The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Genre : Drama
Director : John Madden
Cast: Maggie Smith, Judie Dench, Bill Nighy, Richard Gere, Dev Patel, Tina Desai, Lillete Dubey
It is always pleasant to watch senior citizens finding a space in our stories. And when you have some of the stalwarts of acting play people trying to make a sense of the sunset years in their life at a retirement facility in Jaipur, the idea becomes all the more appetising. This is what made “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” blossom in the hearts of audience across cultures. If the original came largely unannounced, the sequel has come with all marketing guns blazing. You can sense it is here to cash in on the goodwill generated by the original.
As expected director Madden and writer Ol Parker don’t try to tweak the format and start from where the first left. This time they are not tackling any big issue of race or crossing over. Just little hurdles in the life of hotel mates. Sonny (Dev Patel) wants to build a second hotel and is looking for finances along with Muriel Donnelly (Maggie Smith). There are a couple of additions to the rich ensemble cast. Richard Gere makes an entry as Guy Chambers, whom Sonny suspects is here to evaluate the hotel for possible expansion. Guy falls head over heals over Sonny’s mother (Lillete Dubey) leading to some interesting moments with Gere flaunting his sex appeal all over again.
There is another man in Sonny’s life. Kushal (Shazid Latif) is getting extra friendly with Sonny’s finance Sunaina (Tina Desai) and is interfering with his plans to buy another hotel. Douglas (Bill Nighy) is still finding it difficult to share his feelings for Evelyn (Judi Dench), who has now become a fabric buyer. Then there is a tuk tuk driver who wants to bump off a hotel mate.
Parker opens a lot of folders and Madden keeps shifting from one to the other but if you step back you find it is a soap operatic form where nothing really moves but we still remain engaged because we have some of the most venerated players on show. Add to it the colour that Jaipur imparts to the narrative and we have a film that you don’t mind sing and dance along one more time. But if you are looking for something beyond the superficial it is time to pack the bags.
Bottomline : The mood makes it predictable but it is the performances that save Marigold from going stale.
