Bollywood-inspired S African film to feature on Netflix

The film is a sequel to Kings of Mulberry Street, which played to much acclaim locally and internationally.Naidoo said the unique accent and language of South African Indians in the greater Durban area also find resonance with international audiences.Even though I was never a huge Bollywood fan, there was always some Bollywood film that would come out that would absolutely sweep me away, she said.Disco Dancer was one of those really iconic films.

A Bollywood-inspired South African film which uses South African-Indian slang language will make its debut on Netflix next month.

'Kings of Mulberry Street – Let Love Reign' is written, produced and directed by South African-Indian filmmaker Judy Naidoo. The film is a sequel to 'Kings of Mulberry Street', which played to much acclaim locally and internationally.

Naidoo said the unique accent and language of South African Indians in the greater Durban area also find resonance with international audiences.

"Even though I was never a huge Bollywood fan, there was always some Bollywood film that would come out that would absolutely sweep me away," she said.

"'Disco Dancer' was one of those really iconic films. I was one of those kids who actually aspired to be a Bollywood action hero, so it was quite amazing," she said.

Naidoo said there was no particular Bollywood star or movie that is reflected in her latest film.

"In this movie, you will actually get to see the inspiration behind it because it's all over the film. The soundtrack for the film is very inspired by the Bollywood movies of the 80s and 90s; the time during which I grew up," she said.

The theme of the comedy film addresses issues of transformation in South Africa at the time, including the apartheid-era racial segregation, which started to end in the mid-90s as Nelson Mandela was released from prison to become the country's first democratically-elected president.

"1994 (when Mandela was sworn in as president) was so exciting in the change that was coming, so all that was blended into one big, South African Bollywood tamasha," Naidoo said.

Commenting on the accents used by characters in the film, Naidoo said it had a unique flavour and spice.

"It's a blend of different languages. We've really taken other cultures and made them our language. Internationally, people are so excited by the language.

''The first film did travel extensively worldwide, and people were so interested in our language, especially in Germany and in Amsterdam. I was absolutely shocked," she said.

The language used by Indians around Durban often includes Afrikaans words, derived from Dutch and German in some instances, which explained the surprise in those countries.

Naidoo said she opted to go directly to Netflix with her second film because it opened up a new world audience for the film.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)