends and tell them I have this white girlfriend and the first thing they say is, ‘You didn’t tell your parents did you?’”

This perspective is just one of many that Indian Americans can share with fellow Indian Americans. All of the socioeconomic and cultural similarities can arguably lead to arranged marriages that are incredibly successful – like that of Ravi and Geeta’s parents – and encourage younger generations to follow the tradition.

“Socioeconomic background, cultural values. Do they eat the same food, speak the same language, do they live near each other?” Ravi said, explaining what goes into arranged marriages. “The Patel complex in coming to America is how do we keep the same value system intact? How do we keep the culture just as strong? That’s when they created the biodata, which is this matrimonial resume that the Patel parents pass around amongst each other to help Patels find each other and marry each other.”

In Meet the Patels, Ravi decides to let his parents – and the broader Patel family – help find him a suitable lifetime companion. The intense dating saw Ravi flying around the U.S. and over to India. Despite the involvement of his parents and the grueling travel schedule, Ravi believes that it was a worthwhile exercise.

“The system works; it worked for everyone. Mom and dad are as you saw the movie, an incredible couple. So good together,” Ravi said. “I have friends who have done the system and they’re so happy together. So there’s an empirical basis for saying, ‘Hey this thing works. I really wanted to meet someone.’ If I end up finding that girl who cares how it happens.”

Geeta chimed in, “So many films are about, ‘Oh the crazy Indian parents that arrange marriages – isn’t that weird,'” adding, “That’s not really what it’s like for most of us. We don’t see our parents as crazy. We don’t see their process as crazy.”

Meet the Patels is currently in theaters.