Chopratown
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| Chopratown | |
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| Directed by | Sean Grundy |
| Starring | Sanjeev Bhaskar Omid Djalili Manish Patel |
| Distributed by | Hattrick Productions |
| Release date(s) | December 19, 2005 (UK) |
| Running time | 60 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Chopratown (2005) is a comedy drama from the BBC about private eye Vic Chopra (Sanjeev Bhaskar). In the film Chopra investigates Ali Ergun (Omid Djalili) a shady Turkish bakery owner. During his investigation he falls foul of Asian wide boy Ash Desai (Manish Patel) and added to this is the mystery of a missing cow!
This 2005 comedy crime drama, directed by Sean Grundy (who directed the first series of acclaimed Channel 4 drama Sugar Rush, is very much like 'The Rockford Files' with Chopra getting himself into all types of scrapes as a result of his dubious investigative methods. 'Chopratown' is a pun on the Jack Nicholson cult flick Chinatown (1974 movie).
[edit] Film Synopsis
First broadcast on BBC1 on Monday 19th December 2005, this new comedy drama was specifically written for its star, Sanjeev Bhaskar (The Kumars at No 42, Life Isn’t All Ha Ha Hee Hee). Sanjeev plays Vik Chopra, a British Asian private detective working in and around the cultural melting pot that is East London. One thing these people all share is a strong sense of pride and a deep mistrust of the police; myriad immigrant communities bring their quirky cases to ex-cop Chopra, whose police training and street-wise saviness deliver the goods.
His new assistant Annie (Natalie Casey, Two Pints of Lager, Hollyoaks) is young, enthusiastic and smart, and she won’t take his bad temper or attitude lying down. Meanwhile Chopra’s ex-mate and nemesis Nigel Caro (Neil Stuke, Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky) is still in the force and turns up on Vik’s patch as a newly promoted Detective Inspector. Vik handles all of this whilst juggling the twin demands of his estranged wife and baby daughter and his overbearing parents.
Producer Anil Gupta comments: “Chopratown is inspired by shows such as The Rockford Files and Minder, interesting, funny people in an interesting, funny world. Lots of cop shows nowadays are gritty and moody, about gruesome serial killers and we wanted to do an antidote to that, something light and vibrant, warm, exotic and exciting. We have cast people with great comic timing as characters who, like Jim Rockford or Arthur Daley, people can take to their hearts.”
Sanjeev Bhaskar says: “In Chopra’s head he is Philip Marlow or Sam Spade, a loner who doesn’t care, a glamorous private eye, but in fact his cases involve bakeries and a kidnapped cow and he has to go round his parent’s house for dinner.”Chopratown also stars Omid Djalili, Manish Patel, Basienka Blake and Morwenna Banks.
[edit] Production Notes
Chopratown is created by Anil Gupta, Richard Pinto and Sharat Sardana (Goodness Gracious Me, The Kumars At No 42), written by Richard Pinto and produced by Anil Gupta.
It is directed by Sean Grundy and is a Hat Trick Production for BBC 1. Sanjeev Bhaskar says: “In Chopra’s head he is Philip Marlow or Sam Spade, a loner who doesn’t care, a glamorous private eye, but in fact his cases involve bakeries, a fake disability allowance claimant and a kidnapped cow and he has to go round his parent’s house for dinner.”
