Naachle London breaks new ground (From Asian Image)

Naachle London breaks new ground

11:01am Thursday 9th February 2012 in Movies By Asian Image reporter

The first ever BollyBrit film is to hit our screens later this month.

Naachle London, from Aviary Films, offers a British take on the classic Bollywood genre, all shot in the UK.

A romantic comedy drama centring around two single parents who meet and fall in love when their children attend a Bollywood dance class in preparation of a competition at the London Mela, Naachle London will appeal to cinemagoers of all ages and backgrounds.

From scriptwriters to music composers the entire team is UK-based.

Adopting the classic, Bollywood narrative structure and influence, Naachle London retells the rich girl-poor boy love story in a contemporary British setting, while dealing with issues that face British society today. These include the recession, interracial relationships, the stigma attached to divorcees among Asian communities and self-esteem and acceptance issues facing teenagers in modern Britain.

It even includes inspires six song-and-dance numbers and traditional themes such as family respect and honour.

Produced and directed by maverick filmmaker Neville Raschid, whose earlier credits are indie Brit flicks, Ealing Comedy, which was hailed “the best movie I’ve seen since Juno” by BBC’s Nikki Bedi and Lost Dogs, which Lisa Snowdon described as her “favourite Brit pic” on ITV1’s This Morning.

Set against the backdrop of the London Mela, Naachle London tells the story of Vijay (Raj Ghatak), a struggling musician and doting father to his daughter Krishna (Alyssa Sharma) with whom he lives in a West London council flat, and Rani (Sofia Hayat), a woman balancing a successful business with extended family life, looking after her daughter Jesse (Gursimran Deu) and son Amit (Aaron Pandher), her widowed, orthodox father JT (Kulvinder Ghir) and wild child sister Pooja (Fagun Thakrar).

A top film producer announces that Indian cinema’s biggest star, Amitav Mahajan, whose 40-year career has included blockbusters such as Deewal, Ajay, Aamir, Andrew aur Ardeshir and Indian cinema’s greatest hit Jwaley, will be searching for a young performer as well as dancers and singers for his new, England-set blockbuster.

The once-in-a-lifetime competition acts as the catalyst that unites single parents Vijay and Rani. However, the path of love is never an easy one, as family members, the wider community, circumstances and destiny itself play their part in distancing the lovers from each other.

Naachle London opens in cinemas on Friday, February 24.