''Bollywood Queen'' is a

British Indian British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. Currently, the British Indian population exceeds 2 million people in the UK, making them the single largest Ethnic groups in the United Kingdo ...

take on the

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

play ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'', directed by Jeremy Wooding and starring Preeya Kalidas and

James McAvoy James McAvoy (; born 21 April 1979) is a Scottish actor and director. He made his acting debut as a teen in '' The Near Room'' (1995) and appeared mostly on television until 2003, when his film career began. His notable television work inclu ...

. Produced by Jeremy Wooding, the film was released in 2003.

Plot

Geena is a

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

fanatic from a respectable Gujarati family. She has finished school, and is at university doing a business studies course. She is dating Dilip, an ambitious computer whizz, but wants her love life to be like it is in the movies. However, Dilip only wants sex. Geena's family owns Ganesh Global, a clothing company which imports materials and

sari A sari (also called sharee, saree or sadi)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * is a drape (cloth) and a women's garment in the Indian subcontinent. It consists of an un-sti ...

s from India. Geena has a part-time job working in the shop. She is also in a secret band with two other girls, Anjali and Neeta. Jay is a young guy from Somerset who joins his brother Dean in London, who also works in the clothing industry, for someone called Frank Ian McShane. He owns a guitar, of which he is extremely protective. One day, when Geena is walking along the road, Jay and his brother happen to be managing some poles. One of the poles nearly falls on Geena, but Jay lunges at her and pushes her out of the way before it can crush her. Geena, disgusted at this, hurries along, leaving her phone behind. Jay sees the phone and takes it, but his brother Dean repossesses it. Jay then takes the phone back and gives it to Geena, who then thanks him for saving her life. She then gives him her phone number, and they begin to meet up regularly. The two start to fall in love, meeting up in secret regularly and hiding from Geena's family. However, Dean discovers the affair and launches an attack on Ganesh Global. One of Geena's brothers also sees the two together, and Geena gets into trouble with her family. Her brother then takes away her phone. Geena's brothers then beat Jay up, leaving him bleeding. Jay and Geena then run away together and escape their family. Dean is in hospital, and Jay visits him and takes away all his money. Eventually, Jay and Geena return to London and Jay settles his dispute with his father and brother. Geena then turns up for her relative's wedding, dressed in Indian attire, and sings with her band. She then attempts to reunite with her family, and it is revealed her brother, Sanjay is a criminal, and is handling illegal suits, and that her brother, Tariq is gay. Jay and Geena then leave in the bride and groom's carriage, and her mother says to her father, "She'll be back."

Cast

* Preeya Kalidas as Geena *

as Jay * Ray Panthaki as Anil * Ciarán McMenamin as Dean * Kat Bhathena as Anjali *

Ian McShane Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor. His television performances include the title role in the BBC series ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in '' Deadwood'' (2004–2006) and its 2019 film continuation, and M ...

as Frank * Amerjit Deu as Sanjay * Karen David as Neeta * Lalita Ahmed as Geena's mother * Andy Beckwith as Johnny * Jo Cameron Brown as Anita * Saraj Chaudhry as Tariq * Giada Dobrzenska as Club Kid * Ronny Jhutti as Dilip * Tajpal Rathore as Family member * Ranu Setna as Uncle Ganesh * Faizaan Shurai as Factory Worker * Elsa de Belilovsky as Elsa

Awards and nominations

British Independent Film Awards * Jeremy Wooding – nominated for Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director)

References

External links

* * {{Romeo and Juliet film adaptations 2002 films 2002 romantic drama films British romantic drama films British Indian films Films set in London Films based on Romeo and Juliet Modern adaptations of works by William Shakespeare 2000s English-language films 2000s British films 2000s Hindi-language films 2002 multilingual films British multilingual films Bollywood in fiction Films about Bollywood English-language romantic drama films English-language musical films 2002 musical films