A salute to Indian cinema

When Oscar nominated director Deepa Mehta sits down to talk about Indian Cinema and her latest film Heaven on Earth, which premiered Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival, she wants to make it clear that her latest offering is a Canadian film and that she is a Canadian filmmaker.

Stepping up to the podium adorned in a red traditional Indian sari at the Bell Lightbox Campaign’s “Salute to Indian Cinema” on Sunday, Mehta, a TIFF board member, beamed, “We’re bringing India to Toronto and Toronto to India”.

Heaven on Earth, her fifth film to premiere at the festival, blends a cast of Indo-Canadian and Indian actors, including Bollywood star Preity Zinta, to tell the gut wrenching story of domestic abuse in an Indian family living in Toronto. “Heaven on Earth is a brave film,” declared TIFF Director and CEO Piers Handling, also in attendance at the event. “It’s not just a realist drama; Deepa decided to bring in the whole idea of the fantasy world and used the myth of story telling to create an escape from the real world.”

Having numerous films premiering at TIFF is a testimony to their accessibility to a wide Canadian audience. This kind of exposure has helped to shine a light on various cultural elements particular to Indian and Indo-Canadian cultures. “There’s a great curiosity for Canadians”, said Handling, “We’re interested in films that uncover social issues and we are socially concerned and open to other cultures. We’re one of the most multicultural countries in the world.”

In addition to Mehta’s Indo-Canadian offering, this year’s festival program also includes some of the best of Indian popular cinema. Leading the pack is the action comedy Singh is King, directed by celebrated filmmaker Anees Bazmee. Also starring Bollywood heavyweight Akshay Kumar, this film made a splash at its premiere on Sunday. Singh is Bollywood at its best: gangsters, scantily clad women, singing, dancing and incredible costumes. While not fully representative of the panoply of Indian film, the Bollywood phenomenon is nevertheless clearly gaining momentum in Canada. Witness the recent success in Toronto and mainstream media attention paid to the Unforgettable Tour, the live musical which has exposed a broader spectrum of Canadians to Bollywood’s biggest stars: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan .

To the delight of Indo-Canadians, it seems Indian cinema is finally having its voice heard loudly and clearly in Canada. “My generation, who grew up in Canada, has been waiting to see its stories up on the big screen”, comments actor Rupinder Nagra, star of Amal, directed by a young up and coming Canadian director, Richie Mehta. As if more proof of the ascendance of Indian cinema in Canada were needed, Amal, a film which paints a contemporary portrait of India, is currently in the top spot at the Canadian box office.

As for TIFF, another offering at this year’s fest is Firaaq, the premier of first-time Indian director Nandita Das. A well known Indian actress, Das has appeared in Deepa Mehta’s films Fire and Earth. She was also set to star as the young widow in Mehta’s Oscar nominated Water, but actually became too old to play the role after several pre-production delays. Tearing a page from Mehta’s directorial book, Das bravely takes up the subject of Hindu/Muslim conflict in her socially conscious film. Final screening of Firaaq is this Thursday September 11th.

The festival’s “Salute to Indian Cinema” this year has much to celebrate. Indian cinema is as vast and complex as are the many spices and flavors that make up the food of such a rich culture; and whether it be Indo-Canadian film, Indian regional “art cinema”, or Bollywood’s extravaganzas, it’s sure to be a flavour that will linger on the Canadian palette.