It's a Wonderful Afterlife
Encyclopedia
It's a Wonderful Afterlife is a 2010 British comedy film directed by Gurinder Chadha
. The screenplay centers on an Indian mother whose obsession with marrying off her daughter leads her into the realm of serial murder. It was filmed primarily in English
, with some Hindi
and Punjabi
dialogue. The title is a reference to Chadha's personal attachment to Frank Capra's film It's a Wonderful Life
. Chadha also co-produced the film, and co-wrote the screenplay with her husband and producing partner, Paul Mayeda Berges
. The lead role is played by newcomer Goldy Notay, joining Shabana Azmi
, Shaheen Khan, Sendhil Ramamurthy
and Sally Hawkins
in the cast.
. Depicting life amongst the Asian community in Britain
, it is set in the London
suburb of Southall
.
Mrs. Sethi (Shabana Azmi) is a widow living in Southall who wants to marry off her only daughter, for she is alone and unhappy. Her daughter, Roopi, (Goldy Notay) is a little plump and opinionated. Mrs. Sethi finds that all her matchmaking efforts to find a suitor for Roopi are rudely rejected. She avenges this behaviour toward her daughter by killing off the failed dates using her culinary skills. A police hunt begins for a serial murderer using a killer curry
.
Mrs. Sethi does not feel guilty until the spirits of her victims come back to haunt her. They are unable to be reincarnated until their murderer dies. Mrs. Sethi must kill herself to free the spirits, but vows to get her daughter married off before this.
The spirits realize that helping Roopi find a suitable husband before the police catch Mrs Sethi is in their best interests, and everyone begins to work together. Meanwhile, Roopi catches the eye of the young Sergeant investigating the case.
when narrator Bob Hoskins
introduced a wedding scene from her earlier film Bend It Like Beckham
at position 71.
“It was the Indian wedding scene and the party, which was inter-cut with the football,” says Chadha, “and immediately I remembered how much fun we'd had shooting that scene. The wedding is so integral to our culture that I suddenly thought ‘How can I do another wedding scene without repeating myself?’ So I thought maybe I could do it with a horror spin, where everything goes awry. Much like the prom scene at the end of Carrie.”
Working with long-time collaborator and screenwriter Berges, Chadha spent two and half years writing the script. “I started seeing this crazy film, set in Ealing
, in the world of Bend It Like Beckham and yet in a completely different genre,” continues Chadha. “We worked on the script, came up with the idea of the mum, the plump daughter and these spirits that return.”
Starting with the working title My Bloody Wedding, Chadha and Berges created the character of Roopi, a young British Indian woman, and Mrs Sethi, her meddling mother. “Really it’s an Ealing comedy about an Indian mum who lives with her daughter. The daughter is a little bit overweight, not exactly beautiful and has a broken engagement behind her,” explained Chadha. “People in the community have been really mean about this girl and the mother has had enough. So she devises all kinds of ways of killing people off, using Indian cooking methods. And of course, being Indian, we believe in reincarnation. The people she kills come back as spirits and these spirits can’t work out why they’ve not been reincarnated.”
Goldy Notay gained weight to play the role of Roopi, which she then promptly had to shed for her part in Sex and the City 2
.
is handling worldwide sales and distribution, and pitched the film as My Big Fat Greek Wedding
meets Shaun Of The Dead
. Icon Film Distribution is the UK distributor.
. Chadha and Berges took inspiration for the horror elements from Ridley Scott
’s sci-fi classic Aliens
, Brian De Palma
’s adaptation of Stephen King
's Carrie, and John Landis
’ 1981 horror classic An American Werewolf in London
. Several scenes required SFX
to create the effect of ghost
s and supernatural phenomena.
and Taz
of Stereo Nation. It has 14 tracks in total, including Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Neeraj Shridhar of Bombay Vikings
, a makeover of a disco track by the Bee Gees
, "Stayin Alive", re-composed by noted British-Asian DJ and music producer Bally Sagoo
. Bally developed the track "Staying Alive Desified" by fusing traditional Bhangra beats with a performance from the Bee Gees tribute band Stayin' Alive UK. In a nod to the film's title, "Wonderful Life
" by the British band Black features in its original form on the soundtrack. Promotional music videos feat. stereo nation are choreographed by Rohit Chawla.
calling it an "exceptionally lazy effort, which, like the similarly weak Bride and Prejudice
, is more of a pun in search of a story than an actual fully-fledged idea". The Radio Times suggested, "The gags are brash, the plot is messy and there's an element of mild horror (culminating in a send-up of Carrie) that feels totally random." It was described as "the worst British film of the year" by The Express
Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL India stated "Every filmmaker has their bad days. And after watching ‘It’s a Wonderful Afterlife’ I am confident that Gurinder Chadha is in one of hers."
Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha , OBE, is a British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in the United Kingdom. She is best known for the hit films Bhaji on the Beach , Bend It Like Beckham , Bride and Prejudice and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging...
. The screenplay centers on an Indian mother whose obsession with marrying off her daughter leads her into the realm of serial murder. It was filmed primarily in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, with some Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
dialogue. The title is a reference to Chadha's personal attachment to Frank Capra's film It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....
. Chadha also co-produced the film, and co-wrote the screenplay with her husband and producing partner, Paul Mayeda Berges
Paul Mayeda Berges
Paul Mayeda Berges is an American screenwriter and director.Of Japanese ancestry, Berges graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 1990. He has collaborated with his wife, British-Indian director Gurinder Chadha, on a number of films...
. The lead role is played by newcomer Goldy Notay, joining Shabana Azmi
Shabana Azmi
Shabana Azmi is an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. An alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India of Pune, she made her film debut in 1974 and soon became one of the leading actresses of parallel cinema, an Indian New Wave movement known for its serious content and...
, Shaheen Khan, Sendhil Ramamurthy
Sendhil Ramamurthy
Sendhil Ramamurthy is an American actor. He is best known for the role as geneticist Mohinder Suresh in the NBC drama Heroes.-Personal life:...
and Sally Hawkins
Sally Hawkins
Sally Cecilia Hawkins is an English actress. Her performance as Poppy in the 2008 film Happy-Go-Lucky won her several international awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy...
in the cast.
Plot
The film is a comedy which uses satirical and Ealing-style humourEaling Comedies
For the film Ealing Comedy, see Ealing Comedy .The Ealing Comedies were a series of film comedies produced by Ealing Studios during the period 1947 to 1957....
. Depicting life amongst the Asian community in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, it is set in the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
suburb of Southall
Southall
Southall is a large suburban district of west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Yeading, Hayes, Hanwell, Heston, Hounslow, Greenford and Northolt...
.
Mrs. Sethi (Shabana Azmi) is a widow living in Southall who wants to marry off her only daughter, for she is alone and unhappy. Her daughter, Roopi, (Goldy Notay) is a little plump and opinionated. Mrs. Sethi finds that all her matchmaking efforts to find a suitor for Roopi are rudely rejected. She avenges this behaviour toward her daughter by killing off the failed dates using her culinary skills. A police hunt begins for a serial murderer using a killer curry
Curry
Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...
.
Mrs. Sethi does not feel guilty until the spirits of her victims come back to haunt her. They are unable to be reincarnated until their murderer dies. Mrs. Sethi must kill herself to free the spirits, but vows to get her daughter married off before this.
The spirits realize that helping Roopi find a suitable husband before the police catch Mrs Sethi is in their best interests, and everyone begins to work together. Meanwhile, Roopi catches the eye of the young Sergeant investigating the case.
Development
Chadha conceived the film while watching ‘The 100 Greatest Family Films’ on Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
when narrator Bob Hoskins
Bob Hoskins
Robert William "Bob" Hoskins, Jr. is an English actor known for playing Cockney rough diamonds, psychopaths and gangsters, in films such as The Long Good Friday , and Mona Lisa , and lighter roles in family films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Hook .- Early life :Hoskins was born in Bury St...
introduced a wedding scene from her earlier film Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham is a 2002 comedy-drama film starring Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Anupam Kher, Shaznay Lewis, and Archie Panjabi first released in the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha...
at position 71.
“It was the Indian wedding scene and the party, which was inter-cut with the football,” says Chadha, “and immediately I remembered how much fun we'd had shooting that scene. The wedding is so integral to our culture that I suddenly thought ‘How can I do another wedding scene without repeating myself?’ So I thought maybe I could do it with a horror spin, where everything goes awry. Much like the prom scene at the end of Carrie.”
Working with long-time collaborator and screenwriter Berges, Chadha spent two and half years writing the script. “I started seeing this crazy film, set in Ealing
Ealing
Ealing is a suburban area of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located west of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village...
, in the world of Bend It Like Beckham and yet in a completely different genre,” continues Chadha. “We worked on the script, came up with the idea of the mum, the plump daughter and these spirits that return.”
Starting with the working title My Bloody Wedding, Chadha and Berges created the character of Roopi, a young British Indian woman, and Mrs Sethi, her meddling mother. “Really it’s an Ealing comedy about an Indian mum who lives with her daughter. The daughter is a little bit overweight, not exactly beautiful and has a broken engagement behind her,” explained Chadha. “People in the community have been really mean about this girl and the mother has had enough. So she devises all kinds of ways of killing people off, using Indian cooking methods. And of course, being Indian, we believe in reincarnation. The people she kills come back as spirits and these spirits can’t work out why they’ve not been reincarnated.”
Goldy Notay gained weight to play the role of Roopi, which she then promptly had to shed for her part in Sex and the City 2
Sex and the City 2
Sex and the City 2 is a 2010 American romantic comedy film directed by Michael Patrick King. It is the sequel to the 2008 film Sex and the City, which is based on the HBO TV series of the same name....
.
Funding
It's a Wonderful Afterlife was co-produced by the AIM-listed The Indian Film Company (TIFC) and Bend It Films in association with Viacom 18 Motion Pictures. HanWay FilmsHanWay Films
HanWay Films is an independent British international sales, distribution and marketing company specializing in theatrical feature films.HanWay Films was founded in 1998 by film producer Jeremy Thomas , along with his colleagues Peter Watson and Stephan Mallmann , who continue to sit on the board...
is handling worldwide sales and distribution, and pitched the film as My Big Fat Greek Wedding
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a 2002 Canadian and American romantic comedy film written by and starring Nia Vardalos and directed by Joel Zwick. The film is centered on Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos , a middle class Greek American woman who falls in love with a non-Greek upper middle class "White...
meets Shaun Of The Dead
Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 British zombie comedy directed by Edgar Wright, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and written by Pegg and Wright. Pegg plays Shaun, a man attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather...
. Icon Film Distribution is the UK distributor.
Filming
Principal photography began in London on 28 March 2009. Most of the filming took place in the Southall area in London and at Ealing StudiosEaling Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since...
. Chadha and Berges took inspiration for the horror elements from Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
’s sci-fi classic Aliens
Aliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
, Brian De Palma
Brian De Palma
Brian Russell De Palma is an American film director and writer. In a career spanning over 40 years, he is probably best known for his suspense and crime thriller films, including such box office successes as the horror film Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and Mission:...
’s adaptation of Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's Carrie, and John Landis
John Landis
John David Landis is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies, his horror films, and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson.-Early life and career:...
’ 1981 horror classic An American Werewolf in London
An American Werewolf in London
An American Werewolf in London is a 1981 British-American horror film, written and directed by John Landis. It stars David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, and Griffin Dunne....
. Several scenes required SFX
Special effect
The illusions used in the film, television, theatre, or entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects ....
to create the effect of ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
s and supernatural phenomena.
Cast
- Shabana AzmiShabana AzmiShabana Azmi is an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. An alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India of Pune, she made her film debut in 1974 and soon became one of the leading actresses of parallel cinema, an Indian New Wave movement known for its serious content and...
as Mrs. Sethi - Goldy Notay as Roopi
- Sendhil RamamurthySendhil RamamurthySendhil Ramamurthy is an American actor. He is best known for the role as geneticist Mohinder Suresh in the NBC drama Heroes.-Personal life:...
as Raj (D.I. Murthy) - Sally HawkinsSally HawkinsSally Cecilia Hawkins is an English actress. Her performance as Poppy in the 2008 film Happy-Go-Lucky won her several international awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy...
as Linda/Geetali - Zoë WanamakerZoe WanamakerZoë Wanamaker, CBE is an American-British actress. She has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company; in films, including the Harry Potter series; and in a number of television productions, including a long-time role as Susan Harper in the sitcom My Family.-Early life and family:Wanamaker was...
as Mrs. Goldsmith - Sanjeev BhaskarSanjeev BhaskarSanjeev Bhaskar, OBE is a British Indian comedian, actor and broadcaster, best known for his work in the BBC Two comedy series Goodness Gracious Me and as host of The Kumars at No. 42...
as The Curry Man - Catherine BalavageCatherine BalavageCatherine Balavage is a Scottish actress, writer, and online magazine editor, originally from Lanarkshire, now based in London.-Career:...
as Waitress - Shaheen KhanShaheen KhanShaheen Khan, also credited as Sandhya, is an Indian film actress, who has appeared in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu films. She is notably known for reprising the role of Sandhya in three consecutive films in different languages....
as Manjeet Kahl/The Kebab Woman - Adlyn Ross as Mrs. Chakra/The Rolling Pin Woman
- Ash VarrezAsh VarrezAsh Varrez is a British-Indian actor who has appeared in the films 'Bend it like Beckham', 'The Near East', and 'Madeline' and TV programmes including Eastenders, Bad Girls and The Office.- Selected Roles :* 'Teetu's dad' in Bend it like Beckham...
as Mr. Chakra/The Naan Man - Mark AddyMark AddyMark Addy Johnson is an English actor, best known for his roles as Detective Constable Gary Boyle in the UK sitcom The Thin Blue Line, Dave in the British film The Full Monty, father Bill Miller in the U.S...
as D.I. Smythe - Jimi MistryJimi Mistry-Early life:Mistry, was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England to an Indian Hindu father and an Irish Roman Catholic mother. He was brought up a Roman Catholic and attended St. James' Catholic High in Cheadle Hulme before his family moved to Cardiff where he attended Radyr Comprehensive School...
as Dev - Ray PanthakiRay PanthakiRay Panthaki is a British-born actor, film producer and writer.Born in London, Panthaki is best known for the roles he played on BBC soap opera EastEnders as Ronny Ferreira and as 'Hassan B' the nemesis to Sacha Baron Cohen's Ali G in Ali G Indahouse...
as Jazz
Music and sound
The soundtrack features a mix of licensed tracks, remixed tracks and original compositions, including mainstream music such as disco and hip-hop with the Desi dhol and Bhangra. It includes songs by popular British-Asian and Bhangra artists such as Panjabi MCPanjabi MC
Rajinder Singh Rai , better known by his stage name Panjabi MC is a British Indian musician.-Career:...
and Taz
Taz (singer)
Tarsame Singh Saini aka Taz born 23 May 1967, Coventry, West Midlands, United Kingdom), is a British singer, composer and actor of Indian descent. He is the lead singer of the pop band Stereo Nation which was formed in 1996...
of Stereo Nation. It has 14 tracks in total, including Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Neeraj Shridhar of Bombay Vikings
Bombay Vikings
Bombay Vikings is a pop and rock group that combines Indian and classical music. It was formed in 1994 Stockholm, Sweden. The band was originally started by Neeraj Shridhar, Oscar Söderberg and Mats Nordenborg, and became popular with remix hits like, Kya Soorat Hai, Woh Chali and Chod Do Anchal ...
, a makeover of a disco track by the Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
, "Stayin Alive", re-composed by noted British-Asian DJ and music producer Bally Sagoo
Bally Sagoo
Bally Sagoo is a British Asian musician and DJ who was born in Ranjit Nagar, Delhi, India, but grew up in Birmingham, England, in a predominantly black neighbourhood, influenced by disco, rap and Motown music. In an interview "Re-mixing Identities: "Off" The Turn-Table," Bally said:"Indian music...
. Bally developed the track "Staying Alive Desified" by fusing traditional Bhangra beats with a performance from the Bee Gees tribute band Stayin' Alive UK. In a nod to the film's title, "Wonderful Life
Wonderful Life (Black song)
"Wonderful Life" is a song by British singer Black from his 1987 album of the same name. Written by Black himself, Colin Vearncombe, the song was released twice as a single and was successful the second time, becoming a top ten hit in Switzerland, Germany, UK, France, Austria and Italy.-Single...
" by the British band Black features in its original form on the soundtrack. Promotional music videos feat. stereo nation are choreographed by Rohit Chawla.
Reception
The film received overwhelmingly negative reviews, with The ScotsmanThe Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
calling it an "exceptionally lazy effort, which, like the similarly weak Bride and Prejudice
Bride and Prejudice
Bride and Prejudice is a 2004 romantic musical film directed by Gurinder Chadha. The screenplay by Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges is a Bollywood-style adaptation of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It was filmed primarily in English, with some Hindi and Punjabi dialogue. The film released in...
, is more of a pun in search of a story than an actual fully-fledged idea". The Radio Times suggested, "The gags are brash, the plot is messy and there's an element of mild horror (culminating in a send-up of Carrie) that feels totally random." It was described as "the worst British film of the year" by The Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL India stated "Every filmmaker has their bad days. And after watching ‘It’s a Wonderful Afterlife’ I am confident that Gurinder Chadha is in one of hers."