On general release from Fri 11 May
Nigel Cole / UK / 2012 / 93 mins
Director Nigel Cole teams up with Ayub Khan-Din after his successful culture-clash gems East is East and West is West to churn out this equally light-hearted flick. Based on Khan-Din’s stage play Rafta (originally taken from Bill Naughton’s All in Good Time), the film tells of young Indian couple, Atul and Vina (Reece Ritchie and Amara Karan), who are celebrating their newlywed status in the council estates of Bolton. The marriage takes a bad turn however when Atul fails to consummate it, sparking rumours around the neighbourhood and driving a wedge through the heart of their relationship.
Khan-Din’s script maintains all the whippy one-liners and idiosyncratic characters found in his previous films; a cheeky younger brother and an oafish but ultimately caring father provide the laughs and “aww” moments in his newest venture. It’s an emotional but realistic storyline, focussing on the pressures of young married life without losing itself in indulgence and romanticism – a welcome treat for the worn rom-com genre. It’s ultimately the old clash between tradition and new customs, infusing enough Romeo and Juliet references without sticking a balcony randomly on the terraced houses of Bolton. In a way, Cole’s film doesn’t really unearth anything new about divergent cultures or love but it makes for easy and well-paced viewing.