It’s a Wonderful Afterlife / Hai Marjawaan!

It's a Wonderful Afterlife could have...would have...should have...but all it does is end up as average fare: Indian curry yes, yet minus the tangy flavour.

...is missing the energy and the zing of her previous hit "Bend It Like Beckham", but it's a moderately entertaining film nonetheless thanks to some witty dialogue, and the enthusiastic performances of its two female protagonists.

...after the enjoyably batty It’s A Wonderful Afterlife, I suppose it’s time to wonder how Gurinder Chadha was drawn to an empowerment saga like Bend It Like Beckham in the first place. Her talents seem to be those of a natural-born farceur...

...the overall effort to lightly poke fun at the Indian diaspora is amusing and appreciated after so many self-important and overwrought works on the subject. But the film's bad moments outweigh the good.

...is not so wonderful at all. At most, it’s a bheja boil.

You cringe in helplessness, to realise, this is just a sad B-movie, merely testing bounds of insanity, secretly hoping for a cult status.

An engaging premise, but a weak script plays spoil sport in making this afterlife wonderful.

...is one of those films that should not have happened. It is way too strained in concept and far too outlandish in execution.

...is anything but wonderful.

This is just the sort of film that makes you wonder - Who funded this trash? Who put their faith and their money where their brain should be? And why should we tolerate such unacceptable cinema?

Long after It's a Wonderful Afterlife has run its course on screen, you wonder what the film was all about. If you managed to stay awake, that is.

It’s anything but funny. There are hardly a couple of lines that bring the smile on.