Chadha pays tribute to ‘Ealing Comedies’ with ‘It’s A Wonderful…’
By IANSTuesday, April 20, 2010
NEW DELHI - Did you Notice the looming presence of comic ghosts in the trailers of her new film “It’s A Wonderful Afterlife”? Britain-based Indian filmmaker Gurinder Chadha’s upcoming outing is a tribute to the classic ‘Ealing Comedies’ of London.
“It’s A Wonderful Afterlife” has ghosts present throughout the film in a more comical than scary fashion just like in the ‘Ealing Comedies’.
“I have seen few Ealing Comedies of early 1950s and have loved the genre. While scripting ‘It’s A Wonderful Afterlife’, I thought it will be fun if there are ghosts in the film with funny punchlines,” Chadha said in a statement.
“In the film they are always there on screen but only Mrs. Sethi (Shabana’s character) can see them. It’s funny to see how she interacts with them and everybody around her thinks there is something wrong with her because she is talking to herself,” she added.
The ‘Ealing Comedies’ were a series of film comedies produced by Ealing Studios during the period 1947 to 1957. These usually included a degree of social comment. Some of these films were “Kind Hearts and Coronets”, “The Lavender Hill Mob” and “The Ladykillers” to name a few.
Shabana Azmi is hoping the genre, which is new for India, is accepted well here.
“‘It’s A Wonderful Afterlife’ is a typical Gurinder Chadha film — completely wacky. In Britain, the ‘Ealing Comedies’, which were comedic but also had an element of horror, have been very popular. However, it’s a completely new genre for India. I’m hoping the film does well and opens up the doors for a new genre in India,” she said.
Releasing May 7, “It’s A Wonderful Afterlife” is a romantic comedy about a mother (Shabana) who goes to extreme lengths to get her daughter married.
It also stars Sendhil Ramamurthy, Goldy Notay, Sally Hawkins, Jimi Mistry, Zoe Wanamaker and Mark Addy.
