It's a Wonderful Afterlife (2010)

Popularity:

Down 9% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Gurinder Chadha

Writers:

Gurinder Chadha (written by) &
Paul Mayeda Berges (written by)

Release Date:

2010 (Australia)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Horror | Romance

Tagline:

A romantic comedy of karmic proportions.

Plot:

A comedy centered on an Indian mother who takes her obsession with marriage into the world of serial murder.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Indian | Police | Overweight Woman | Afterlife

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Sanjeev Bhaskar	...	Curry Man (Mr. Bhatti)
Steve Morphew	...	A&E Doctor
Steve Jones	...	Earnest Reporter
Jamie Sives	...	Detective Hughes
Sendhil Ramamurthy	...	D S Raj Murthy
Mark Addy	...	D I Smythe
Shabana Azmi	...	Mrs. Sethi
Goldy Notay	...	Roopi Sethi
Sacha Shilov	...	Bike Kid
Teghvir Gujral	...	Bike Kid
Harry Rance	...	Bike Kid
Ray Panthaki	...	Jazz Sethi
Jack Gordon	...	Ari
Shaheen Khan	...	Kebab Woman (Manjit Kaur)
Lalita Ahmed	...	Old Woman at Market
Saraj Chaudhry	...	Young Man in Temple
Adlyn Ross	...	Rolling Pin Woman (Mrs. Chopra)
Ash Varrez	...	Nan Man (Mr. Chopra)
Zoë Wanamaker	...	Mrs. Goldman
Sally Hawkins	...	Linda / Gitali
Don Warrington	...	Chief Superintendent
Jimi Mistry	...	Dev
Sanjeev Kohli	...	Speed Dating Man #1
Hardeep Singh Kohli	...	Speed Dating Man #2 (as Hardeep Kohli)
Martin Healey	...	Speed Dating Man #3 (as Dar)
Amer Chadha-Patel	...	Speed Dating Man #4
Michael Tarat	...	Speed Dating Man #5
Amit Shah	...	Speed Dating Man #6
Harvey Virdi	...	Overbearing Mother
Madhav Sharma	...	Dev's Father
Ace Bhatti	...	Tej
Preeya Kalidas	...	Karishma
Christopher Simpson	...	J.J Jaan
Mo Sesay	...	Doctor
Toby	...	'Milo' the Dog (Whilst Alive)
Pepper	...	'Milo' the Dog (Whilst a Spirit)
Britain	...	The Parrot
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Greg Bennett	...	Clumsy Shopper (scenes deleted)
Catherine Balavage	...	Waitress (uncredited)
John Edward	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Tashie Jackson	...	Sheila (uncredited)
Sahil Kumar	...	Pakora Waiter (uncredited)
Garry Marriott	...	Paramedic (uncredited)
Nikita Mistry	...	Wedding Dancer (uncredited)
Shane Nolan	...	Detective (uncredited)
Dennis Santucci	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Atul Sharma	...	Engagement Party Guest (uncredited)
Chris Wilson	...	CID Officer (uncredited)

Directed by
Gurinder Chadha

Writing credits
Gurinder Chadha		(written by) &
Paul Mayeda Berges		(written by)

Produced by
Paul Mayeda Berges	....	executive producer
Gurinder Chadha	....	producer
Chris Curling	....	executive producer
Michelle Fox	....	co-producer
Guy Heeley	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Craig Pruess		(original score)

Cinematography by
Dick Pope		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Oral Norrie Ottey

Casting by
Nina Gold
Robert Sterne

Production Design by
Nick Ellis

Art Direction by
Dinos Laftsidis
David Morison		(supervising art director)

Set Decoration by
Liz Griffiths

Costume Design by
Jill Taylor

Makeup Department
Kay Bilk	....	makeup artist
Michael Byrne	....	trainee prosthetic makeup
Nikkie Grimshaw	....	special makeup effects artist
Deborah Jarvis	....	makeup artist
Marese Langan	....	key hair stylist
Marese Langan	....	makeup designer
Susie O'Sullivan	....	prosthetic makeup artist
Jesse Rose Rogers	....	assistant special effects makeup artist
Matthew Smith	....	prosthetic makeup artist
Lucybelle Thompson	....	trainee makeup artist

Production Management
Stephen Barker	....	post-production supervisor
David Bell	....	unit manager
Lorraine Goodman	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jonny Benson	....	second assistant director: pre-production
Paul Mayeda Berges	....	second unit director
Tom Brewster	....	third assistant director
Paul Hayes	....	floor assistant director
Guy Heeley	....	first assistant director
Toby Hosking	....	key second assistant director
Charlie Reed	....	co-second assistant director
George Taylor	....	floor assistant director

Art Department
Will Ayres	....	chargehand standby props
Grant Bailey	....	junior draughtsman
Andy Bottomley	....	graphic designer
Amer Chadha-Patel	....	assistant art director
Stephen Conway	....	standby props
James Custance	....	art department runner
Peter Davis	....	scenic painter
Garry Dawson	....	dressing props
Richard Field	....	stand-by art director
Dave Fisher	....	standby props
Gordon Fitzgerald	....	property master
Bruce Gallup	....	hod painter
Antonia Gibbs	....	production buyer
Andrew Golding	....	construction manager
Tim Lanning	....	head greensman
Jono Moles	....	construction manager
Lucy Moles	....	construction buyer
Eddie Murphy	....	carpenter
Lara Murray	....	scenic painter
Nick Pelham	....	storyboard artist
Craig Price	....	prop storeman
Amandeep Rahi	....	production buyer assistant
Lloyd Vincent	....	set dresser
Paul 'Welcie' Wellstead	....	hod rigger
Matt Wyles	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Hugo Adams	....	foley editor
Hugo Adams	....	sound effects recordist
Niv Adiri	....	sound designer
Niv Adiri	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ben Barker	....	sound effects editor
Sandy Buchanan	....	adr recordist
Ben Collinson	....	sound assistant
Ed Colyer	....	foley mixer
Naomi Dandridge	....	adr recordist
Tom Deane	....	adr mixer
Gillian Dodders	....	dialogue editor
Mike Dowson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tim Fraser	....	sound mixer
Danny Freemantle	....	assistant sound editor
Glenn Freemantle	....	sound designer
Glenn Freemantle	....	supervising sound editor
Glen Gathard	....	assistant foley mixer
Lee Herrick	....	dialogue/adr editor
Eilam Hoffman	....	temp sound editor
Sara Lima	....	sound assistant
Michael Miller	....	adr mixer
Brendan Nicholson	....	sound re-recording mixer
John Rodda	....	sound mixer
Lionel Strutt	....	adr coordinator
William Towers	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Cesar Alonso	....	special effects makeup
Mark Curtis	....	special effects supervisor
Craig Leong	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Matthew Baker	....	digital restoration
Steven Bray	....	digital compositor
Simon Carr	....	visual effects supervisor
Charlotte Gray	....	digital restoration
Thomas M. Horton	....	visual effects producer
Emma Hulme	....	digital restoration
Sarah Juniper	....	digital compositor
Simon Kilroe	....	visual effects artist
Keith Mason	....	visual effects editor
Rick McMahon	....	compositor
Molinare	....	visual effects
Donal Nolan	....	digital compositor
Lewis Saunders	....	compositor
Asa Shoul	....	digital colourist
Shanaullah Umerji	....	visual effects producer
Audrius Urbonavicius	....	digital matte artist

Stunts
Nrinder Dhudwar	....	stunt coordinator
Nrinder Dhudwar	....	stunt performer
Bob Wiesinger	....	flying wire specialist

Camera and Electrical Department
Lucy Bristow	....	camera operator
Wailoon Chung	....	electrician
Pearce Crowley	....	central loader
John Evans	....	second assistant camera
Brian Greenway	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Eugene Grobler	....	lighting technician
Robert Hamilton	....	video coordinator
Mark Hanlon	....	best boy
Adam Lee	....	balloon light technician
Andy Long	....	gaffer
Graham Martyr	....	first assistant camera: second unit
Danny McGee	....	practical electrician
Simon Mein	....	stills photographer
Sam Rawlings	....	focus puller: dailies
Gordon Segrove	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera and Steadicam
Iain Struthers	....	first assistant camera
Iain Struthers	....	focus puller: main camera
Simon Thorpe	....	b camera grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Liza Bracey	....	costume supervisor
Louise Cassettari	....	costume assistant
Clementine Charity	....	costume assistant
Poli Kyriacou	....	costume buyer: dailies
David Wootton	....	costume assistant

Editorial Department
Matthew Benns	....	digital intermediate data manager
Richard Curling	....	assistant editor
Dan Dolan	....	digital intermediate scanner and recorder
Raphi Hill	....	second assistant editor
Todd Kleparski	....	digital intermediate producer
Scott Liddle	....	film scanning
Keith Mason	....	first assistant editor
Rachael Watmough	....	dailies coordinator

Music Department
Niv Adiri	....	music editor
Sukhshinder Shinda	....	playback singer (as Sukshinder Shinda)

Transportation Department
Garry Janes	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Brashna Agha	....	floor runner
Simon Burgess	....	location manager
Luke Carey	....	assistant to producer
Osama Chami	....	production assistant
Paige Chaytor	....	production coordinator
Claudia Cimmino	....	assistant production coordinator
Christian De-vos	....	head of security (as Christian Devos)
Carlton Jarvis	....	medical advisor
Pardeep Sahota	....	assistant: Gurinder Chadha
Albert Sharpe	....	epk producer
Heather Storr	....	script supervisor
Russell Turner	....	assistant location manager
Jo Vaughan	....	key wrangler: dog & parrot (as Jo Vaughan Birds & Animals)

Thanks
Anita Dongre	....	special thanks
Sangita Kathiwada	....	special thanks
Michael Tarat	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Bend It Films
• Indian Film Company (as Indian Films)
• Studio 18 (in association with)

Distributors

• Cathay-Keris Films (2010) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Dignity Distribution
• Front Row Filmed Entertainment (2011) (United Arab Emirates) (all media) (Middle East, North Africa & Iran)
• HBO Hungary (2011) (Hungary) (TV)
• Odeon (2011) (Greece) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Hyperactive Broadcast  editing facilities
• Film Finances  completion guarantor
• Fintage CAM  Collection Account Management
• Fuji Photo Film  motion picture film supplied by
• Glamsham.com  on-line promotion
• Mediacom 24-7  accommodation
• Mediscene  medical props
• Midnight Digital  Dailies
• Movie Lot, The  security
• Palmbrokers  greenery (uncredited)
• Panalux  grip and lighting equipment
• Panavision Grips  grip equipment
• Panavision  camera equipment provided by
• Production Copier Company  production equipment and services
• Sapex Scripts  post-production script services
• Scallywag Travel  travel agent
• TLO Film Services  action vehicles
• Technicolor  release printing

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for drug content and comic violent images

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Punjabi

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:12A | Singapore:PG | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #46337)

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Bend It Films

Trivia:

There's an actor called Jack Gordon in both It's a Wonderful Life and It's a Wonderful Afterlife.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Roopi's DNA is checked for a match against a hair left by the killer, but comes back negative. However, the hair belongs to her mother and any follicle would share mitochondrial DNA, which would definitely be picked up during the test.

Quotes:

Chief Superintendent:Get me a suspect

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Breakfast: Episode dated 26 April 2010" (2010)

Mildly flavoured

Gurinder Chadha brings on her masala mix with the punningly titled Its a wonderful afterlife.

People in Southall are getting murdered rather gruesomely. In a homage to se7en one of them is forced to eat curry until he chokes and his stomach explodes. However all of the newly dead seemed to be stuck in a halfway ghostly state with their murderer.

Their crimes? They called the murderer's daughter fat, too big to get married. Goldy Notay is the slightly on the heavy side jilted fiancée with a good heart but causing her mum (Shabana Azmi) to be stressed as she feels Goldy is being left on the shelf.

Sally Hawkins plays Goldy's best friend who has acquiesced new age Indian beliefs after trip to India. Sendhil Ramamurthy is an old pal of Goldy who is also the police officer investigating the murders and has a thing for Goldy.

After a crafty title you feel the film will be a riff on the more famous James Stewart film but its a soppy love story which takes bits from other movies. There is a Carrie bit, some of it reminded me of Stardust. Some of the characters were not believable, why was Mark Addy's Detective Inspector hell bent on framing Goldy up for the murders when DNA evidence ruled her out?

There are a lot of fat jokes, many of them predictable and unfunny and overall although the film is amiable enough with a nice use of Black's hit song 'Its's a wonderful life' used in a sequence, I felt the film was undercooked both as a romance and a masala comedy.