The first Best Exotic Marigold Hotel film was a surprise hit, grossing a total of $140 million dollars at worldwide box office. Now a companion film, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, is likely to be another popular win for Fox Searchlight Pictures in collaboration with others.
Both films were directed by John Madden. The original cast has some additions. The players are Dame Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton, Ronald Pickup, Tina Desai, Diana Hardcastle, Lillette Dubey, Tamzin Grieg, Shazad Latif, David Strathairn and Richard Gere. The screenplay is by Ol Parker.
It’s a meaningful film set in India in a hotel. Sunny, played by Dev Patel, has expansionist plans and wants to succeed in his hotel entrepreneurship. A motley collection of guests, each with an important backstory, arrives to play out a fascinating narrative.
Sunny lives in the shadow of his handsome, rich, clever cousin and is about to get married to Sunaina, played by Tina Desai. They, along with Dame Judi and others, are reprising their characters from the first Marigold film. Except that each of their natures is explored in a deeper way and they all travel some sort of dramatic arc. The audience is carried along and easily engages with each character’s journey.
The Asian Voice was invited to meet the director and a few of the principal actors. Through the course of an afternoon after a preview screening, we spoke to each person for around half an hour each.
John Brennan said that he had been able to collect much of the original cast and crew, and that shooting in India was “A good experience in every way.” Shooting during the marriage season posed challenges- one wedding party even borrowed the set for the on screen wedding of Sunny and Sunaina for its own real-life nuptuals! Mr Brennan praised Dev Patel’s energy and comic timing.
Actor Bill Nighy said that he took “Yorkshire tea bags and Marmite” out with him to India.
This paper asked Dev Patel if there was going to be a third Marigold film. He replied, “We only came back because we enjoyed the first one so much. The offer to come back for me was a no-brainer. It’s a dream for any young actor to perform with these legends. It’s a dream role...it’s a lot deeper. I don’t know if we can top this.” He said that in India, he stays with his best friend, called Ragu, who lives in Juhu. He also said that he doesn’t enjoy dancing on film.
The Asian Voice also asked who the movie is aimed at. “It’s not now aimed [just] at the over 40s. They put a lot of screen time on me. It’s a triumphant film about growing up, marriage, young love.” Dev found Richard Gere “very Zen, into yoga and meditation, very collaborative.”
This paper asked the question on every girl’s lips; “Are you single?” Mr Patel volunteered, “I am,” before saying that his “ideal woman is confident. I like being tested. I like a woman who is ambitious and has her own thing going for her. That’s productive, a great driving force, very attractive.”
So naturally, The Asian Voice needed to ask Tina Desai how she found her on- screen Romeo. She said that Dev was always full of energy, always rushing around wanting to do things like go bowling. But romance? She dispelled that illusion quickly. “We have zero chemistry off camera, he’s such a goofy boy. He tries hard at flirting but he’s hopeless as hell,” she laughed.
