Asian-Indians, Assimilation and Plagiarism: Why The Film Yesterday Doesn’t Work

I am against certain movies on principle. Some may have premises that go against things that I stand for, while others just have actors that I cannot support in good conscience. I do prefer it when the latter happens because then their talent or the script can surprise me. Other times, a first impression is just right. Yesterday proved most of my suspicions correct.

Mind that no one has to take my opinion as gospel. I am very open about my status as a nitpicky person. For this particular movie, I want to try and break down my complicated feelings.

The Film

Yesterday is about an Indian guy who gets hit by a bus and wakes up in a world where the Beatles don’t exist. Neither does Coca-Cola or cigarettes. Jack Malick decides to rebuild his music career, which hasn’t even started, by playing Beatles songs and profiting off their talent. He said previously that he wished to be rich and famous.

The best part of the film really is exploring what does and doesn’t exist. Fortunately, dentistry still does, as do record artists. I feel like a scene with a spoiler had a lot more weight knowing what happened to the person in real life.

Yesterday sucked as a film. The lead Himesh Patel is a great singer, and bits of…