Perhaps it is the close-up view of an intracapsular cataract extraction just minutes into the film's opening scenes that gives the first clue that this is no ordinary romance; or perhaps it is the warning that “this film is representative of contemporary life… [but] any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is coincidental.” But for many in the UK medical world it will be the unexpected appearance on the big screen of strangely familiar faces and places that gives the game away.

For Bhavishya: The Future is more “Bollywood meets medical documentary meets health education promo” than a standard feature film. What it lacks in cinematic polish and performer professionalism it certainly makes up for in curiosity value.

The man behind it is Nikhil Kaushik, a consultant ophthalmologist at Wrexham Maelor Hospital in North Wales. He says: “I long debated that first shot [of the eye surgery]. More normally in films you'll see a surgeon throwing a bottle of blood around, but that's not what …