There is a saying in Tamil, “You can utter a thousand lies to conduct one marriage.”
What it meant of course was that you can fib about the education, behaviour, attitude and even character of the bride or the groom and that none of it would be (and should be) construed amiss.
That comment is always mentioned in a lighter vein but London based producer-director Gurinder Chadha has taken the concept a few steps ahead to include ‘murder.’
Her It’s A Wonderful Afterlife takes a rather irreverent look at weddings of the Indian variety and she could be forgiven for having produced a bizarre comedy.
“We should be able to laugh at ourselves. My new film handles a serious subject with a touch of comedy,” she said, speaking to Indian Newslink from her London home.
It’s A Wonderful Afterlife features veteran Bollywood star Shabana Azmi in the role of a mother (Mrs Sethi) keen to get her daughter married ‘as soon as possible’ to the ‘most eligible bachelor possible.’
Her daughter Roopi (played by Goldy Notay) is not a typical beauty (she is in fact opinionated and not trim), which makes it hard for her to find a match.
Mrs Sethi takes offence at all those who reject her daughter’s hand and using her culinary skills, murders all of them.
A police hunt begins for a serial murderer using a killer curry.
Says Ms Chadha: “The mother has no guilt conscience at all, until the spirits of the victims begin to haunt her. They can be reborn only after their murderer dies. Mrs Sethi must kill herself to free the spirits, but vows to get her daughter married off before such an inevitable event happens.”
It’s A Wonderful Afterlife has all the ingredients of an Ealing type comedy.
Mw Chadha said the idea for the film came when she was watching The 100 Greatest Family Films on London’s Channel 4, featuring a wedding scene from her earlier film Bend It Like Beckham.
“It was the Indian wedding scene and the party, which was inter-cut with the football. I remembered it was fun shooting that scene. Wedding is an integral part of our culture and decided to produce another film,” Ms Chadha said.
It’s A Wonderful Afterlife will screen in New Zealand cinemas from August 26.
The cast includes Sendhil Ramamurthy Sally Hawkins, Zoë Wanamaker, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Shaheen Khan, Adlyn Ross and Ash Varrez.
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Win a Double Pass Indian Newslink will give away a double pass each to the first five callers at its office between 1030 am and 1130 am on August 20, 2010. Please dial (09) 5336377. The pass will be valid only for It’s A Wonderful Afterlife and be subject to the rules of the exhibitor |
Photo : Gurinder Chadha in action
