[star rating=”3.5″] POLITE SOCIETY. Written and directed by Nida Manzoor. Starring Priya Kansara, Ritu Arya, Renu Brindle and more.
MEGAN CHORITZ reviews
I attended the preview of Polite Society at Ster Kinekor in Cavendish Square the other night, and it was the strangest, cutest thing – there was a full-on Kung Fu presentation on the hard, tiled floor outside the movie theatre, with the invited crowd of locals cheering – a very targeted audience for this action comedy.
I was excited for the film after seeing the trailer, with its fast action, slow-mo kicks and flips, all timed perfectly to Bollywood tracks, but even though I absolutely enjoyed it, and had a good giggle and a few LOL moments, I think I had hoped that the plot, intention and message would have been taken a bit further.
The plot. A young schoolgirl, Ria Khan, who is hell bent on becoming a stunt woman, believes that she must save her older, art college dropout sister, Lena, from her impending marriage. After enlisting her friends’ help, she attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists, in the name of independence and sisterhood.
Traditional roles of women and girls are challenged
Set squarely in the Indian community of London, this cheeky film relies heavily on setting up and then challenging the traditional stereotypes that are often portrayed in this community that gave us Bend it Like Beckham and East is East. Again, the traditional roles of women and girls are challenged and upended. Ria takes on the school bully, her parents, her changed sister, and mostly, her sister’s mother-in-law, and then things turn seriously, freakily weird in the basement during the wedding celebrations, before Ria exposes everyone to the full story.
The film’s style is fantastic, with scene titles reminiscent of old-fashioned Kung Fu films, in golden old-fashioned font. The Kung Fu sequences are highly styled and beautifully comedic, and the characters and performances are wonderful and edgy, with a fresh contemporary feel. I adored the schoolgirl friendship triangle the most.
Cute and funny film
And of course, it is a joy to have the traditional leads of the film be young and female. The male parts are completely secondary and incidental in Polite Society.
I enjoyed every minute of this cute and funny film, but ultimately wished the envelope had been pushed even more. (I have just typed that and thought for the first time what a strange saying that is). But hey, I am so not absolutely necessarily the target audience for Polite Society. Those that are seemed to adore it. Here’s hoping that many more stunt women of colour will take the plunge!
What: Polite Society
Where: Ster-Kinekor cinemas countrywide and the Labia cinema in Cape Town
WS
