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Jan. 24th, 2011 12:27 amAfter several false starts with other programs that didn't grab me, I settled on Anita & Me as my entertainment for the evening, and very entertained I was.
I love the UK; I love stories about South Asia; it makes sense I would love stories with British Asian themes, directors, or actors. Bend It Like Beckham everyone knows, but the others I've enjoyed include Bhaji on the Beach, My Beautiful Laundrette, East is East, My Son the Fanatic, Bride and Prejudice, Monsoon Wedding, Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, Brick Lane, Nina's Heavenly Delights, Ae Fond Kiss, and Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal.
This one, Anita & Me, is a good story with some entertaining characters. The actresses playing the central characters, Chandeep Uppal and Anna Brewster as two friends growing up and apart in a small Midlands town in the 1960s, are great. But some of the supporting actors really make it shine. Zohra Segal as the protagonist Mina's gran, visiting from India, is wonderful. I always love seeing her, even in just a tiny role like this; she's a show stealer. It also features Lynn Redgrave, a great actress, as the lady who keeps the village shop; looking at her bio on Wikipedia, I was reminded that toward the end of her life she lived in Kent, CT, where my cousins grew up and where I spent several summers as a kid. Mark Williams, who plays Mr Weasley in the Harry Potter films, also makes an appearance as a hip Methodist minister. Sanjeev Bhaskar, who did The Kumars at No. 42, plays Mina's father; Ayesha Dharker, who starred in Outsourced and played the Queen of Naboo in the regrettable Star Wars Episode II, plays her mum. Meera Syal, who wrote the book the film is based on as well as the screenplay, plays Mina's overbearing auntie.
I love the UK; I love stories about South Asia; it makes sense I would love stories with British Asian themes, directors, or actors. Bend It Like Beckham everyone knows, but the others I've enjoyed include Bhaji on the Beach, My Beautiful Laundrette, East is East, My Son the Fanatic, Bride and Prejudice, Monsoon Wedding, Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, Brick Lane, Nina's Heavenly Delights, Ae Fond Kiss, and Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal.
This one, Anita & Me, is a good story with some entertaining characters. The actresses playing the central characters, Chandeep Uppal and Anna Brewster as two friends growing up and apart in a small Midlands town in the 1960s, are great. But some of the supporting actors really make it shine. Zohra Segal as the protagonist Mina's gran, visiting from India, is wonderful. I always love seeing her, even in just a tiny role like this; she's a show stealer. It also features Lynn Redgrave, a great actress, as the lady who keeps the village shop; looking at her bio on Wikipedia, I was reminded that toward the end of her life she lived in Kent, CT, where my cousins grew up and where I spent several summers as a kid. Mark Williams, who plays Mr Weasley in the Harry Potter films, also makes an appearance as a hip Methodist minister. Sanjeev Bhaskar, who did The Kumars at No. 42, plays Mina's father; Ayesha Dharker, who starred in Outsourced and played the Queen of Naboo in the regrettable Star Wars Episode II, plays her mum. Meera Syal, who wrote the book the film is based on as well as the screenplay, plays Mina's overbearing auntie.
