Guerilla Filmmaking Took its Toll on First Generation Cast And Crew

Huddled in the cozy living room of First Generation actor Balinder Johal's living room, eating samosas and drinking some fine hot Indian2 tea, First Generation writer/director Ishwar L. Maisuria and key actors from his maiden venture – Bhupinder Dhaliwal, Haroon Khan and of course our hostess – Balinder Johal – relate the hardships of independent film making.

"Film making for me is a labor of love," says Ishwar, who graduated from The Vancouver Film School, before making his foray into low budget independent feature length film making.

After several stints at North Shore based Cannell Studios, Ishwar began feeling a great itch to venture into a production of his own. His desire to make a film led him back to his colleagues at The Vancouver Film School, who gave him encouragement to proceed.
Ishwar sat down at his personal computer and churned out the first draft of First Generation, a story about generational conflict in an Indo-Canadian family. The story was inspired by events closer to Ishwar’s home.

"I ultimately came to the conclusion that whatever I wrote, it would have to do with the family. It’s a story about people I have known and still know and they may still be dealing with the conflicts portrayed in the film," Ishwar says.

"The film asks a lot of questions and the answers aren't always readily available. It's a reflection of ourselves and our community of South Asian immigrants in North America . I wanted to write this now because it had a certain resonance that was close to my own life. A lot of my cousins and friends continue to have these problems of intergenerational cultural conflicts."

Ishwar showed the first draft to his Film School chum – cinematographer Richard Choi, who provided the needed spark to get production underway by agreeing to do the photography for the film.

With the production taking shape – Ishwar’s hardest task lay ahead. He admits casting was a real pain. "We were only weeks away from shooting and we still didn't have many of the principles cast," Maisuria says.

With Akesh Gill  (The Burning Season) on board, all the main roles began to fall in place. Haroon khan – the troubled lad of the Rattanji Family – was recruited from Tarlington Talent, a local talent agency. And for the role of the mother – Balinder Johal – the veteran actor from South Vancouver – was chosen, who then helped Maisuria with the casting of other key roles – including that of the father played by Bhupinder Dhaliwal.

Once the cast was in place, the production began shooting 16-18 hour days on a very tight shooting schedule. Along the way, the cast and crew had to endure great pains and make personal sacrifices to keep the production on schedule.

"A lot of times we didn't have a permit and people wanted money that we didn’t have," says Maisuria, who put up all the money from his pocket to make the film. "We really had to rough it. Some places – like the scene on the ferry – we just went in, got the shots and got out. It was in the best sense of the word – Guerilla filmmaking."

But Ishwar admits that many of the hardships faced by the production were made easier by the family bond that developed between the cast and crew.

"We had a skeleton crew and long hours of shooting and everyone worked closely together. It was a real family atmosphere was great because it gave us the support and enthusiasm we needed to get the production to completion. My own family was also tremendously supportive of the film and of what I was trying to do, so it helped."

As the invited guests sip their tea and bite into the sugar-filled sweetness of jalebis, the actors all relate their own tales of the production.

For Haroon Khan, it was his first feature film. "For a young actor, it was a great opportunity and I found the experience satisfying," said the young actor, who also desires to become a filmmaker.  "I'm very choosy about what parts I play and I don’t like playing cliché, stereotype characters. The only way to play challenging actors is to write them yourself. So It was great to have this role come along and it was great to do it."

Khan did a lot of research for the character including seeing a psychiatrist for the troubled character he was going to play. "I didn't behave very happily on the set. I stayed in character and did all the things my character was going to do in the film like smoking and staying up all night. I really learned a lot about myself while playing and researching the character. For my character of a troubled Indo-Canadian youth, I had to believe what he was going through and remain faithful to his emotions. Essentially you play the emotions and hope that the camera can capture the convictions of the emotions."

Dhaliwal, a real estate agent who has had stage and television experience, found the experience to be quite different from stage. "I have a passion for acting and I like to get into different characters. Getting into this role, I knew the emotions and background. It gave me great satisfaction to act in the film and the people were great, especially Ishwar and Mark Tuit (first Assistant Director)."

For Balinder Johal, the veteran actor who recently acted in the French director Jean Jacques Annuad's (with credits including The Bear and The Lover) groundbreaking IMAX narrative film – Wings of Courage, First Generation was another first in a long list of acting credits that include a drama to be shown on CBC this year.

"It's a film that three generations can sit together and watch. And the film is a reflection of their conflicts and tensions. I play a typical traditional mother and the values she holds dear to her heart. She wants to marry off the daughter and is very affectionate towards the son, even though he has gone astray."

The film also makes use of other local talent including Sushma Sardana's mother Mrs. L. Dutta, Aman Sara, Sunny Hunuman Singh, music composer and teacher Satwant Singh and master sitar player  James Hamilton.

- By R. Paul Dhillon, the Link Newspaper