(Pic: Raeesa Mohamed and Simon Morgan in one of the coffee shop scenes)Congratulations all round to producers, directors, cast and crew for an entertaining Durban-made production. (Review by Caroline Smart)
Last night the 30th Durban International Film Festival hosted the world premiere of the Durban romantic comedy, For Better For Worse. Produced by Bright Side Productions, the film is directed by Naresh Veeran and written by Raeesa Mohamed, who played the leading role and wrote the screenplay. Set in Durban, the movie involved 25 locations over 18 days with a crew of 20 and a cast of 70.
Raeesa Mohamed plays Anisa whose life alternates between her successful business as a lawyer and a home life with her mother Ayesha and father Yusuf, brother Farhan and sister Tasneem. Having loved and been betrayed, she is wary of men but pro-actively undertakes to meet those who her mother and friends place in her path. Towards the end of the film, the character is required to drop her steely resolve, fall in love, feel betrayed once again and then rejoice in being reunited with her love. This process Raeesa handles well, with sincerity and passion.
Pulling on his strong comedy skills, Afzal Khan is a delight as Anisa’s tersely strict father with Suria Govender giving an equally strong performance as Ayesha, desperately trying to find a husband for Anisa and shielding the reckless Farhan from his father’s justifiable impatience at his irresponsible lifestyle. Comedy veteran Kogie Naidoo produced the laughs as Ayesha’s gossipy friend Saras and her scenes with Suria Govender are hilarious.
As Farhan, the impressively tall Rahul Brijnath gives the role a good impulsive energy, particularly in his dealings with his shady and volatile friend Iqbal – a good performance from Pranesh Maharaj – and their scene with Roger Service in the Home Affairs office is very amusing. The ever-radiant Kajal Bagwandeen brings a feisty liveliness to the role of Tasneem.
The romantic lead of Zak is in the sure hands of Simon Morgan – not only in his first film appearance but also in his first professional acting role. He contributes just the right amount of quirky ironic humour as well as the reserve required for a man withholding several secrets from the object of his affection. Working with Zak in the coffee shop, Clinton Marius provides good support as the laconic Jeff. Chantal Bond is Anisa’s endearing lovelorn secretary.
Many of the main characters are well-known personalities for their appearances in theatre, film and television as well as in Lotus FM’s radio dramas such as Kumari Ambigay, Mariam Bassa, Pauline Dalais, Hetesh Daya, Dhaveshan Govender, Iris Francis, Hamish Kyd, Shiraz Mohamed, Vivian Moodley, Juanita Ramlochan, Farouk Randeree, Philippa Savage, Shalini Singh, Eubulus Tracey and Rishi Tularam.
The camera work is good and Tansen Nepaul has produced some evocative music for the soundtrack with lyrics by Saffee Siddiqui.
Naresh Veeran announced that we were seeing the long version and that this would be brought down to about 90 minutes for the circuit. In this process, I am sure that the various technical problems such as sound imbalances will be attended to.
For Better For Worse is notable for its major Durban content and humorous storyline which is uncomplicated and totally lacking in the violence which is all too prevalent in films today. The closest you get is a dead body in a boot of a car – and it’s nothing to do with murder! And in true Bollywood style, there’s an extravagant dance sequence. This film was a major undertaking for Bright Side Productions who have just signed a distribution deal with Videovision. The enthusiastic response from last night’s audiences who delighted in the humour heralds further successful productions to come.
There will be another performance of For Better For Worse in the Durban International Film Festival and this will take place on August 1 at 18h00 at Supernova at Suncoast Casino. – Caroline Smart
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