IT'S A WONDERFUL AFTERLIFE, affable but confused
The humour is sporadic, and frequently uninspired, the romance is not especially heart-warming.
rating: 2
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Gurinder Chadha, writer/director of the acclaimed comedy 'Bend It Like Beckham', is back with another affable cultural comedy. This time the concept around which the story revolves is a mother who, in her desperation to marry off her daughter, kills off those who ruin her plans. Rather than centring on the spooky excesses of this doting mother, however, the film is taken down Chadha's favourite soppy-family route as the ghosts of the deceased come back to haunt her, but end up deciding to help in her tasks in order to redeem their souls. The concept isn't a bad one. There's plenty of scope for excess as the ghouls trail Mrs. Sethi, pursued by bumbling detectives, and her daughter Roopi as she searches for love. The silliness is enhanced by Roopi's friend Linda, whose obsession with Indian culture has led her to believe she has psychic powers, a useful skill that is drawn on for several of the more humorous plot twists. The trouble with the film is that is just isn't consistent enough. The humour is sporadic, and frequently uninspired, the romance is not especially heart-warming, and the redemption story that lies behind the ghosts is only loosely woven into the whole narrative. None of this is helped by the quality of the acting in the film.