If good intentions were an aesthetic virtue on par with compelling drama, performances, storytelling, and craft, Nisha Ganatra's Chutney Popcorn would thrive solely on its warm, multicultural vision of alternative families. But in lieu of any other artistic merit, there's nothing on screen to surprise or move or challenge the audience, only enough to placate its progressive values. Though far more winning than the interchangeable likes of Catfish In Black Bean Sauce or What's Cooking?, Chutney Popcorn contends with the same thorny issues of assimilation by smoothing them into a thin, digestible paste. In addition to co-writing (with Susan Carnival) and directing, Ganatra gives a modest, pleasingly understated performance as a free-spirited Indian-American lesbian with a talent for body art and photography. When her newlywed sister (Sakina Jaffrey) discovers she cannot have children, Ganatra impulsively volunteers to be a surrogate, much to the consternation of their traditional mother (Madhur Jaffrey) and Ganatra's commitment-phobic live-in girlfriend (Jill Hennessy). Matters are further complicated when her sister changes her mind about raising the child, leaving Ganatra with a decision that could potentially ruin her relationship with her family, her girlfriend, and the lesbian community. Big-hearted and optimistic to a fault, Chutney Popcorn doesn't allow the messiness of real life to intrude on its utopian fantasy about the coming together of Indian cultural traditions and alternative notions of family. Alternating snarky, Go Fish-style lesbian comedy with anemic melodrama, Ganatra's story tangles and untangles with the flavorless efficiency of a Syd Field sample script, rigged from the start to arrive at the cheeriest possible resolution. But if bringing the baby to term puts a strain on everyone's relationships, it's hard to believe that the newfangled family unit—essentially, Heather Has Four Mommies And A Daddy—could just live happily ever after. Ganatra's idealism is admirable, but spelled out in dramatic terms, it seems rosy and false.