[dropcap]D[/dropcap]ev Patel has described returning for The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as a ‘dream come true’. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has hit the big screen today and sees Patel reprise the role of hotel owner Sonny, a character he played for the first time back in 2012.
The movie sees Patel reunite with Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Night, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton, and Ronald Pickup, who will all be returning their first film roles. And getting to work with these great actors again was a real joy for Patel.
Speaking to Digital Spy, the actor said: “It’s like a dream come true to be back in a room with these guys. It’s a character that I really love and I’m part of a film that everyone really liked so it’s a real vote of confidence. It’s really fun.”
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel sees John Madden also return to the director’s chair and comes three years after the success of the first film. But Patel revealed that he had to fight hard to land the role of Sonny because the original idea for the character was very different to what we finally saw on screen.
Patel continued: “I had to really fight for it. Originally, Sonny was envisaged as a middle-aged, washed up, overweight Indian guy and they didn’t want me for it. I’ve had my fair share of Indian roles, but there was something really different about this one.
“My mum is a carer for the elderly, so I really responded to the themes of the film and I could bring a different energy to it - a driving force - and so I did a Skype audition, then I got in the room and then I got it, which was great.”
As well as starring in The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, we will also be seeing Patel in sci-fi drama Chappie at the beginning of March. The movie sees Patel team up with director Neill Blomkamp for the first time, while Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver are also on board.
Patel has also completed work on The Man Who Knew Infinity - in which he will star with Jeremy Irons and Stephen Fry - and he is currently filming Lion. Lion is based on the novel by Saroo Brierley and sees Nicole Kidman and Nawazuddin Siddiqui also on the cast list. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is out now.
