Get ready to laugh with Gurinder's new film

London: Filmmaker Gurinder Chadha is on the studio floor at her favourite Ealing Studios in West London for her latest production It's a Wonderful Afterlife. The film is a supernatural comedy about an Indian mother obsessed with getting her daughter married.

It's a Wonderful Afterlife's theme for the Bend It Like Beckham director but this one involves a serial killer, suspense and spirits.

"It's a Wonderful Afterlife is very much a film about my community, a mother and serial murders," said Gurinder.

The plot centres around Mrs Sethi from Southall who will stop at nothing to find a suitor for her daughter. Then some curious murders take place involving poisonous curries and chappati doughs. Enter the detectives, the ghosts and in all this confusion, a love story - all packed into one film!

But the movie's cast is spicier than the plot - Golden Globe winner Sally Hawkins, Jimi Mistry, Sendhil Ramamurthy, who features in popular TV series, Heroes. British actor Mark Addy of the Full Monty fame and Sanjeev Bhaskar of Kumars at No. 42. The lead character of the Mother is played by Shabana Azmi, who has put on 11 kgs for this role.

"I've put on all this weight. It's so difficult to waddle around even to wear shoes. You have to remember it's larger than life, exaggerated and within this theres this love bond between the mother and the daughter. The mother also has a secret that is revealed at the end of the film," explained Shabana.

"I am the south Indian detective who is brought in to investigate the murders. So I'm a bit of an outsider trying to fit into the community as it's all north Indian. In fact even on the sets, everyone was making fun of me and even the food is all north Indian," said Sendhil.

The film is due for release early 2010.