Directed
by
Tanuja
Chandra,
Hope
And
A
Little
Sugar
is
long-delayed
has
finally
released.
We
will
see
Mahima
Chaudhary
again,
who
must
have
pinned
plenty
of
hope
on
this
film,
she
of
the
sugary
smile.
And
must
be
hoping
to
storm
back
into
the
headlines,
after
marriage
and
motherhood,
with
Hope
And
A
Little
Sugar.
Mahima
made
a
dazzling
debut
in
Subhash
Ghai's
Pardes,
opposite
Shahrukh
Khan.
She
went
on
to
win
almost
all
the
best
debutant
actress
awards
and
was
acknowledged
to
be
one
of
the
finest
finds
of
Subhash
Ghai
and
the
film
industry.
She
paid
lavish
tributes
to
her
godfather
Ghai,
and
the
actress
went
from
strength
to
strength,
notching
up
several
stage
shows
abroad
and
raked
in
the
cash.
But
could
not
cash
in
on
the
film's
success
as
soon
after
she
lashed
out
at
her
mentor
Ghai
regarding
exploitation,
mainly
financial.
She
admitted
her
folly
later,
but
could
not
regain
lost
ground
despite
a
hit
Daag
The
Fire.
She
now
admits,
"None
of
my
films
could
match
Pardes."
Her
career
was
gradually
reduced
to
special
appearances
(Baghban),
item
numbers
(Tere
Naam)
and
box
office
disasters
(Kudiyon
Ka
Hai
Zamaana,
Kuch
Meetha
Ho
Jaye...).
Meanwhile,
she
kept
herself
in
the
news
by
her
open
affair
with
tennis
icon
Leander
Paes
and
deep
cleavage
photographs
splashed
with
her
interviews.
Till
she
caught
Leander
cheating
on
her,
and
dropped
him
like
a
flop
film,
found
genuine
love
elsewhere
soon
enough,
and
recently
became
a
proud
mom,
too.
In
Hope
And
A
Little
Sugar,
Mahima
plays
a
Sikh
woman
whose
husband
(Vikram
Chatwal)
dies
during
the
9/11
disaster.
Tanuja
Chandra
said
she
was
the
perfect
choice
as
"Mahima
looks
very
Punjabi".
Mahima
was
the
screen
name
Subhash
Ghai
gave
VJ
Ritu
whom
he
discovered
for
the
big
screen.
"My
father-in-law
in
the
film
(Anupam
Kher)
cannot
come
to
terms
with
the
loss
and
develops
a
hatred
towards
Muslims.
Later,
I
fall
in
love
with
a
Muslim
boy,
Ali
(Amit
Sial),
but
my
father-in-law
objects
to
this
because
Ali
is
a
Muslim," explained
Mahima.
Eventually,
Kher
does
come
to
terms
with
reality
and
learns
to
live
with
the
fact
that
his
son
is
no
more.
The
climax
sees
him
facing
the
same
kind
of
treatment
from
Americans
because
of
his
beard
and
turban.
Tanuja
Chandra,
who
returns
to
the
directors'
chair
after
a
hiatus,
wanted
to
tell
her
audience
that
there
is
always
hope
in
life
and
one
should
never
give
up
on
it.
Mahima's
character
believes
in
hope
and
names
her
sweets
shop,
Hope
And
A
Little
Sugar.