Review: Afterlife is not for the masses

It’s a Wonderful Afterlife
Director: Gurinder Chaddha
Cast: Shabana Azmi, Goldie Notay, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Jimmy Mistry, Sally Hawkins
Rating: *

Gurinder Chadha’s It’s A Wonderful Afterlife is the story of a Punjabi widow, Mrs Sethi (Shabana Azmi), who lives in London with her daughter, Roopi (Goldy Notay), and son, Jazz (Ray Panthaki). She is desperate to get Roopi married off to a suitable boy, for which several meetings with prospective grooms and their families are arranged by her, and even her friends.

But somehow, the guys or their families end up rejecting Roopi mainly because she is overweight. Frustrated, Mrs Sethi starts killing the people who reject her daughter.

The ghosts of the people murdered by Mrs Sethi unite, befriend her, and, instead of seeking revenge, actually help Mrs Sethi find a suitable match for Roopi. Meanwhile, Roopi’s friend, Gitali alias Linda (Sally Hawkins), senses the presence of spirits around Mrs Sethi because she possesses psychic powers.

Thanks to the efforts of the ghosts, Roopi finds a likely match in Murthy (Sendhil Ramamurthy) who, incidentally, is a police officer who has been asked by his seniors to spy on Roopi as she is a suspect in the murder cases.

Things get out of hand at the wedding of Gitali and Dev when Gitali manages to capture the spirits, because of which the police gets a good lead in the murder cases.

Paul Mayeda Berges and Gurinder Chadha’s story is rather unbelievable. Even the comedy which is created in the improbable drama will evoke laughter only among the class audience, that too in the earlier part of the film. The last half-hour of the drama is more serious and even verbose.

On the whole, It’s A Wonderful Afterlife is anything but wonderful. It will prove to be a resounding flop!