''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-g ...

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. It is based on the 1991 autobiography of

Firdaus Kanga Firdaus Kanga , born in Mumbai 1960 to a Parsi Family, Kanga is an Indian writer, journalist and actor who currently lives in London. He has written a novel '' Trying to Grow'' a semi-autobiographical novel set in India and a travel book ' ...

entitled '' Trying to Grow''. Kanga played himself in this film about Britain,

, race 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, oft ...

. Sixth Happiness also features performances from Souad Faress, Nina Wadia,

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 or Parsees – descendants of the

Persian empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...

who were driven out of Persia by an

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

ic 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 Raj or RAJ may refer to: History * British Raj, the 1858–1947 rule of the British Crown over India * Company Raj, the 1757–1858 rule of the East India Company in South Asia * Licence Raj, the Indian system of elaborate licences, regulation ...

. 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 opposin ...

. 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 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 nation ...

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 u ...

or disability to come in the way of his desire for sex and love.

Cast

as Brit Kotwal * Souad Faress as Sera Kotwal *Khodus Wadia as Sam Kotwal * Nina Wadia as Dolly Kotwal * Ahsen Bhatti as Cyrus *Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal as Jeroo *

Nisha K. Nayar Nisha K Nayar is a British actress. After coming to prominence in the 1993 film ''Bhaji on the Beach'', she had starring roles as Debra Kumar in the film ''Out of Hours'' in 1998 and as Elaine "the Pain" Boyak in the CBBC children's series, ...

as Tina *

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