CobraVision
2nd July 2007  
 
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Dir: Pratibha Parmar, 2006, UK, 94 mins
Cast: Shelley Conn, Laura Fraser, Art Malik, Ronny Jhutti, Veena Sood
Reviewed by: Jinny Nagra
Official website: http://www.ninasheavenlydelights.com
NINA'S HEAVENLY DELIGHTS - PG
View Trailer:

 

In the centre of Glasgow lies a curry house, which is home to an Indian Scottish Family.  With the recent death of the curry house owner, daughter Nina Shah (Conn) a feisty Indo-Scottish woman returns to her home town from London, to confront a life she once shunned after a personal conflict with her parents.  With the recent death, Nina takes it upon herself to run the family owned curry house and reunite with her family and her childhood friend Bobby, a Bollywood drag queen, who entertains her through his many performances throughout the film.

She embarks on a journey to fulfil her fathers secret wishes of winning the �Best of the West� curry prize, with tough competition from others in the region.  With 50 per cent of her restaurant sold to Lisa, an old school friend and daughter of the local bookie, she attempts to win back the restaurant and debts incurred by her father, through her magical cooking, although this just brings the old school friends intimately closer.

Born in Nairobi Kenya, Director Pratibha Parmar�s ideas on film stem from her own experiences, she once said that her work ��spanned many themes and ideas�, arising ��from her own passions and commitments�.  It is these experiences of the world that have led her to approach various topics within film, such as identity and passion.

However, Nina�s Heavenly Delights is a rather waterless look at Indian identity, what life as an Indian residing in Glasgow entails and the ins and outs of relationships.   The films soundtrack keeps viewers entertained though, boasting the likes of Jamie Callum, Rishi Rich Project, Fame Academy�s Alex Parks, Steve Isles and old times favourites the Nolans and Lata Mangeshkar.
 
Mediocre performances from Shelley Conn (Possession, Down to Earth, currently shooting a major BBC series �Party Animals�) who plays Nina, Laura Fraser (Vanilla Sky, Sixteen Years of Alcohol, Knight�s Tale), and established UK actor Art Malik (True Lies, Living Daylights), Nina�s Heavenly Delights has a rather long and drawn out predictable plot that concludes what viewers first anticipate.