See saw: Dinner Date with Tendulkar

As is expected,the first look of director John Madden’s next,The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,visually subscribes to cliches. The film — with Dev Patel,Dame Judi Dench,Maggie Smith,Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson in key characters — is set in

Rajasthan and has been shot at locations across Udaipur and Jaipur. The film stills see the characters explore the colouful bazaars,the desert and the palaces. But hopefully,the film will rise above that since the story is unique. The film centers on a supposedly newly-restored palace-hotel in Rajasthan,called The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,advertised as India’s answer to the United Kingdom’s retirees — a place where they can spend their golden years surrounded by lush amenities. Seven retirees find themselves on the front steps of the not-quite-ready resort,but enchanted by the contrasts that India offers and the warmth of its owner (Patel),they rediscover life.