''Bhai's Cafe'' is a South African musical comedy-drama film shot in the style of a

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film directed by Maynard Kraak from a screenplay by Darron Meyer and Aaron Naidoo. It premiered at the 2019

Durban International Film Festival The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. Founded in 1979 by Teddy Sarkin and Ros Sarkin, it is the oldest and largest film festival in Africa and ...

. It had a brief theatrical release in February 2020 before moving to

DStv Digital Satellite Television, commonly abbreviated to DStv, is a Sub-Saharan African direct broadcast satellite service owned by MultiChoice and based in Randburg, South Africa. Launched on 6 October 1995, the service provides multiple aud ...

Box Office when cinemas closed the following month.

Premise

The film is set at a local café in

Wynberg, Cape Town Wynberg () is a southern suburb of the City of Cape Town in Western Cape, South Africa. It is situated between Plumstead, Cape Town, Plumstead and Kenilworth, Cape Town, Kenilworth, and is a main transport hub for the Southern Suburbs, Cape Town, ...

run by Bhai that comes under threat from a property developer, whose son catches the eye of his daughter.

Cast

* Mehboob Bawa as Bhai * Suraya Rose Santos as Rashmi *

Siv Ngesi Sivuyile Ngesi (born 18 October 1985) is a South African actor, comedian, presenter, and producer. Early life Ngesi was born to a Xhosa family of four children in Gugulethu in the east of Cape Town. He spent his early childhood there before movin ...

as Patrick *

Rehane Abrahams Rehane Abrahams is a performance artist from Cape Town, South Africa. She has performed several works, from Shakespeare to contemporary productions in South Africa and in America. She was a recipient of the FNB Vita Award for Best Actress in 2001 ...

as Mary * Thabo Bopape as Lionel * Farouk Valley-Omar as Chaganbhai *

Jessica Sutton Jessica Laura Sutton (born June 2, 1993) is a South African actress. She is best known as Tally Craven from the Freeform series Motherland: Fort Salem and Mia in The Kissing Booth.'' Early life and education Sutton was born in Cape Town, Sou ...

as Stephanie *

Masali Baduza Masali Baduza (born 1996) is a South African actress. She is best known for her role as Sephy Hadley in the BBC drama ''Noughts + Crosses''. She was named a rising star and one to watch by the Royal Television Society. Baduza began her career ...

as Thandi * Dillon Windvogel as Shamiel * Elodie Venece as Veena * Stavros Cassapis as Kabir

Production

The story was the brainchild of Razia Rawoot and Mehboob Bawa, with the setting inspired by Bawa's memories of the corner shop in

Claremont Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth ** Claremont Football Club, West Australian Footba ...

his family owned when he was growing up in Cape Town. Originally intended to be a sitcom, director Maynard Kraak introduced them to screenwriters Darron Meyer and Aaron Naidoo to help them turn it into a film. It was filmed on location in Cape Town.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 7205100 Films set in Cape Town South African Indian films Works about gentrification English-language South African films 2010s English-language films