Nina's Heavenly Delights
NINA'S HEAVENLY DELIGHTS is a new romantic comedy by director Pratibha Parmar
where Scottish humor meets Bollywood spectacle! The film follows the mixed
fortunes of an Indian family in Scotland, THE SHAHS and their award winning
Indian restaurant, THE NEW TAJ.
The story is told through the eyes of NINA SHAH (Shelly Conn) a young Scottish Indian woman. Nina had left home under a cloud after an argument with her father but when he dies suddenly, Nina is forced to return. Her return reunites her with her childhood friend Bobbi (Ronny Jhutti), a wannabe Bollywood drag queen, and brings her face to face with Lisa (Lisa Mackinlay), a charismatic young woman who now owns half the restaurant.
Then Nina discovers that The New Taj has been selected for The Best of
the West Curry Competition. In the turbulent, but exhilarating days that
follow, Nina & Lisa embark on a mission to win the trophy for the
third time. Along the way, Nina falls for Lisa and they get involved in
a lesbian love affair. A blend of adventure and discovery follows with
humorous and startling results.
Starring: Laura Fraser, Art Malik, Ronny Jhutti, Veena Sood, and Shelley
Conn as Nina
Directed by: Pratibha Parmar
Screenplay by: Andrea Gibb
http://www.ninasheavenlydelights-themovie.com/
INTERVIEW
Director Pratibha Parmar of Nina's Heavenly Delights
What was the inspiration behind your film “Nina’s
Heavenly Delights”?
It was partly my own story- I wanted to make a film about an Indian family
who run an Indian restaurant. Indian food has become the national food
of U.K. and there are so many Indian restaurants in all cities. I wanted
to go behind the façade of one such restaurant, most, of which
are family run and tell a story about one such family in one particular
moment in time.
In one way the movie is a traditional story about family, food
and love, but it is also quite unconventional in its theme of gay-love...
It was a deliberate decision to use a conventional film genre like a romantic
comedy and to tell an untraditional love story. The untraditional love
story is not just about the gay love interest but also of the Indian widow
mother who gets a second chance with life and love which is also unconventional
in Indian society. In fact the film has the song “pyar kiya to darna
kya” which is a great classic love song about forbidden love and
kind of defines the film in some ways. That (forbidden love) is the overarching
theme and I try and explore it with these different characters but with
a lightness of tone.
Considering some bold themes of the film, how has the Indian
community reacted to your film?
They have responded to the film incredibly positively. I got a great response
the first time I showed it to Indians in London. They thanked me for making
an honest film about who we are and showing us in our complexity and contradictions
trying to live our lives as ordinary people”.
Did Bollywood have any influence on your film sensibilities?
Yes it did. It shaped my sensibilities visually as a filmmaker. I grew
up watching Bollywood films in my family even though I got bored with
them when I was younger since they went on forever. They certainly influenced
me, my films have the same lushness, the melodrama and the joie the vivre.
There is also a character in my film who is a Bollywood drag queen !