Several months ago, I watched The Good Karma Hospital, rated #7.8 at IMDb, on Amazon Prime Video. The filming location is superb, although sources differ on its location: either a fictional town (Barco) in the area of Kerala in south-west India (eg, Express), or Unawatuna in southern Sri Lanka (eg, RadioTimes, Wiki).
Actually, the filming location reminds me of the Indian Ocean beaches at the Kenyan coast, near Mombasa. Perhaps, that analogy explains why you will see so many Indian business owners at the Kenyan coast.
To me, those beaches feel like paradise. I state that without any exaggeration; please see my 2020 blog. The main difference with the filming location might be the absent sunset in eastern Kenya. Darkness is quite instant there. Moreover, malaria appears to be less present in south-west India (source) than Kenya.
The Good Karma Hospital may seem like another TV hospital drama series. The main European characters seem to be refugees of some kind. The main Indian characters seem to stay at that hospital for doing some kind of penance. This might explain why they tolerate the rather obnoxious (female) doctor in charge.
To some extent, The Good Karma Hospital reminds me of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a 2011 feel-good movie starring Dev Patel and rated 7.3 at IMDb. Again, the Indian flavour feels authentic and omnipresent.
Another TV series that comes to mind is the British-French crime drama series called Death in Paradise, rated #7.8 at IMDb (eg, my 2021 blog). It features a similar tropical paradise with an authentic flavour.
I’m wondering why we have this notion about a paradise in the tropics. Might it be collective memories of a very distant past? The 1976 album track The Last Resort by the Eagles argues this: “They call it paradise, I don’t know why, You call someplace paradise, Kiss it goodbye” (lyrics).
The Good Karma Hospital is not a paradise for all but certainly a paradise for those who can afford it.
Paradise (2011) by Coldplay
artists, lyrics, video, Wiki-band, Wiki-song
[Chorus]
This could be para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless in quotes or stated otherwise.
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