Review of The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015) by Tim M — 25 Mar 2015

It is reasonably amusing, quirky, and crisp. But, before we get into the content of the 'Second best exotic marigold hotel', let us talk some numbers. And from that angle, you might even find the movie to be kinda smart too, if only a bit undeservingly so.

It was made with a modest budget of $10 million and thus far (just a little over a month into its run) it has garnered global ticket sales of ~ $60 million. At this rate, it could very well be a $150 million hit when it is all done (its first installment made almost as much with a similar budget). Now, compare that with a 2013 mega hit from Bollywood, Dhoom 3, which, with a budget of $20 million, made only $85 million by the end of its run. 'So, why should we make this comparison?' 'Marigold Hotel 1 & 2' fit into an unofficial genre called 'Bollywood Lite' or 'Bollywood from Britain (mostly)' which concoct drama, light humor, part celebration and part mockery of Indian backdrops, and imitation (or even worse, copy and paste, as is the case here) of Bollywood song/dance sequences with hybrid star casts (whose Indian participants often belong to the support cadre in mainstream Bollywood, at best). Yet, as we can see from the numbers, these sandwiches made of Bollywood leftovers seem to be serving quite a meal to the global audience. Doesn't that call for a shout out to Bollywood to wake up and smell the coffee and to rise up to serving 'Diet Bollywood' to global audience? And, while at it, if they can make this emerging genre more known for wholesomeness (more original, compelling, objective, and entertaining ), ridding it of the fixation on ridicule, all the better. One can, however, argue that the tier 1 players (the so called superstars) wouldn't 'stoop so low' as to playing in a hybrid cast or with such lite content (i.e no melodrama). True, but how about the tier just below that? As for the off-screen talent, there has been so much of it on display lately (but all in Hindi for domestic market only vs in English and for the world) with the new breed of writers, producers, and directors. If the idea brings with it the specters of experiments like late Krishna Shah's Shalimar (1978), we must realize that it was way ahead of its time and that it was a bi-lingual that used dubbing and had two versions of content. Also to note here is the success of recent efforts of this ilk such as 'Hundred Foot Journey' which is from Hollywood but co-produced by Reliance of India.

Now to go back to the content of this movie, it is a classic case of taking the above 'masala' of ingredients, and throwing it all up on the screen and watching what sticks. And, a decent amount of it does, thanks to some unaffected performances, brisk visualization coupled with script/dialogue, and a marked absence of melodrama (even by Hollywood standards). The fact that it is all loosely strung together into a love story that moves from Sagaai (Engagement) to Sangeet (Family Dance) to Shaadi (Wedding) doesn't hurt either, in spite of the plot being wafer thin and anaemic. Funny how such numbers from 8 years ago as 'Ye Ishq Haaye' from 'Jab We Met' (2007) and the title song of Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007) can sound rather refreshing when interlaced with the jaunty narrative, as opposed to in the timeworn 'here comes the song break' style....;-).