Anita & Me [Anita and Me] ** (2002, Chandeep Uppal, Anna Brewster, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Max Beesley, Kathy Burke, Kabir Bedi, Lynn Redgrave, Omid Djalili) – Classic Movie Review 5887

Director Metin Hüseyin’s amiable but weak and stereotypical British 2002 comedy is set in the early Seventies in an English Midlands mining village, where the 12-year-old heroine, Meena Kumar (Chandeep Uppal) has a crush on her 14-year-old best friend, school cool girl Anita Rutter (Anna Brewster).

Sanjeev Bhaskar plays Meena’s dad and Ayesha Dharker plays Meena’s mum, her Indian parents who have moved to England supposedly for a better life. It also stars Max Beesley as Hairy Neddy, Kathy Burke as Anita’s mum, Kabir Bedi, Omid Djalili as Uncle Amman and Lynn Redgrave as Mrs Ormerod.

The acting is pleasing and the piece is well meaning, with everyone working hard to entertain. But Meera Syal’s script, based on her novel, is strained and, alas, it is not nearly as charming as it thinks it is.

Also in the cast are Alex Freeborn, Zohra Sehgal, Meera Syal as Auntie Shaila, Christine Tremarco, Chandeep Uppa, Mark Williams as the Reverend ‘Uncle’ Alan, Lucy Pargeter, Claire Downes, Emily Churchill, Georgia Patrick and Anne-Marie Francis.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5887

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