Aylmer to Zazzoo and Beyond: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Dev Patel

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel follows a group of seven British retirees who decide to "outsource" their retirement to less expensive and seemingly exotic India. Enticed by advertisements for the newly restored Marigold Hotel and bolstered with visions of a life of leisure, they arrive to find the palace a shell of its former self. Though the new environment is less luxurious than imagined, they are forever transformed by their shared experiences, discovering that life and love can begin again when you let go of the past.

Haven't seen The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel yet? Well somebody has been going to see it. I'm sorry it took me so long to see it. Since the film opened on May 4, it continues to do well at the box office, even in light of slew of big-budget blockbusters Men in Black 3, Battleship, The Avengers that have come along since then. Marigold’s popularity might be credited to John Madden, who also directed Shakespeare in Love, and to its 24-karat gold cast, including Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson and Bill Nighy, all of them over 60. Bbased on the Deborah Moggach novel, These Foolish Things, about a group of English oldsters who move to a retirement hotel in India. The movie’s reception is proof that there’s a market for movies out there about people who aren’t young and beautiful, just interesting—as are the characters in Marigold. Just ordinary people coping the with end-of-life transitions in a drastically foreign place. The potency of the perennially ill-served older audience has once again been demonstrated.

Imagine in the distant (or not so distant) future, you retire to a warm climate, enjoy a colorful land and best of all, affordable living in a retirement resort. The concept is sold to several retirees from Britain. Little do they know the advertised Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful is a run-down establishment of faded glory. The place is Jaipur, India.

Outsourcing old age, that’s the idea of Hotel owner Sonny Kapoor (Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire) who has inherited the property from his late father. His mother is insistence that he close the failing hotel down and return with her to Delhi and marry the girl of her choice, but Sonny is determined to make it on his own. He has already picked out his girl, and is positive about his plan to outsource retirement, and why not India has already become the successful home of outsourcing of so many other services.

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The previews don’t do justice to the movie. When I first saw them, I wondered…why would such a top-notch cast of veteran British actors sign on to what seems to be a shallow and silly farce? However, after seeing the movie, my guess would be: they envisioned what fun it would be to make this, film and sensed the thematic relevance as well. So, why would I go see this film if I was so underwhelmed by the trailer? I just couldn’t resist the combined star power and my confidence that their judgment saw something I wasn't seeing--plus, I'd go see almost anything with Maggie Smith--and where can you see this many high caliber actors together on one big screen?

The guests are Evelyn (Judi Dench), dependent upon her husband all of her married life is now recently widowed. She decides to take charge of her life; Muriel (Maggie Smith), an acerbic xenophobic racist who won’t eat anything she can’t pronounce (brought back memories of her stellar performance in Death On The Nile as Bette Davis' domestic servant), needs a hip replacement and the socialized National Health will put her on a 9 month to a year wait list for the surgery, her Indian surgeon suggest she can get the surgery cheaper and almost immediately in India; Douglas and Jean (Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton), are an incompatible couple who have stayed together out of habit and loyalty; Graham (Tom Wilkinson), a judge following his heart returns to his former home to look for a long-lost friend; Madge (Celia Imrie), still single and still after retirement, looking for Mr. Right; and Norman (Ronald Pickup), a horny old goat who seemingly knows exactly what he wants.

The humor comes naturally and unforced, the dialogue is witty and refreshing, something that is not easily found in comedies out of Hollywood. This charming cast of veteran actors exude a sense of seriousness in their performances, authenticating their characters which makes their simple storylines convincing.

Oscar nominated director John Madden (Shakespeare In Love,1998) has done a fine job knitting together the on-screen chemistry of his cast. Their camaraderie as fellow travellers from the UK and as guests in the Marigold Hotel make the characters appealing and interesting. Each and every storyline is intriguing right from the onset of the film, They draw you into each of their lives while they are still in England and you expectantly join them on their journey to India, open and ready to experience the unfolding of events.

Typical of all ‘exotic’ movies, there are cultural features that can easily lead to stereotyping and patronizing. Unexpectedly, these ‘typical’ portrayals are few and mostly restrained. The film was shot right in Udaipur, India. I saw Marigold Hotel with a 96 year old, I didn't expect too much of this film and was therefore very pleasantly surprised. We both enjoyed this film, it is simply delightful, one that you might not mind watching again.