The Bollywood Film Festival was to have returned to Perth for a seventh time. However, the passing of Sushma Paul, Honorary Indian Consul in Perth and director of Sujag Pty has meant the Festival in its usual form will be cancelled. It will return in 2012
In its place, Sushma Paull’s memory will be celebrated with an exclusive screening of the comedy It’s A Wonderful Afterlife.
With nods to Frank Capra, ghost stories, murder mysteries, and screwball comedies, Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham), whips up an irreverent caper about the pressures on Indian women to tie the knot. Set in West London the film centers on Mrs. Sethi, a doting Punjabi mother obsessively seeking a suitor for her appealing, but (heaven forbid!) rapidly aging, daughter, Roopie.
When a string of curious murders involving poisonous curries and chapati dough begins to rattle the neighborhood, things really start to heat up. As detectives and ghosts trample through the Sethi household, Roopie’s love life gets an injection of excitement, too. Nothing in this supernatural escapade is as it seems as spicy truths unspool and fate takes its madcap course. A top-notch cast, including celebrated Indian actress Shabana Azmi, Sendhil Ramamurthy (TV’s HEROES), and Sally Hawkins, breathe life into Chadha’s clever tale about appreciating what’s right under our noses—with a little help from the Hereafter.
So if you’re in the mood for some comedy and romance this weekend get on down to the Luna Outdoor and check out Gurinder Chadha’s new flick.
