“The story of this movie revolves around the life of two generations of an immigrant South Asian family in Vancouver B.C. This theme automatically places it in a specific recent genre of Diaspora cinema.

It is most important to mention, first, that Mr. Maisuria is almost all that this film has to its credit. He alone conceived the idea; thought up the story, wrote the script; raised funds from for his own pocket; assembled a cast and crew from among local amateurs, recruited friends and relatives for major and minor roles and as extras; hunted for locations, fabricated and set the props; directed the production; edited the film; and finally submitted it to this festival for its first screening. This is not the tale of a third world pioneer at the turn of the century; it’s here and now in North America. Now, big budget films are made right here in Vancouver, and dozens of TV channels and umpteen corner video stores put unlimited titles at the fingertips of every Tom, Dick and Harry. It is therefore makes comparisons with successful movies inevitable, with in turn makes recognition much more difficult than ever before. It is against this challenge that Mr. Maisuria wishes to make a mark of his own. And I think he stands a good chance on his own merit.

There is something artistically and culturally significant about this film. From an artistic point of view, in my opinion, the success of the film rests on the clever choice of a situation of great irony at the heart of the story. The irony is that an immigrant mother of two thinks on the one hand that everything is well with her boy—because he is a boy, after all—although he is in fact on the brink of a suicidal disaster. On the other hand, she is most worried about her daughter, who is close to finishing her degree, and has fallen in love with a young man who happens to be white—but her mother wants to have her married to an Indian boy.

From a cultural point of view, the film portrays not only the problems with gender roles, but also the travails of recent immigrants in North America. The tragedy of the young boy results from the woeful marginalization of youth caught between two cultures. Mr. Maisuria has handled this very strong and emotional issue with great sensitivity. I recommend this film with great enthusiasm.”

By Dr. Anand C. Paranjpe.
Professor, Emeritus.
Simon Fraser University, BC, Canada.