When the geriatric ward in a small Yorkshire hospital is threatened with closure, the hospital decides to fight back by galvanizing the local community: they invite a news crew to film their preparations for a concert in honour of the hospital’s most distinguished nurse. Allelujah celebrates the spirit of the elderly patients whilst paying tribute to the deep humanity of the medical staff battling with limited resources and ever-growing demand. We speak to the film’s newcomer Bally Gill who features alongside Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous) and is supported by Judi Dench (Notes on A Scandal, Iris), Derek Jacobi (I Claudius, Frasier), David Bradley (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones), Russell Tovey (The History Boys) and Julia McKenzie (Cranford, Marple).
This is a significant film with a sensitive yet relatable subject for contemporary times. How much do you relate to its script?
Allelujah tries to give a voice to the statistics that you hear about in the news, whether that’s patients, medical professionals, junior doctors, and anyone who works in a hospital. It’s a film that really looks into what’s happening in our healthcare service and the strains and constraints it’s under. And more specifically, our elderly generation. Old age is inevitable, we’ll all need to use this service at some point in our lives. Personally, I think this film asks the question, what state’s it going to be in when I need it?
Please tell us a bit about your role.
I play Dr Valentine. He’s a young doctor from India who has an outsider's point of view on the NHS. The film really feels like a diary entry from his perspective. He loves the old and can be quite idealistic about the levels of care he wants to provide for his patients. He represents youthful passion and exuberance of wanting to help people, and through the course of the film, you see how that shifts and changes because of a lack of support and resources. I also think my character in this film shows the difference in cultural values and the importance of the way different countries treat the elderly.
Why do you think the South Asian diaspora will relate to it?
It’s a good question. I don’t know if they will. But I suppose I represent the South Asian experience that many doctors, nurses, and medical professionals experience coming from India and working in this country which is becoming more and more prevalent. I feel immensely proud to be representing them in this way, and for them to have an integral voice within this film. There is a lack of that experience being shown in British cinema/TV today, so I feel very fortunate that it is representative and a true reflection of what actually happens.
Do you think the film will be incredibly cathartic for NHS workers?
I don’t know about cathartic but we went to the general annual meeting of the British Geriatrics Society last year to promote the film and honestly, the reaction was incredible. The film is a mixture of dark comedy and very serious issues interwoven beautifully by Alan Bennett and Heidi Thomas. Some of the geriatricians and medical professionals at the meeting actually found the more serious conversations - particularly the scenes between Jennifer Saunder’s character Sister Gilpin and me - more relatable and funnier than some of the comedy that had been written into the film. It was relatable; they’re familiar conversations that they are having on a daily basis.
What is your takeaway about the elderly and the health care staff through this film?
Personally, the old are often forgotten about. It feels like when you reach a certain age, you have nothing left to offer to society and are shifted to a corner of some medical ward to die. Maybe that’s harsh, but it was something that we personally went through as a family, with my grandma earlier this year—going through the system. In terms of the NHS, they are doing their best with what they’ve been given. We can go into the nitty-gritty details of what’s happening, but essentially everyone who works in the NHS is doing an incredible job with what little they’ve been given.
Did this film change you personally in any way?
Yes, I did. I got to work with an incredible cast and crew, including so many British icons. It’s my first ever feature film where I’ve got to play one of the lead characters, hopefully, the first of many! But more importantly, It made me appreciate my own family, especially the senior members. I had an interviewer say that after he watched the film he rang his grandma immediately after, which really connected with me.
