It’s the time of year for holiday movies, and nobody knows it more than Netflix. Christmas as Usual is a Nordic romantic comedy that follows the story of Thea Evjena, a Norwegian woman who introduces her Indian boyfriend, Jashan Joshi, to her family in a small traditional Norwegian town during the festive season. However, the couple faces some pushback. Thea has never revealed that Jashan is Indian, referring to him as Josh most of the time, and cultural prejudices, especially regarding Thea’s mother, start to raise their heads. Thea still hasn’t revealed that the couple are engaged to be married either, and microaggressions are starting to escalate. While this kind of premise isn’t exactly unheard of, some well-observed details have viewers wondering whether Christmas as Usual is based on a true story.
Is Christmas as Usual based on a true story?
Christmas as Usual certainly found its inspiration in a true story. The writer and director Petter Holmsen used the story of his sister’s relationship with her husband as the anchor behind the screenplay. Petter recalled his sister Mia bringing her husband Akshay to meet the family for the first time. Although the situation in real life was nowhere near the comedic tensions of the encounter in the film, the idea of two different cultures being brought together resonated with the writer and director and inspired him to put his thoughts and ideas into the screenplay for the festive film.
In real life, the couple would be married in 2022. On Petter’s Instagram account, he would post about the event and state:
“Indians know how to get married!! Three days of craziness where I excelled at limbo and broke my tooth. I learned a lot about Indian traditions and also had the honour of officiating the Norwegian wedding of my sister @miaholmsen and my new brother-in-law @beardedbunny.Thank you Mia and Akshay for the memories of a lifetime!”
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Confirming the inspiration for the Netflix film, he would go on to post “One year since @miaholmsen and @beardedbunny said “I do”! And on Dec 6th Christmas as Usual, inspired by their love story, will premiere on Netflix.”
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Are Thea Evjen and Jashan Joshi a real couple?
The characters are based loosely on the writer and director’s sister Mia Holmsen and her husband, Akshay Chawdhry. The couple would meet and fall in love, and their story was the inspiration for the film.
In that sense, Thea and Jashan are a “real” couple, or at least symbolic of one, but the characters themselves are fictional creations.
What else is Petter Holmsen known for?
The writer and director is known for his work in TV and film. Some projects he worked on include the film Fjols til fjells and TV shows such as Krypto Kings, Neste Sommer, and Post Mortem: No One Dies in Skarnes.
RELATED: Where was Christmas as Usual filmed?
