Talk about genre fluid. The debut feature from Nida Manzoor, creator of criminally unsung sitcom We Are Lady Parts, artfully - and then clumsily - meshes up martial arts, a heist caper, Bollywood, and a tale of family honour in a rumbustious tale of sibling strife and doing the right thing.
Making her big screen debut as a leading lady, Priya Kansara has charisma and roundhouse kicks to spare as Ria, a Pakistani schoolgirl who dreams of becoming a famous stuntwoman. Meanwhile, her older sister Lena (Ritu Arya) is an art school dropout who lolls listlessly about their social climbing but well-meaning parent's house as her future ebbs away.
Watch our interview with Priya Kansara and Nida Manzoor
However, when Lena becomes engaged to Salim, a seemingly perfect young doctor played by Akshay Khanna, alarm bells go off in Ria’s overactive teen mind and she determines to sabotage their wedding.
Aided by her best mates, a comedic pairing of Alba (Ella Bruccoleri) and Clara (Seraphina Beh), she hatches a series of elaborate plans to shanghai the nuptials, leading to a wedding day showdown between Ria and arch villainess Reesha (Nimra Bucha), the wonderfully camp mother of this very unsuitable boy.
Packed with heightened genre nods and a loveable central character, Manzoor carries the whole thing off with real flair, mixing up a satire on Pakistani family mores, and Bollywood meets martial arts high jinks, culminating in a frenetic third act that is all action and all fun.
This slapstick, madcap riot of a movie gets down to the genetic level of family honour. East is East it is not.
Alan Corr @CorrAlan2
