The last time my husband and I went to see a movie at the theater, we did as we always do: Jim headed off for the popcorn while I made my way to the theater to nab our seats. As I sought out the correct theater, a middle-aged couple walked just ahead of me. Suddenly the woman stopped in her tracks as her hubby kept walking. The woman was mesmerized by the movie poster in the hallway.

As I got closer, I realized what had caught her eye... and I joined her in front of the colorful, oversized promotion for THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL.

"I can't wait to see this! Did you see the first one?" she asked in dreamy tone.

"Oh, yeah," I said in an equally smooth voice as we continued gazing.

"Wasn't it wonderful?" she swooned.

We agreed how lovely and fun the movie was. And we shared how excited we are for this sequel, which will feature not only all our original favorite characters from THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, but swoon-worthy Richard Gere this time around, too.

 

"My husband fell asleep," the woman confided. "Mine did, too," I shared. We chuckled about the guys not knowing what they missed and agreed that whether our husbands watch the sequel or not, there's no way we will miss it.

Then we, partners in anticipation, went our separate ways to the theaters showing our chosen selections for the evening.

Ah, yes. Seems all women who saw THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL loved it. Some men did, too, I'm sure. So I have no doubt scads of women—and semi-scads of men—will be equally enchanted by THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL.

My hopes are high for the film, which opens in theaters March 6. The official synopsis, per filmmaker Fox Searchlight, goes like this:

THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL is the expansionist dream of Sonny (Dev Patel), and it’s making more claims on his time than he has available, considering his imminent marriage to the love of his life, Sunaina (Tina Desai). Sonny has his eye on a promising property now that his first venture, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful, has only a single remaining vacancy – posing a rooming predicament for fresh arrivals Guy (Richard Gere) and Lavinia (Tamsin Greig). Evelyn and Douglas (Judi Dench and Bill Nighy) have now joined the Jaipur workforce, and are wondering where their regular dates for Chilla pancakes will lead, while Norman and Carol (Ronald Pickup and Diana Hardcastle) are negotiating the tricky waters of an exclusive relationship, as Madge (Celia Imrie) juggles two eligible and very wealthy suitors. Perhaps the only one who may know the answers is newly installed co-manager of the hotel, Muriel (Maggie Smith), the keeper of everyone's secrets. As the demands of a traditional Indian wedding threaten to engulf them all, an unexpected way forward presents itself.

Take a look at the trailer:

 

For more on THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, visit the Official Website, "like" the film on Facebook, and follow on Pinterest here and here.

GIVEAWAY

In celebration of THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL opening March 6, Fox Searchlight has given me the opportunity to give away to one lucky Grandma's Briefs reader a $50 Visa gift card to inspire your next move in helping love bloom plus a collector tea tin filled with Chamraj tea.

To enter to win (US residents only, please): Leave a comment below regarding your thoughts on either of the Exotic Marigold Hotel films. Be sure to leave your email address in the comment form as it's how the winner will be notified (no one will see the email address but me). Entries accepted through midnight MST March 6, 2015; random winner will be drawn March 7, 2015 and notified by email.

Disclosure: I received compensation for publishing this preview and giveaway; anecdotes and opinions are my own.

Again, the entry question:

What are your thoughts on either of EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL films?