 "Still second best")
Actor Bill Nighy was reportedly shocked when he heard the producers of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel were planning a sequel, according to Variety. That is understandable, considering the first part's premise did not sound like it would set the box office on fire. But aided by a star cast of Nighy, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Dev Patel and Lillete Dubey, the film turned out to be sleeper hit, and so now The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is open for business.
That is, in fact, what Patel and Smith are trying to do in the sequel, among other things: find investors to fund the expansion of Patel's dream of "outsourcing old age", by acquiring another hotel in Jaipur. While the bald, moustachioed Mr Maruti was courted to bring in the money to prop up the decrepit Marigold Hotel in part one, Sonny (Patel) and Ms Donnelly (Smith) are now aiming higher. The film opens with the duo meeting potential investors in the US, where Donnelly tries to restrain Sonny's breathless enthusiasm but without much success. The investors agree on the condition that a hotel inspector approves of it. But he will be visiting anonymously, so it's anybody's guess which new guest he might be. Patel plumps for Richard Gere, and showers him with attention, at the cost of another new guest who checks in at the same time. And all this comes in the backdrop of another life-changing event for Sonny - his wedding to his girlfriend, Sunaina (Tena Desae).
But with its ensemble cast, this is not a story about any one protagonist. There are the various threads of the others who have stayed back at The Best Exotic Marigold (for the elderly and beautiful), in the twilight of their lives. In the sequel, the widowed Dench, as Evelyn, has found her feet in business and is venturing into new avenues, while Norman (Ronald Pickup) and Madge (Celia Imrie) now run the expats club and Douglas (Nighy) tries to be a tourist guide. There is romance everywhere, with pretty much everyone paired off. Except Madge, who is spoilt for choice with not one, but two royal personages as suitors and the redoubtable Donnelly, who one cannot imagine anybody gathering the courage to woo. While Sunny tries to figure out how to bag the investment, mostly by trying to impress Gere, the latter has set his eyes on Sunny's mother, the lovely Dubey.
I had watched The Best Marigold Hotel with a lot of scepticism but was pleasantly surprised to find it enjoyable in a sedate but charming way. It was also richer for the subtlety. Those who watched the first film would be curious about what the cast of characters are up to but even though the sequel too is directed by John Madden, it does not quite live up to the charm of the first. It is still the second best exotic Marigold Hotel.
That is, in fact, what Patel and Smith are trying to do in the sequel, among other things: find investors to fund the expansion of Patel's dream of "outsourcing old age", by acquiring another hotel in Jaipur. While the bald, moustachioed Mr Maruti was courted to bring in the money to prop up the decrepit Marigold Hotel in part one, Sonny (Patel) and Ms Donnelly (Smith) are now aiming higher. The film opens with the duo meeting potential investors in the US, where Donnelly tries to restrain Sonny's breathless enthusiasm but without much success. The investors agree on the condition that a hotel inspector approves of it. But he will be visiting anonymously, so it's anybody's guess which new guest he might be. Patel plumps for Richard Gere, and showers him with attention, at the cost of another new guest who checks in at the same time. And all this comes in the backdrop of another life-changing event for Sonny - his wedding to his girlfriend, Sunaina (Tena Desae).
But with its ensemble cast, this is not a story about any one protagonist. There are the various threads of the others who have stayed back at The Best Exotic Marigold (for the elderly and beautiful), in the twilight of their lives. In the sequel, the widowed Dench, as Evelyn, has found her feet in business and is venturing into new avenues, while Norman (Ronald Pickup) and Madge (Celia Imrie) now run the expats club and Douglas (Nighy) tries to be a tourist guide. There is romance everywhere, with pretty much everyone paired off. Except Madge, who is spoilt for choice with not one, but two royal personages as suitors and the redoubtable Donnelly, who one cannot imagine anybody gathering the courage to woo. While Sunny tries to figure out how to bag the investment, mostly by trying to impress Gere, the latter has set his eyes on Sunny's mother, the lovely Dubey.
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The first half is enjoyable enough, with Sunny's bombastic but entertaining dialogues and antics, aided by the rest of the stellar cast. Donnelly might be getting typecast in the role of the acerbic wit with the deadly one-liners but it's a role she performs with aplomb, as in the TV series Downton Abbey. The second half, though, stretches itself thin and gets slightly mawkish. And as with its predecessor, the film is on shaky grounds when it portrays Indian families and relationships (Remember Sunaina making out with Sunny without a care in the world in front of the call centre where she works?).
I had watched The Best Marigold Hotel with a lot of scepticism but was pleasantly surprised to find it enjoyable in a sedate but charming way. It was also richer for the subtlety. Those who watched the first film would be curious about what the cast of characters are up to but even though the sequel too is directed by John Madden, it does not quite live up to the charm of the first. It is still the second best exotic Marigold Hotel.