Project Detail

The Blue Tower

Ariel Van Straten

Synopsis

First feature by award-winning Indian British writer/director Smita Bhide, set in Southall, West London's colourful and bustling Indian community.

Mohan dreams of escape: from his unhappy marriage, his overbearing family, his unexciting prospects. He finds it by falling into an affair with the pretty young nurse looking after his cantankerous bed-ridden Auntie Kamla. At first the relationships feels like the answer to his prayers, but there are secrets to come out and before long he's on a road to disaster, his every step dogged by the looming menace of the Blue Tower waiting for him round every corner.

Featuring a cast of Asian actors and shot on HD, The Blue Tower plays like something by James M. Cain with touches of Great Expectations thrown in. It's not a 'corner-shop comedy' or a Bollywood pastiche but something new in British-Asian cinema, a full-blooded story of illicit passion and desperate hope which presents a unique and cinematic portrait of multicultural Britain.

Details

Year: 2006
Type of film: Features
Running time: 100 mins approx
Format: HDV, 35mm
Director: Smita Bhide 1st Feature
Producer: Jamie Nuttgens
Editor: Brian Hovmand
Screenwriter: Smita Bhide
Director of Photography: Anne Marie Lean-Vercoe
Sound: Colin Crockatt, Keith Nixon
Music: Sandy Nuttgens
Principal cast: Abhin Galeya, Alice O' Connell, Indira Joshi, Manjinder Virk, Kayvan Novak

Genre

Action Woman Director Asian Drama

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Monkey In Heaven Films Ltd

96D Lancaster Road
London W11 1QS
UK

T +44 (0)20 7792 1769

jamie@monkeyinheaven.co.uk

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Winner of the Best UK Feature Award 2008 at Raindance Film Festival, The Blue Tower is the first feature by award-winning Indian British writer/director Smita Bhide, set in Southall, West London's colourful and bustling Indian community. Mohan dreams of escape: from his unhappy marriage, his overbearing family, his unexciting prospects. He finds it by falling into an affair with the pretty young nurse looking after his cantankerous bed-ridden Auntie Kamla. At first the relationships feels like the answer to his prayers, but there are secrets to come out and before long he's on a road to disaster, his every step dogged by the looming menace of the Blue Tower waiting for him round every corner. Featuring a cast of Asian actors and shot on HD, The Blue Tower plays like something by James M. Cain with touches of Great Expectations thrown in. It's not a 'corner-shop comedy' or a Bollywood pastiche but something new in British-Asian cinema, a full-blooded story of illicit passion and desperate hope which presents a unique and cinematic portrait of multicultural Britain. "Dark domestic thriller marks a new departure for British Asian cinema" (Empire Online). "Smart writing and dark humour elevates The Blue Tower from an accomplished thriller to an extraordinary cinematic experience" (Deepa Mehta, Director "Water"). Best UK Feature 2008 Raindance Film Festival.

Action Woman Director

Cup and Lip

Director: Smita Bhide

Year: 2002

Shot with available light on DVCam, Cup and Lip is the story of a drunk driver Gary who blackmails his yong son, Nikhil, into keeping a deadly secret. A gritty, poignant tale of trust and betrayal.

Drama

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