Bhai's Cafe

Bhai's Cafe is a South African musical comedy-drama film shot in the style of a Bollywood film directed by Maynard Kraak from a screenplay by Darron Meyer and Aaron Naidoo. It premiered at the 2019 Durban International Film Festival. It had a brief theatrical release in February 2020 before moving to DStv Box Office when cinemas closed the following month.

Premise

The film is set at a local café in Wynberg, Cape Town run by Bhai that comes under threat from a property developer, whose son catches the eye of his daughter.

Cast

Mehboob Bawa as Bhai
Suraya Rose Santos as Rashmi
Siv Ngesi as Patrick
Rehane Abrahams as Mary
Thabo Bopape as Lionel
Farouk Valley-Omar as Chaganbhai
Jessica Sutton as Stephanie
Masali Baduza as Thandi
Dillon Windvogel as Shamiel
Elodie Venece as Veena
Stavros Cassapis as Kabir

Production

The story was the brainchild of Razia Rawoot and Mehboob Bawa, with the setting inspired by Bawa's memories of the corner shop in Claremont his family owned when he was growing up in Cape Town. Originally intended to be a sitcom, director Maynard Kraak introduced them to screenwriters Darron Meyer and Aaron Naidoo to help them turn it into a film. It was filmed on location in Cape Town.