It's a Wonderful Afterlife (12A)
GURINDER Chadha, director of Bend It Like Beckham and Bride And Prejudice, shares her affection for Frank Capra and the Ealing comedies of the 1940s and 50s in this feelgood romantic comedy.
Equal parts humour, horror and romance, It's A Wonderful Afterlife is warm and fluffy like a freshly-baked naan bread, which just happens to be an unlikely weapon of choice for a serial killer in the film.
Chadha and co-writer Paul Mayeda Berges struggle to strike a balance between the genres.
Yet for its flaws, Chadha's film holds its characters in high affection.
Fast-rising cop DS Murthy (Sendhil Ramamurthy) transfers back to his home turf to work under DI Smythe (Mark Addy) and help solve a spate of murders in the Indian community.
He runs into childhood friend Roopi (Goldy Notay), with whom he has always shared a spark.
Roopi's mother, Mrs Sethi (Shabana Azmi) is delighted – maybe she will be finally able to marry off her overweight, self-conscious daughter.
However, there is a problem. Mrs Sethi is the unlikely killer Murthy and his colleagues are hunting.
She has slain all those who thwarted her efforts to marry off Roopi and now the ghosts of her victims – Curry Man (Sanjeev Bhaskar), Kebab Woman (Shaheen Khan), Nan Man (Ash Varrez) and Rolling Pin Woman (Adlyn Ross) – haunt her.
Once Roopi is married, Mrs Sethi will be able to rest in peace and join her husband in the afterlife, and the spirits will be able to cross over.
It's A Wonderful Afterlife is outlandish but entertaining.
Legendary Indian actor Azmi dons padding to play a downtrodden Punjabi mother, and Notay is absolutely adorable, catalysing simmering screen chemistry with Ramamurthy.
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