Wherefore art thou Naidoo?
Take Romeo and Juliet, set it in Chatsworth, cut the tragic bits and add more laughs.
SOUTH African township stories share with outsiders where some of us come from, where we have been and where we are going.
They reveal a secret insight into what has shaped us.
Which is why everyone should see Keeping Up With The Kandasamys, the latest production by Helena Spring and the late Junaid Ahmed.
With a classic Romeo and Juliet storyline, the comedy-drama is richly and uniquely spiced by its setting in Durban’s largest Indian township, Chatsworth.
Director Jayan Moodley calls this a love letter to her township, created in the 1950s in terms of the Group Areas Act.
Moodley has painted a living portrait of Chatsworth; a bright, bustling, evolving microcosm of Indian township life which will appeal to some because of its familiarity and will be a revelation to those who don’t know it.
The film is hilarious, with none of the gold-toothed, head-bobbing nonsense of stereotype slapstick. Instead, you get a real sense of the township and community spirit. The film works because it is authentic.
From maroon velvet bedroom suites and the hunt for hot chillies in the Bangladesh vegetable market, to the cramped semi-detached homes painted in clashing colours and the intense relationships that arise from living so close to your neighbour that you can smell what she is cooking, it all adds up to a wonderfully different take on a love story about meddling families thwarting young romance in innovative ways.
Jennifer Kandasamy (Jailoshini Naidoo) is the uppity, nouveauriche overachiever at war with her unpretentious next-door neighbour and former best friend, Shanti Naidoo (Maeshni Naicker).
The comediennes are brilliant in their contrasting motherly roles: funny, conniving and emotional.
Their antics to keep their children, Jodi Kandasamy (Mishqah Parthiephal) and Prishen Naidoo (Madhushan Singh) apart, and preserve their decades-long feud, will have audiences in stitches, in shock and smiling in recognition.
Naidoo, the seasoned actress and media personality, said: “The thing about this film is that no matter who we are as South Africans, we all know a Jennifer, who has made it in life and is full of herself, and the larger-than-life Shanti who is all about her family.
“Interfering mothers-in-law, downtrodden husbands . . . All these themes apply to Greek, Jewish, Afrikaans, Zulu families.
“The point is that we must be able to laugh at ourselves. At the same time, we must be proud of where we come from and understand why and how we are the way we are, so that we can laugh at ourselves again. There is pride in that.”
The plot hurries along a path of destruction despite the better intentions of the women’s longsuffering husbands and the loveably acerbic Aya (Granny), played by Mariam Bassa.
The performances are compelling, the story captivating and the production slick, with scenic historic locations, lots of delicious-looking food and a bonus Bollywood song and dance routine.
Naidoo said: “This movie portrays Indian characteristics sincerely and realistically without denigrating into slapstick.
“The township has sometimes been portrayed as gritty, which is how it may feel to others, but Chatsworth is not like that. It has colour, it is dynamic, there is generosity of spirit, and it shows in the film.”
In fact, says Naicker, residents of Chatsworth were thrilled to participate during filming on location, where actual homes are used to show the contrasting sides of the community.
“It is an accurate depiction, done in the most natural way possible. We had to work around the people who came to watch, who wanted to be in shot and be part of it,” she said.
“It is a slice of life on screen.”
Keeping Up With The Kandasamys is in cinemas