A Conversation with Tina Desai
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is the expansionist dream of Sonny (Dev Patel), and it’s making more claims on his time than he has available, considering his imminent marriage to the love of his life, Sunaina (Tina Desai).
Sonny has his eye on a promising property now that his first venture, ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful’, has only a single remaining vacancy – posing a rooming predicament for fresh arrivals Guy (Richard Gere) and Lavinia (Tamsin Greig). Evelyn and Douglas (Judi Dench and Bill Nighy) have now joined the Jaipur workforce, and are wondering where their regular dates for Chilla pancakes will lead, while Norman and Carol (Ronald Pickup and Diana Hardcastle) are negotiating the tricky waters of an exclusive relationship, as Madge (Celia Imrie) juggles two eligible and very wealthy suitors. Perhaps the only one who may know the answers is newly installed co-manager of the hotel, Muriel (Maggie Smith), the keeper of everyone’s secrets. As the demands of a traditional Indian wedding threaten to engulf them all, an unexpected way forward presents itself.
The Fan Carpet’s Amanda Dal had the pleasure of talking to Tena Desae ahead of its release on February 26…
How did you get involved with the film?
The first one happened through auditions. The first with casting director and then two rounds with John, the final round actually had me do all the scenes in the film. The second one, thankfully, happened automatically and that is what I like. It is very nice when you don’t have to audition for it because an audition can be very very stressful. The second one happened, and it’s really funny that it happened because at the end of the first one I think Marigold Hotel is something that everybody enjoyed, it was a big personally satisfying experience for everybody because everyone got along. It is a comedy that you are shooting so it’s a very good happy atmosphere on set. . So the farewell for the first film was actually quite teary for a lot a of people because it was such an emotional thing for everyone and we were joking about it that ‘oh we should make a sequel, it is the only way we will all meet again.’ So when the sequel actually did happen it was like ‘ but we were only joking about it and it’s actually happening like how cool is that?’ And that shows because the entire team, except for some three new faces, was the same. Cast and crew came back for the second one and they came back bigger because everyone came with their husbands and mothers and fathers and children and neighbours and friends… you know the set had turned into a visiting place because everyone had guests coming to meet the rest of the unit. So it was a very personal experience for everyone, a very emotional experience for everyone so I’m very glad I got as second shot at it because personally and professionally it was very gratifying.
It is my love story you shouldn’t get me started, once I start off there will be poems and I will be singing … and … of Marigold Hotel.
Was there any particular challenge to coming back and repeating the role in the second film?
I actually credit the writer for this. I kind of take for granted that he is going to write something really amazing, and he did, I’m just really glad that I have a bigger part in this one. The whole story is centred around the wedding, there is so much dancing in it and I find it really funny that I’m dancing for the first time in an English film and not a Bollywood film. I should have been dancing there but I did it here. I was terrified initially so I went for four months of dance rehearsals on my own at a private Bollywood lesson before I started the actual rehearsals for this movie because dancing can be a very big deal and you can’t muck it up. I was personally very afraid of dancing so I kind of came out that shell and now I can’t wait to dance. It was just something I was afraid of on camera. Also, the thing is when you watch the first film it ends on a very happy note and you kind of think that everyone’s characters go on to do a certain thing, when you watch the way the first one ends, but in the second one every character’s journey is very different from what you would have predicted at the end of the first one. So, I like that there’s that surprise element. I like that there is a strong story in sequel, because I hear that it is not common to have a strong sequel, so I’m glad.
What do you want the audience to take away from this film? How do want them to react?
I think the strongest message would be never to gives up living, a somewhat deep message to give but it’s given quite lightly so it’s not in a preachy depressing way. It is actually a very positive hopeful message. You leave feeling hopeful; you leave feeling positive; you leave feeling happy. It’s a very feel good film that says: if you’ve been given the blessing of life you should not stop living no matter what your age because there is always a surprise round the corner and you can always lap up each opportunity when given it. You can choose to sit down at the age of 55 and say ‘I have arthritis and I’m going to depend on my grandchildren for the rest of my life’ or you can actively pursue a career, be independent, have a personal life, a romantic life and it can be completely satisfying. You can have the same problems a 25-year-old has; it is not like you have figured life out because it continues to be a mystery. So to enjoy that experience and enjoy that opportunity, and I think that’s an important message to give to older people who tend to lose faith or give up on life, and to younger people who fear old age. That is something that you can see with the actors in real life as well; Judy, Maggie, Bill Nighy, Richard Gere all of them have active lives even now, they’ve got their careers, they’ve got their personal lives, they’re travelling the world, they talk to you about anything books, movies, travelling experiences, religion, politics, anything. The reason I am saying that because you see a lot of older people in India who just retire from work and do nothing but just wait for death, which is just really sad, and that’s when you fear old age. But you should still live life when you can.
What was it like working with John Madden and the cast?
I love John’s method, especially because it’s a comedy. So what he does is he has many rehearsals and lets you do you own thing for the first few and just sees how it’s all working out because when you are working in an ensemble cast in a scene, there are a lot of reactions that you can play off. So, each time you’re rehearse it you what the other one is doing and you adapt your performance to kind of bring that in or to use their reactions of their body language or their dialogue delivery to change or enhance your performance. That only comes with many rehearsals. I like that we were given the luxury of time to get it right. He will only give you pointers if he feels like he has to add something on or change something otherwise he lets you play it out, he gives you that freedom, which I think is very creative. You can just blindly trust him because he notices everything; be it lighting, shadows, some props, something on set, your performance, your costume and the number of things that he can pay attention to on that monitor is amazing. You just have to have complete faith in him because is actually seeing it all. He is John Madden so it’s just a privilege and an honour to work with him the second time around. It’s just brilliant.
Do you have any particularly memorable moments from set?
I think he funniest thing is that a lot of us would be wrapped up but we wouldn’t go back to our hotel. We would just stick around set and hang around with the set department or with the other actors. In fact I would do this very often, I’d sit and chat with whichever actor and the moment action would be called I would run off or when they order the set I would run off to a corner where I can’t be seen. Then when they call cut and do the next change I would go back running in and just chat. A lot of us would do that, we’d just hang around and chat and have a good time. So I think that’s funny but I think one of the more interesting experiences for me, that helped, was we were shooting a dance sequence the next morning at dawn, so because light was very important and we had limited time to get it right, we rehearsed the dance the previous evening to get the camera angles and all that. So I did the rehearsals at dusk after pack up, and Richard Gere was packed up but he didn’t go home, he came back on set to watch the dance rehearsal and he very sweetly plonked himself beside the camera to see everything that was going on, he was recording it on his phone, and I finished my entire rehearsal and I didn’t know he had recoded it on his camera. Then he showed John and the DOB that night and they were like ‘this is really great it looks nice at dusk, we’re shooting it at dawn but it looks really great at dusk, it’s just the silhouette.’ Then they decided to re-shoot the song again the next evening at dusk because they liked that. So, I actually got an extra sequence to shoot for because of that it. So yeah, I think that’s just really great that everyone was so interested in the film and liked the process so much that they just involved themselves in everyway and I loved that.
It sounds like you have quite a lot of freedom to develop your character and things like that, was it like that?
In the first film the script was written first and then the actors were cast; but in the second one, because the actors were already in place and we had already finished the one and we had seen how the characters had played out and what the actors were doing with their parts, it was written in such a way keeping the actors and knowing how they performed, it’s very different form when you’re doing it blind. Also that writer actor mind-meld that happens when you understand how a writer thinks and what he wants and his style of writing and his sense of humour; and when he understands the actor and how they perform a line and how they play their character, then that sort of synergy adds and enhances to the quality of the product. So yes, we were given freedom but also it was written knowing what we do and we read it and performed knowing what was expected, that understanding was there this time. It kind of makes the process automatic. But yes, because I had more to do I could explore my character and the craft and her whole personality more. Obviously because that means I am ok at the hotel this time so I have an intimate relationship with all of the guest, I wasn’t because I was working in a call centre so I didn’t know any of the guests, and I’m involved in the family now so I have a relationship with mother-in-law so there’s just more happening in Sunaina’s life which was fun to play. Also what I found interesting was that I have close relationship with Muriel. Muriel’s a character that does not open up to very many people; she’s quite a loner and does not open up personally. She kind of takes Sunaina under her wing and gives her advice all the time and supports her through Sonny’s madness. I think that is a very special bond that they have because it’s there already, Muriel already likes Sunaina and looks out for her and she has written her the letter at the end of the wedding scene: ‘I wish you a good happy life and don’t worry and don’t let Sonny worry you’ all of those things and I think it’s really great to have that especially because it is Maggie Smith and she has salty sense of humour as Muriel so it was really great to have that relationship with her.
What was it like working with Dame Maggie Smith?
I love seeing what she does with it because when I read the lines it is hilarious as it is but when you how she does it is very difficult to straight face not to crack up every time she does it because she is really that great. She has the warmest smile whenever she smiles but I’m terrified of her, because she is Professor McGonagall and Harry Potter is a very big deal in my life so you know its like ‘I’m in front of Professor, I’m in front of Professor.’ You know it’s also that much of a high for me to be able do these scenes with her and like this opening scene I have to run up to her give her this big tight hug and immediately at that moment I was like ‘ Guys, I hugged the shit out of Professor McGonagall!’ I love it, I think it’s brilliant that I have that thing going. I thank all a million times for giving me that with Maggie Smith.
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Film Page
THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL IS OUT THURSDAY FEBRUARY 26