Goldy Notay, the debuting actress in director Gurinder Chadha’s new film release ‘It’s A Wonderful Afterlife’ managed to gain two stones to be cast in the role of ‘mottu’ Roopi Sethi. “I did it by eating pasta, potatoes - basically any food beginning with the letter ‘p’ and lots of jalebi” she told the audience at a special London-screening of the film on Friday 16th April 2010. Surprisingly the svelte-star, whose first scene in the film features her character eating jalebi, then lost all the weight in the intervening months after filming ended in May last year. “I lost all the weight by not eating any foods beginning with the letter ‘p’”, the actress joked. Hardly surprising that few people among the audience recognised her as the leading lady in Chadha’s new movie.

‘It’s a Wonderful Afterlife’ pays homage to James Stewart’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, one of Gurinder Chadha’s favourite films. Chadha then proceeds to mix it up with Ealing Comedy with a dash of ‘Carrie’ and a tribute to ‘Alien’ thrown in to arrive at a ‘Chicken Tikka Masala’ of a movie. There are flashes of insightful brilliance in this film – the contemptuous suitor who flounces of in his souped-up car containing two grannies, the hilarious Asian speed dating scene and a wedding scene like none other.

Chadha, who has now truly mastered the wedding scene, returns to tackling some of the “Asian issues” which she first experimented with on ‘Bhaji on the Beach’; Shabana Azmi (Mrs Sethi) gives a credible performance as a widowed Southall Punjabi mother trying to marry off her over-weight daughter. When a succession of suitors and their families turn down her daughter, Azmi’s character takes to murder and is the subsequently haunted by her victims. Actress Zoe Wannamaker gives a splendid performance as the Jewish neighbour Mrs Goldstein, and has one of the best gags in the film. Talking about reincarnation, Azmi’s character asks Zoe’s character “Where do Jewish people go when they die”. To which, Zoe replies “Willesden”!

But ultimately, the gags keep getting in the way of the tale. I liked the tight script, written by Chadha and her husband Paul Mayeda Berges, even though the short length (100 minutes) of the film means that many of the storylines seem contrived. Some of the casting too is a little contrived. Choosing TV-show ‘Heroes’ star Sendhil Ramamurthy (Dr Mohinder Suresh) to play Roopi’s suitor D C Murphy, might have seemed like a good idea, but he really is too polished to be a policeman and there is little on-screen chemistry between him and Goldy Notay (Roopi Sethi). The film almost begs the viewer to imagine a childhood romance which fails to be reignited on screen. Chadha admitted to Friday’s audience that many of the ‘dark’ gags and the partial nudity scene were added only after Sendhil was cast in the role. So perhaps Chadha is playing to Asian women’s fantasies, after all?

Shaheen Khan and Preeya Kalidas seem to reprise their roles from ‘Bend it Like Backham’ and Sanjeev Bhasker, a wonderful actor, threatens to derail the whole movie into one long comedy store gag as the victim killed by being over-fed curry! Jimi Mistry plays the less-than-ardent suitor of Roopi’s friend Linda (Gitali) and accomplished actor, Don Warrington (Rising Damp) plays a believable senior police chief. The melee is accurate for the mish-mash that is contemporary Southall life. And Chadha saves the best till last; Bally Sagoo’s reworked version of The Bee Gees song ‘Staying Alive’ plays in the credits. Sagoo’s version has resonance and could have been used throughout the film like in ‘Bend It Like Beckham’, although audiences might not then have known the appropriate moments to laugh, cry or dance.

Chadha has contrived to make an unpretentious romantic thriller and the ‘gross out’ scenes may not be to everyone’s taste, but this film is likely to appeal to the teen market not quite at the wedding stage but not too far from the silly gag stage either. If you’re a real Ealing Comedy fan then prepare to be scandalised, but if you don’t expect too much ‘It’s A Wonderful Afterlife’ might be just the chicken tikka masala movie to your taste – you’ll love it!