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Spice and forbidden love

28/ 7/2006

A LOVE for hot and spicy food was the inspiration behind director Pratibha' Parmar's debut feature 'Nina's Heavenly Delights.'

The comedy, which has been hailed as a spicy combination of family, food and many surprises will sizzle onto UK cinema screens in September and award winning documentary filmmaker Parmar hopes everyone will enjoy the film as much as she loved making it.

"The journey from script to screen has been a particularly long and challenging one," said Parmar. "I set out to direct this film about curries, kilts and queens in the spirit of fun, filling the screen with truthful human emotions in a world full of colour, music and sumptuous food. My hope is that audiences will love the film as much as I do!"

The film follows the story of Nina Shah (played by Shelley Conn) - a feisty young woman who left home under a cloud. She returns to the family owned Indian restaurant in Glasgow following the death of her father. Upon her return she discovers that dad has left behind huge gambling debts, she has a confrontation with a jilted ex-fiancée, and meets Lisa (Laura Fraser), a charismatic young woman who owns half the restaurant.

With courage Nina battles to win back the family business and fulfil her father's secret wishes of winning the 'Best of the West' curry competition.....and along the way finds the divine taste of love in another woman.

Said Parmar who wanted to explore the theme of forbidden love: "At the heart of 'Nina's Heavenly Delights' is an unexpected and surprising love story. The core theme of the film, freedom to love, defines all the characters and in particular the central character, Nina.

"Through her story, and my own experiences, I explore the pull between family duty and personal desire and wanted to show how it is possible to be true to yourself despite what duty or tradition might dictate without having to sacrifice your family."

The director was inspired by many influences from her own life to bring the production to life.

"In some ways it's autobiographical. I wanted to write a love story where a young woman falls in love with another woman when they least expect it. I wanted to set it in an Indian restaurant because my partner grew up in her family owned Pakistani restaurant in London and we had fallen in love when making a curry for a group of mutual friends.

"The title of the film actually comes from my sister, Nina who once owned a catering company called, Nina's Heavenly Delights. So that's how those different personal elements came together. Ultimately it's a film about family, food and love, all themes that I am interested in.

"I wanted to make this film in an entertaining and uplifting way but without compromising the integrity of the story. It's a celebratory, urban fairytale albeit in a world full of real people. The magic of the film is that it touches all kinds of people without pandering to formulas or clichés and manages to remain honest."

Parmar wrote the story seven years and set it in Glasgow because she wanted to capture the charm and warmth of Scotland's Asian community that she had met as well as showing off a bit of Scottish architectural delights.

"The film is a wonderful blend of Indian and Scottish cultures, which has not been seen before," she said. "I also grew up on a diet of Bollywood films with their colourful and unique mixture of family drama, music, dance, comedy, fantasy and inevitably some of this has found its way into 'Nina's Heavenly Delight.'"

But food is the catalyst for the central love story in the film which has a number of "mouth watering" kitchen scenes.

"I love food but my favourite food has to be Indian. The film's finale - the best of the west curry competition - gives a fabulous excuse to show off Indian cuisine.

"I wanted the smell and taste of the food to waft across the screen. It was both fun and frustrating trying to pull off the food shots and convey its sensuality, colour and textures in the limited time we had," she added.

NINA'S HEAVENLY DELIGHTS will be released by Verve Pictures on 29 September