Movie Number 21 of 2023
The Movie: Polite Society
The Cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens
Stars: 4
This is something different, and this is something else.
After seeing some great reviews, I coerced Jay into seeing this, saying it looked fun.
It's fabulous - and like nothing you've seen and nothing you would expect, such is this funny, unexpected tale of sisterhood, family and karate is a near perfect mix of English wryness and Bollywood glitz with a bit of a caper movie thrown in for good measure. It really doesn't fit neatly into any genre.
Oh, did I not say that this is an English film? It's an English film with a mainly Asian cast.
So, what's this about?
Ria (Priya Kansara), a West London school girl wants to be a stunt woman. She loves her karate and stunting as much as she loves her family. When her sister Lena (Renu Arya) becomes engaged to this posh git, Salim (Akshay Khanna) a doctor and a Mummy's boy, alarm bells start to ring in Ria's head.
Imdb.com describes the plot as follows:
"Ria Khan believes that she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting her friends' help, she attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists, in the name of independence and sisterhood."
I'm not going to tell you much more than this, other than I though this is one of the freshest films I've seen in ages.
Polite Society provides a lot of things.
First up, a different view of West London. These girls have balls and attitude. They're tough. And unexpected. Ria and her friends Alba and Clara are misfits in a posh school.There are some fights. Lena is a washed up arts student. Again, unexpected for nice Asian girls from good families.
Then there's the action scenes. Ria, in her desire to become a stunt woman practices her trade, from her regular karate lessons, to the odd bit of parkour as she breaks into her inlaws place. I loved the action this provided, as it wasn't too stylised - actually, many of the scenes were downright hilarious.
And the humour in this is spot on. Writer/Director Nida Mansoor does a fantastic job of both the screenplay and the direction. Her ascerbic wit runs through the film.
And that is all I will say, other than if you're after something funny, colourful and unexpected, this is your film.
As it was pointed out to me, it's not a Bollywood film, mostly because the cast is of Pakistani extraction, but it lacks the big ticket numbers found in Bollywood films. The scenes at the wedding are fun.
Really, give this film a go. Thank me later.
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