Screen Two (TV Series) Lucky Sunil (1988) User Reviews

Exceedingly not Kipling

[Prismark10 · 8/10 · 15 March 2014]

Inspired by the events from one of the first waves of actors to come to the UK from the Indian sub continent. This Screen Two film follows the young, wide eyed and innocent Sunil.

He has come to London to study Law at university expecting to find an England from the literature he has read and finding a London far from Keats or Kipling.

His university turns out to be a second rate crammer. No university life for Sunil but an external degree institution. He ends up meeting dodgy characters always up to a scam where he tends to be the victim. He meets Balam, a fellow Indian and ends up being involved in dubious dealings with him. Sunil gets an opportunity to do some acting and ends up in a porn set. At the end, Sunil becomes disillusioned and bitter of the England he has found himself in.

Kulvinder Ghir really captures the wide eyed innocence of Sunil and slow unravelling of his love and expectations of the mother country.

A lamb to the slaughter, or a sheep in wolf's clothing?

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 24 December 2023]

Sunil leaves behind a loving family back home in India, for a bright future in London, but the trouble is, his university isn't a beacon or British education, instead it's a third rate crammer. Sunil makes a big mistake, and ends up owing a big debt.

It's a charming one off drama, two things I'm reminded of, 1988, Parker did indeed make great fountain pens, as per the advert, and The BBC did indeed make great dramas.

The Screen One series really did offer up a variety of drama, this represents something a little different. Nice that a few of them popped up in iPlayer, if only the full catalogue would.

I suppose this was about the time where more British Asians were becoming more visible on TV, and this story really does fit the bill so well.

It's sweet, it's funny, it's kind of moving, it's definitely well worth seeing.

Kulvinder Ghir really does play the part well, excellent as Sunil, and he really does have an innocent naivety, dashingly handsome, wide eyed and so full of hope.

Richenda Carey and Niamh Cusack are hilarious.

8/10.

Who were the actors?

[peterjamessharpe · 8/10 · 24 May 2023]

My lasting impression of this film is that I would certainly have loved to have seen the featured Bunter goes to Roedean film, but something has been nagging me ever since. When searching for Sunil's partner in the aforementioned frolic, the only actress listed who I couldn't account for was Michelle Collins, and nothing will convince me she could ever have looked like the girl I'm referring to. I'm afraid I only caught about he last 20 minutes of this film so need to put that right, but having looked online for clues, any reviews are sketchy in the extreme, with no characted photos to refer to. It was an odd style which reminded me of many of the hour-length films shown during the early (and best days of Channel 4. I must have seen Hugh Cornwell yet didn't recognise him and it was only during the closing credits that I found out that the score was by Bill Nelson. I now know that Sunil more recently played the part of the father in the altogether splendid Blinded By The Light.