Mary does her best to carry a thin plot by being as endearing as possible, so we get generous helpings of feisty, mischievous and cute. To pass more credibly for Indian (before the unsurprising revelation that she's actually English), they could at least have had her in dark hair, but evidently that would have been too much of a departure from the Little Mary Formula. However, since none of the other 'natives' are played by South Asians, her obvious lack of Indian-ness is not as glaring as it could be.
It doesn't make much sense for the supposed daughter of a respectable artisan to behave like a penniless street urchin. Doesn't Papa make a decent living? Or doesn't he know about her hoydenish pilferings and other misadventures? A decent Hindu daughter wouldn't be running wild racking up bad karma and mixing with unclean (if better washed) English people. But Mary makes such an adorable hoyden that all must be forgiven, right?
There's some fun after she goes to England, with a suit of armor mistaken for an idol and given offerings of flowers. Thankfully her ignorance of Western table manners doesn't deteriorate into slapstick, and her dismay at discovering cooked sacred cow on the table --and on her own plate!-- is handled with taste and restraint. But excuse me, when retiring to bed in the manor house she finds it too warm?? English houses are notoriously cool, but Radha, who comes from a warm climate, is sweltering indoors and wants to sleep outside on the grass. Could there be an unusually hot summer? Hmm.
Then there's the British boyfriend. They're supposed to end up as an item, wedding bells and all, once he learns that she's not really a swarthy Indian. Okay. So it even turns out that his wealthy uncle (different surname, so Townsend's mother would be Uncle's sister, right?) was the father of Radha's real father (who was disowned for his dissolute ways). With her grandfather as his uncle, that makes Townsend a sort of uncle to Radha, since Townsend's mother would be Radha's great aunt. That's a pretty close relative! Well, you know, this thing works best if you don't expect it to make sense. Just enjoy the Mary-ment and don't worry over logic.
It doesn't make much sense for the supposed daughter of a respectable artisan to behave like a penniless street urchin. Doesn't Papa make a decent living? Or doesn't he know about her hoydenish pilferings and other misadventures? A decent Hindu daughter wouldn't be running wild racking up bad karma and mixing with unclean (if better washed) English people. But Mary makes such an adorable hoyden that all must be forgiven, right?
There's some fun after she goes to England, with a suit of armor mistaken for an idol and given offerings of flowers. Thankfully her ignorance of Western table manners doesn't deteriorate into slapstick, and her dismay at discovering cooked sacred cow on the table --and on her own plate!-- is handled with taste and restraint. But excuse me, when retiring to bed in the manor house she finds it too warm?? English houses are notoriously cool, but Radha, who comes from a warm climate, is sweltering indoors and wants to sleep outside on the grass. Could there be an unusually hot summer? Hmm.
Then there's the British boyfriend. They're supposed to end up as an item, wedding bells and all, once he learns that she's not really a swarthy Indian. Okay. So it even turns out that his wealthy uncle (different surname, so Townsend's mother would be Uncle's sister, right?) was the father of Radha's real father (who was disowned for his dissolute ways). With her grandfather as his uncle, that makes Townsend a sort of uncle to Radha, since Townsend's mother would be Radha's great aunt. That's a pretty close relative! Well, you know, this thing works best if you don't expect it to make sense. Just enjoy the Mary-ment and don't worry over logic.