''Sixth Happiness'' is a 1997 British
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
directed by
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n director
Waris Hussein
Waris Hussein (''né'' Habibullah; born 9 December 1938) is a British-Indian television and film director. At the beginning of his career he was employed by the BBC as its youngest drama director. He directed early episodes of ''Doctor Who'', inc ...
. It is based on the 1991 autobiography of
Firdaus Kanga entitled ''
Trying to Grow''. Kanga played himself in this film about
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
and
sex
Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...
.
Sixth Happiness also features performances from
Souad Faress
Souad Adel Faress (born 25 March 1948) is a stage, radio, television and film actress based in United Kingdom. She is best known for her portrayal of the solicitor Usha Gupta, in the long-running BBC Radio 4 serial ''The Archers'' and for her ...
,
Nina Wadia
Nina Wadia (born 18 December 1968) is a British actress and comedian. She is known for portraying Zainab Masood in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', Aunty Noor in Citizen Khan Mrs Hussein in the BBC comedy '' Still Open All Hours'', and for ...
,
Indira Varma
Indira Anne Varma (born 27 September 1973) is a British actress and narrator. Her film debut and first major role was in '' Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love''. She has gone on to appear in the television series ''The Canterbury Tales'', ''Rome'', ''L ...
, and
Meera Syal
Meera Syal FRSL (born Feroza Syal; 27 June 1961) is a English comedian, writer, playwright, singer, journalist and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created '' Goodness Gracious Me'' and portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, ...
.
Plot
Sixth Happiness is about Brit, a boy born with brittle bones who never grows taller than four feet, and his sexual awakening as family life crumbles around him. It is also about the
Parsi
Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...
or Parsees – descendants of the
Persian empire who were driven out of Persia by an
Islamic invasion more than a thousand years ago and settled in western India. Parsees had a close relationship with the British during the years of the
Raj. Brit is named by his mother, both after his brittle bones, and in tribute to his mother's love of Britain.
Brit's family is non-stereotypical: his parents are ardent
Anglophile
An Anglophile is a person who admires or loves England, its people, its culture, its language, and/or its various accents.
Etymology
The word is derived from the Latin word ''Anglii'' and Ancient Greek word φίλος ''philos'', meaning "frien ...
s with fond memories of the Raj and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Brit is bright, spiky, opinionated and selfish with a razor-sharp wit, never a
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
or victim. He prefers the
Kama Sutra
The ''Kama Sutra'' (; sa, कामसूत्र, , ; ) is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment in life. Attributed to Vātsyāyana, the ''Kama Sutra'' is neither exclusively nor predominantly ...
to
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 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 natio ...
and does not allow
gender
Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures ...
or disability to come in the way of his desire for sex and love.
Cast
*
Firdaus Kanga as Brit Kotwal
*
Souad Faress
Souad Adel Faress (born 25 March 1948) is a stage, radio, television and film actress based in United Kingdom. She is best known for her portrayal of the solicitor Usha Gupta, in the long-running BBC Radio 4 serial ''The Archers'' and for her ...
as Sera Kotwal
*Khodus Wadia as Sam Kotwal
*
Nina Wadia
Nina Wadia (born 18 December 1968) is a British actress and comedian. She is known for portraying Zainab Masood in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', Aunty Noor in Citizen Khan Mrs Hussein in the BBC comedy '' Still Open All Hours'', and for ...
as Dolly Kotwal
*
Ahsen Bhatti as Cyrus
*Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal as Jeroo
*
Nisha K. Nayar as Tina
*
Indira Varma
Indira Anne Varma (born 27 September 1973) is a British actress and narrator. Her film debut and first major role was in '' Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love''. She has gone on to appear in the television series ''The Canterbury Tales'', ''Rome'', ''L ...
as Amy
*
Pratima Kazmi
Pratima Kannan (mostly known by her maiden name Pratima Kazmi; born 21 July 1948) is an Indian television actress who has worked in many Bollywood movies and Hindi television drama series. She started her career in 1997 with an English film call ...
as Brothel Madam
External links
*
''New York Times'' review
1997 films
1997 drama films
British drama films
British Indian films
Films based on British novels
Films directed by Waris Hussein
Films shot in London
Films shot in Maharashtra
1990s English-language films
1990s British films
{{1990s-UK-film-stub