Summaries

A group of women of Indian descent take a trip together from their home in Birmingham, England to the beach resort of Blackpool. The events of the day lead them to better mutual understanding and solidarity.

A group of women of Indian descent take a trip together from their home in Birmingham, England to the beach resort of Blackpool. The women vary in ages from mid-teens to old, and initially have little in common. But the events of the day lead them to better mutual understanding and solidarity.—Reid Gagle

A group of ladies, of East Indian origin, mostly Punjabi-speaking, settled in Great Britain, decide to hire a bus and take a day off. They decide to go a beach resort. In the early hours of the morning, they gather together, and get ready for the ride on the bus. This is a day none of them will forget and some will even cherish for the rest of their lives, as events unfold, and each woman must use her individual strength to face the challenges of their life - even during an outing on the beach.—rAjOo ([email protected])

Details

Keywords
  • england
  • f rated
  • seaside
  • tradition versus modernity
  • generation gap
Genres
  • Adventure
  • Comedy
  • Drama
Release date Jan 20, 1994
Motion Picture Rating (MPA) R
Countries of origin United Kingdom
Language English Punjabi
Filming locations Blackpool, Lancashire, England, UK
Production companies Channel Four Films Umbi Films

Box office

Gross US & Canada $734634
Gross worldwide $739055

Tech specs

Runtime 1h 41m
Color Color
Aspect ratio 1.85 : 1

Synopsis

A community group of Indian women (mostly Punjabis of various faiths) of all generations from Great Britain, take a group day out to the Blackpool Illuminations. The tensions of the generation gap torn between tradition and modernism as well as the personal upsets and issues of the women and girls come to boiling point as they spend the day out.

Simi the head of the group has modern social beliefs about feminism, that the older women in her community club object to, however she manages to be the caring and in control figure who holds the day together despite tensions. Ginder is escaping from her abusive criminal husband with her young son and fighting with the stigmatization of single motherhood and her son's pleas to have both a mother and father again. Two boy-crazy teenage girls meet with the disapproval of the conservative older ladies. Hashida is a high flying student who is about to start medical school, yet would prefer to be studying painting and has hidden her Afro-Caribbean boyfriend Oliver for a year from her family. Now she has found herself pregnant and both she and him have to weigh up not only the implications of having a child, but also if their relationship will stand the strain of social disapproval. Aasha is a devout Hindu and fan of Bollywood cinema, who is stuck with a humdrum life in her convenience shop who finds excitement and a sense of fulfilling missed opportunities in life with a charming, eccentric and artistic English actor in Blackpool yet is torn with her sense of responsibility not to break her marriage up.

In the end, most of the characters have their stories left often. We do not see what happens to Aasha or with Oliver and Hashida and the final scenes of these characters seem quite content but open-ended. Ginder and her son escape the violence of her husband and the most conservative characters receive a humorous treatment in a strip club.

All Filters