IT’S A WONDERFUL AFTERLIFE

Mrs Sethi, a widow, can’t bear the thought of her daughter being alone and unhappy. Okay, she’s a little plump and opinionated… but she would make a great wife for some lucky man, if only she were given a chance. When Mrs Sethi can no longer stomach the rudeness of families who refuse her daughter, she takes matters into her own hands in the only way she knows. Suddenly a police hunt begins for a serial murderer who cooks a killer curry. Mrs Sethi doesn’t feel too guilty until the spirits of her victims come back to haunt her, as they can’t be reincarnated until their murderer dies. Mrs Sethi has no qualms about killing herself – she’ll get to see her dead husband again – but how can she go before her daughter is married ? The spirits realize that helping Mrs Sethi’s daughter find a suitable husband before the police catch her is their only chance of a wonderful afterlife. Acclaimed director Gurinder Chadha, who brought us Bend it Like Beckham – with the future sex symbol Keira Knightley – and Jane Austen’s revisited Bride and Prejudice, is back on screen with this horrific comedy. Don’t look for a rebooted version of Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life, the script being a confrontation between Indian and British traditions, a matter Chadha knows pretty well. Using the Masala genre instead of a social drama, she gets the opportunity to deal with ghosts, poisoned vindaloo chicken breasts and colourful characters like Golden Globe winner Sally Hawkins.