Stars: Kim Vithana, Lalita Ahmed, Zohra Segal, Mo Sesay, Peter Cellier, Rudolph Walker

Director: Gurinder Chadha

Summary: An acclaimed comedy in which a group of Asian women set out on a harmless day trip to Blackpool to get away from everyday routine. What they experience will change their lives forever.

Three generations of Indian women take a day trip from London to the seaside town of Blackpool. Amidst the discovery of accidental pregnancies, young girls out for young boys and charges of spousal abuse, the women share their concerns for modern living and discover an unexpected bond. A cross-cultural comedy co-written by Gurinder Chadha (BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM) and Meera Syal.

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Bhaji on the Beachis the directorial debut of Gurinda Chadha, which--like her next film, What's Cooking--features women as the central characters and seems to involve food at every turn. It's an ensemble piece, which takes a while to establish the characters' relationships with each other. But eventually the focus of the film--based on a story by Meera Syal--gets distilled to a group of women taken on a day trip to Blackpool by a progressive thinking "sister". The skies are suitably grey as they arrive in the English resort town, with the amusement arcades, takeaways and shop fronts looking tacky and run down. There's Ginder (Kim Vithana), who has run away from her violent husband, Hashida (Sarita Khajuria), who has a major decision to make and conservative aunties Asha (Lalita Ahmed) and Pushpa (Zohra Sehgal), not to mention youngsters Ladhu (Nisha K Nayar) and Madhu (Renu Kochar) who are just along for the excitement. As the day wears on, tension mounts between the different generations as secrets come out into the open. It matters little that the plot feels a touch contrived--particularly the convergence ofsignificant characters towards the end--as there's a lot of energy in the performances. The result is a bit rough around the edges, but there's a lot to amuse here, not least in the colourful nod to Bollywood contained in Asha's many dream sequences. --Emma Perry

Aspect Ratio:	4:3
Main Language:	English, Hindi, Punjabi
Region:	Region 2
Year:	1993
Release Date:	June 16, 2003
Runtime:	97 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	C C D 9499
Label:	Film Four Distributors
Keywords:	English, Beach, Comedy, Drama, Hindi, Bhaji, Punjabi
Genre:	Drama