University of Leicester alumnus releases hit film documentary
Credit: Will Cocker
A University of Leicester graduate has filmed and released a documentary about an Indian family wedding to international acclaim.
Haresh Sood, who studied Law, created the film to document his niece’s wedding.
The film is a mixture of comedy and chaos, demonstrating all the C-words of an Indian wedding over a 10-day period, such as ‘crying’, ‘charisma’, ‘colour’, and most importantly the ‘comedy’, with a variety of things going wrong over the course of the ceremony adding to the already exuberant festivities.
Haresh said: “The response for the film has just been mental in a great way. One premier ended up being a four-day premier! We’ve had eight screenings, two world premieres with red carpets, lots of dignitaries coming to the event, the press has gone wild.
“Who would have thought this all would have happened?”
Haresh takes inspiration for the documentary from another film called Monsoon Wedding, directed by Mira Nair, whom he has had the support of during the making of his film.
After graduating from Leicester in 2003, he says he will always be grateful for the opportunities the University gave him to pursue his media dreams.
He continued: “The University of Leicester provided me the foundations to so many skills I possess today, and taught me so much even beyond the legal sphere which I studied within. I am so proud to be a graduate of the University and always encourage students to study there, as it will set up for life.
“I don’t feel like I just walked out of Leicester with a Law degree, I actually feel like I walked out having learned a lot of communication skills, great skill sets, and just learned so much about life, and this film is a result of it.”
Following its release, My Niece’s Big Fat Delhi Wedding has been shown at over 100 festivals including in Singapore, Toronto, New York and Calcutta, with the film and Haresh winning awards along the way including best actor.
The film has also been listed in the Radio Times and is currently available in select theatres, and from Sunday 26 December on streaming platform paus.tv.
This story was written by James Greasley, a third-year Journalism student at the University of Leicester.