Acting as a heartwarming hub – and garnering all the best emotional moments – are Evelyn (Judi Dench), who is trying to come to terms with recently lost love and Graham (Tom Wilkinson), whose foresaken romance is an altogether more distant affair.

When the expat strangers reach the hotel, however, they discover it is little more than a shell, despite the best intentions of Sonny Kapoor (Dev Patel). Sonny, too, is facing both financial difficulty and difficulty in affairs of the heart as his mother (Lillette Dubey) doesn’t feel he has the capacity to cope with the hotel project and is determined to make him choose an arranged marriage of his girlfriend (Tena Desae).

This youth plot is the film’s least successful element, feeling rather unnecessary and bearing the brunt of overcooked humour. Patel is not a great actor at the best of times. watch The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Speople change and some do not, at a pace that in a manner which flirts with predictability but still holds just enough surprise. The performance from the veterans is eventually so enjoyable and the colourful busy streets of Jaipur painted so vividly that it’s hard not to warm to proceedings.  watch new movies