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| OPENING NIGHT CELEBRATIONS |
ABOUT THE CAST AND CREW |
Preity Zinta
Chand
Preity Zinta is a multi award winning Bollywood actress who originally shot to fame as a
model, most notably as the fresh-faced, dimpled beauty of Liril soap ads. Preity had
never imagined a career as an actress, but while studying Criminal Psychology at
Bombay University, Shekhar Kapoor (Elizabeth) saw the Liril ad and decided to cast her
as the lead in his next film-- Tara Rum Pum. The film is still to be made but other offers
soon followed, including Kundan Shah’s Kya Kehna, the fabulous Mani Ratnam’s Dil Se
and Abaas-Mustan’s Soldier. All three were critical and box office hits and Preity soon
took her place in Bollywood’s A List.
With break out roles in Dil Chahta Hai and Dil Hai Tumhara Preity became an actress to
be reckoned with. Her screen presence, charm and talent have made her a favourite
casting choice for Bollywood’s top producers and directors. Some of her most notable
work includes Rakesh Roshan's Koi Mil Gaya where she stars opposite the talented
Hrithik Roshan; Nikhil Advani's Kal Ho Na Ho starring superstar Shahrukh Khan;
Farhan Akthar's Lakshya featuring the great Amitabh Bachchan; Yash Chopra's Veer
Zaara; Siddhart Anand's Salaam Namaste with Saif Ali Khan and Karan Johar's Kabhi
Alvida Na Kehna with Preity and an all star cast including Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh
Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee, and John Abraham.
Selected Filmography:
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007)
Jaaneman ( 2006)
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006)
Salaam Namaste (2005)
Khullam Khulla Pyaar Karen (2005)
Veer Zaara (2004)
Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha (2004)
Lakshya (2004)
Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003)
Koi Mil Gaya (2003)
Armaan (2003).
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The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003)
Dil Hai Tumhaara (2002)
Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke (2001)
Dil Chahta Hai (2001)
Farz (2001)
Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001)
Mission Kashmir (2000)
Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega (2000)
Kya Kehna (2000)
Accolades & Achievements
44th Filmfare Award 1999 - Best Female Debut –Dil Se & Soldier (1998)
Lux New Face 0f the year – Dil Se
Zee Cine Award 1999 - Best Debut (Female) – Soldier (1998)
Sansui Viewer’s Choice Movie Awards 2002 – Best Actress
Red & White Bravery Award – 2003
Advertising Club, Mumbai – 2003
Lion’s Club International – 2003 & 2004
POGO Voice Awards 2004– The Amazing Heroine
7th Sansui Viewer’s Choice Movie Awards 2004 – Best Actress – Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003)
5th IIFA 2004 - Best Actress – Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003)
7th Zee Cine Awards 2004 – Female Super Star of the Year
49th Filmfare Award 2004 - Best Actress – Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003)
Max Stardust Awards 2005 – Star of the Year (Female) – Veer Zara (2004)
Whirlpool Gr8 Women Achiever’s Award – 2005
Voted as Most Popular Indian Actress by BBC Network – 2005
Balinder Johal
Maji
Born, raised and educated in India, Johal came to Canada in 1965 with a Masters in
Punjabi and a Bachelor in Teaching. She obtained an M.A. in Education from the
University of British Columbia. Eventually she became a teacher for the B.C. school
system and at Vancouver Community College where she taught for 24 years before
taking early retirement to follow her dreams.
Theatre was always her passion in India. Johal has performed in plays in most of the big
cities in Canada and also in California often with India based Harpal Tiwana’s Theatre
Group. Being a community activist, Johal has also been involved in issue oriented
community plays done locally and the forum play, Here and Now about gang violence.
Since 1990, Johal has worked in Hollywood and Canadian Television and movies,
educational videos and on many voice-overs on and off camera in English, Punjabi and
Hindi. Her Chachi ji episodes on community related issues, previously on multicultural
and vision channels have been an attempt to bridge the cultural, educational, gender and.16
generational gaps.
Working in Heaven on Earth under Deepa Mehta’s direction last year and winning the
Leo Award as Best Female Performer in the short Film, The Birthday, are the best
rewards she has reaped in the television and film industry. She embraces any future
opportunities that should come forth with acting, especially if they are connected to Indo-Canadian
or universal Issues.
Vansh Bhardwaj
Rocky
Vansh Bhardwaj was born in Chandigarh (Punjab) on April 7, 1981. He started doing
theatre at the age of 11 and has done both children’s theatre, amateur theatre and
professional theatre where he has been lauded as an up and coming actor of note.
After completing his masters in theatre from the Indian Theatre Department at Punjab
University in Chandigarh, Vansh began running his own company called ‘Holy Theatre.’
He has also been working with renowned thespian Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry for the
past five years.
Vansh has toured all over India and Pakistan and has done an international project for
Japan, working with actors from all over the world. The play was a multilingual project
and was directed by Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry.
Ramanjit Kaur
Aman
Ramanjit Kaur graduated in Dance and Music and did a masters degree in Music at the
Punjab University in Chandigarh. She has been a professional actor for over 20 years but
her journey in theatre began as a child—specifically the day she was selected as a
delegate for the International Children’s Theatre Festival in Chandigarh.
In 1986 at the age of fifteen, she began working professionally with Neelam Mansingh
Chowdhry’s ‘The Company,’ and trained under her as an actress. Chowdhry’s ‘The
Company’ consists of traditional musicians, female impersonators and urban actors,
trained by Chowdhry, B.V. Karanth (Music) and Surjit Patar (Writer, Poet and
Translator). Ramanjit is still influenced by her years in ‘The Company’ and continues to
work with them, often in the role of lead actress. She has toured with several of their
theatre productions including Naga Mandala (which inspired Deepa Mehta’s Heaven on
Earth); Yerma, The Madwoman of Chaillot, Phaedra, Kitchen Katha, An Unposted Love
Letter, Sibo in Supermarket and The Suit.
As a recipient of the Charles Wallace India Trust Award (UK) Ramanjit was able to train
at the Central School of Speech and Drama, London Academy of Music and Dramatic.17
Arts, and the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama. She has also worked with the
Improbable Theatre and the Firenza Guidi in Italy. She has received several awards for
her work in theatre including the Sanskriti Award for Theatre (2006) and the Sangeet
Natak Akademi Bismillah Khan Yuva Purskar for Theatre (2006).
Currently she runs the theatre company ‘The Creative Arts’ in Kolkata where she is the
artistic director.
Ramanjit was also cast in Deepa Mehta’s Fire.
Gourrav Sihan
Baldev
Born in Ludhiana, Punjab, raised in Calcutta, Gourrav has lived in Canada and the United
States for the last 21 years. He has a Bachelors in Commerce and a BA in Accounting
and Economics and also did Graduate studies in Ship Chartering.
As an actor he has appeared in numerous ads (both print and television) and has
performed as a lead and supporting actor in both South Asian and North American
productions. These include lead roles in, A Piece of Heaven; Encounter and Pechaan all
for Pakistan’s Hum TV; supporting roles in The Sopranos; and the popular Bollywood
film Aa ab Laut Chalen. Gourrav has also lent his voice to such films as The Guru, The
Darjeeling Limited and The Warrior.
He is fluent in English, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Gujarati.
Rajinder Singh Cheema
Papaji
Rajinder Singh Cheema was raised in Moga, Punjab, India alongside his two sisters and
brother. In 1969, following the completion of his education, Rajinder Singh immigrated
to Canada. He married Surinder Kaur in Vancouver in 1974.
In his 39 years in Vancouver Rajinder Singh has worked within a number of fields
including real estate and the lumber industry. More recently he has become involved in
the television and film industries. He can be seen in CBC’s DaVinci’s Inquest and
DaVinci’s City Hall. Previously he has been involved in a Canadian Unity commercial
campaign.
Due to his love of Sikh and Punjabi culture and history, Rajinder Singh has always
chosen projects that promote his heritage within the broader Canadian multicultural
tapestry. He participated in the production of CBC’s Murder Unveiled as an actor,
cultural advisor and turban stylist as well. Rajinder also had a lead role in the South
Asian film Enough is Enough produced by the Vancouver & Lower Mainland
Multicultural Family Support Services.
He continues to reside in Richmond, B.C. with his wife, two sons, two daughters, and.18
two daughter-in-laws. They are all active members within the Sikh, and South Asian
communities.
Orville Maciel
Kabir
Orville Maciel, was born in Muscat, Oman on April 1 1992, spent his early childhood in
Goa, India and immigrated with his family to Canada in 1997 at the young age of four.
Orville in the past has performed in many plays at his elementary school.
However, Orville’s first break was in 2004, when he voiced the character Kareem in the
animated short film Tomboy, which was just released in May 2008. He also used his
voice in the documentary The In Between World of MG Vassanji and he was a regular on
the hit radio drama Afghanada, on CBC Radio. Orville’s acting career really took off,
when he played the lead role in the radio play for CBC, called Funny Boy. The play was
directed by Deepa Mehta, and based on the novel by Shyam Selvadurai.
Geetika Sharma
Loveleen
Geetika was born on September 7 1995 in Etobicoke, Ontario. Geetika was only 12 years
old when she was cast in Heaven On Earth which was her first role in a motion picture.
Her positive experiences working with Deepa Mehta have inspired her to continue acting.
Aside from acting, Geetika enjoys sports and dancing.
Geetika plans to pursue acting until she is 18, after which she will pursue her goal of
becoming a lawyer.
Yanna McIntosh
Rosa
Yanna McIntosh is a multi-award winning actor known both for her television and theatre
performances. She is also a writer and a teacher having directed students at the National
Theatre School and Humber College in productions of Macbeth, Julius Caesar and
Richard III.
Her recent theatre credits include the title role in Mary Stuart for Soulpepper Theatre;
The Syringa Tree for Canadian Stage for which she has been nominated for a Dora;
Skylight, for the Tarragon Theatre, for which she won a Dora and Andre Alexis’s
Lambton Kent which she performed at the Edinburgh Festival. She also co-wrote and
performed the play Trace. Yanna has performed in several plays over the years on most
of this country’s and city’s top stages, including the National Arts Centre, the Factory
Theatre, Soulpepper Theatre and Theatre Passe Murailles..19
As a Shakespearean actor, she has performed in many of the Bard’s plays at Stratford and
the Canadian Stage including The Taming of the Shrew; A Midsummer Night’s Dream;
Twelfth Night and Antony and Cleopatra.
Her film and television credits include The Best Years (2007); The Sentinel (2006); This
is Wonderland (2006); Blue Murder (2004); John Q (2002); Riverdale (1997) and
Doomstown (2006) for which she won a Gemini.
Yanna’s upcoming projects include Stuff Happens in which she plays Condoleeza Rice.
She also will be in the ABC version of the classic A Raisin in the Sun and has a role in
the new TMN series The Weight.
Deepa Mehta
Director, Producer & Screenwriter
Deepa Mehta was born in India and received a degree in philosophy from the University
of New Delhi. In 1991, Mehta produced and directed her first feature film Sam & Me, the
poignant story of an unlikely friendship between two outcasts who form a deep and
permanent bond despite the fact that neither is welcome in the other's world. Sam & Me
won the very first Honorable Mention by the Critics in the prestigious Camera D'Or
category at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival.
In 1992, she directed a one-hour episode of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (the
adventures of Indiana Jones as a boy) produced by George Lucas for ABC television.
"Benares" was filmed on location in Benares, India.
In 1993, Mehta directed her second feature film, Camilla, a Canadian / UK co-production
starring (the late) Jessica Tandy and Bridget Fonda. Other cast members included Elias
Koteas, Maury Chaykin, Graham Greene and Hume Cronyn. It was shot on location in
Toronto, Ontario and Savannah, Georgia. Camilla had a worldwide release early in 1995.
Mehta directed the final episode of George Lucas's Young Indiana Jones Chronicles in
1994. “Travels with Father” was shot on location in Prague, C.R. and Greece.
Fire, Mehta's third feature film, based on an original screenplay, was written, directed and
produced by Mehta. Fire opened the Perspective Canada Program at the 1996 Toronto
International Film Festival, where it was runner-up (with Fly Away Home) for the Air
Canada People’s Choice Award. It was one of 29 films selected from over 1400 entries,
worldwide, for the prestigious New York Film Festival. At the Vancouver International
Film Festival, Fire won the Federal Express Award for Best Canadian Film as chosen by
the audience. At the Chicago International Film Festival, it won two Silver Hugo Awards
for Best Direction and Best Actress. In Mannheim, Fire won the Jury Award and in Paris,
it was voted Favourite Foreign Film. Fire has currently been sold to 30 countries and had
its North American release on August 22, 1997, followed by releases in Europe, Australia
and India in September 1997..20
Earth, based on Bapsi Sidhwa's critically acclaimed novel, Cracking India, is the second
film in Mehta's trilogy of the elements, Fire, Earth and Water. Earth was shot in New
Delhi, India, in January of 1998. It had its world premiere as a Special Presentation at the
1998 Toronto Film Festival where it was received with a standing ovation and critical
acclaim. Earth won the Prix Premiere du Public at the Festival du film Asiatique de
Deauville (France) in March 1999 and the Critics' Award at the Schermi d'Amore
International Film Festival (Italy) in April of the same year. Currently, Earth has been
sold to 22 countries and was selected by the Film Federation of India as India's nomination
for consideration for an Academy Award in the category of Best Foreign Language Film.
Her film Bollywood/ Hollywood opened the Perspective Canada Program at the 2002
Toronto International Film Festival, and has remained in the top 10 grossing English
movies since its Canadian opening on October 25, 2002. In 2003, Mehta co-wrote and
directed Republic of Love, starring Bruce Greenwood and Amelia Fox, and based on the
novel of the same title by the world-renowned author Carol Shields.
In the same year, Mehta won the prestigious CineAsia “Best Director” Award – an
acclaim awarded to Steven Spielberg in 2002.
Water, the third film in the “elements” trilogy, opened the 2005 Toronto International
Film Festival. Water is the first Canadian film ever acquired by U.S. distributor Fox
Searchlight and was released in the United States in the spring of 2006.
Initially, Water was to be shot in India, but Hindu fundamentalists created riots, burnt the
sets and issued death threats to the director and actors forcing the film to stop production
in early 2000. The film was remounted and completed shooting in Sri Lanka in June
2004.
Initially, Water was to be shot in India, but Hindu fundamentalists created riots, burnt the
sets and issued death threats to the director and actors forcing the film to stop production
in early 2000. The film was remounted and completed shooting in Sri Lanka in June
2004.
FILMOGRAPHY
SAM AND ME 1991
CAMILLA 1994
FIRE 1996
EARTH 1998
BOLLYWOOD/HOLLYWOOD 2002
REPUBLIC OF LOVE 2003.21
WATER 2004
LETS TALK ABOUT IT 2006
David Hamilton
Producer/Executive Producer
David Hamilton is the producer of the Oscar nominated film Water, directed by Deepa
Mehta. He was the producer on Water when it was shut down by Hindu fundamentalist
factions during the attempted shooting in India in 2000 and has worked together with
Deepa Mehta over the past five years to re-assemble the production that was ultimately
shot in Sri Lanka in 2004. He had previously produced Deepa Mehta’s critically
acclaimed feature films Fire and Earth which he sold in conjunction with United Artists to
over 40 countries worldwide. Following the original shutdown of Water, Hamilton
collaborated once again with Mehta by producing Bollywood/Hollywood, which was shot
in Toronto in late 2001, and the following year opened Perspective Canada at the Toronto
International Film Festival. It was a box office success in Canada and sold in over 20
countries worldwide. He has also executive produced Lunch With Charles, a Hong Kong-Canadian
co-production starring Sean Lau, Theresa Lee, Nicholas Lea and Bif Naked.
After completing his undergraduate studies at McGill, Hamilton went on to Harvard for a
masters degree. While at Harvard, he wrote a book on decision theory that was published
by MIT Press. A Harvard Sheldon Traveling Fellowship enabled him to travel and study
for one year in the Middle East, Iran and India. His business ventures have taken him to
every corner of the globe and span a variety of enterprises, including communications,
publishing, concert production/promotion and feature film production.
His passions early in life were gymnastics and theatre. He performed a tight rope act in
a children’s circus and wrote and acted in numerous plays and musicals. A strong
supporter of the arts, Hamilton has been an active member of the board of directors of the
Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, School of Dance and is the current chairman of the Ottawa
International Writers Festival.
FILMOGRAPHY
FIRE 1996
FEATURE FILM 107 MINUTES
EARTH 1998 FEATURE FILM 117 MINUTES
LUNCH WITH CHARLES 2001 FEATURE FILM 97 MINUTES
BOLLYWOOD HOLLYWOOD 2002 FEATURE FILM 98 MINUTES
WATER 2004 FEATURE FILM 114 MINUTES
FORGOTTEN WOMAN 2007 FEATURE DOC 100 MINUTES
Giles Nuttgens
Director of Photography
Giles joined the British Broadcasting Corporation in the UK in 1981 as Assistant Film
Cameraman working worldwide on documentaries for the renowned Natural History.22
Unit. At the age of 26 he became one of the youngest Film Cameramen ever in the BBC
and over the next few years shot many documentaries on environmental and social issues,
working in locations ranging from the Amazon rainforest to the depressed urban jungle of
Glasgow. In 1989 he shot his first feature for Film Four International on location in India,
a place that was to become a second home over the next decade. At the beginning of the
90’s he started working for Lucasfilm on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles where he
first met Deepa Mehta to shoot an episode about Krishnamurthy in Benares (Varanasi) .
For cinema he collaborated on Bandit Queen(1990) with Shekhar Kapur and Fire (1994)
for Deepa Mehta, two films that caused great political upheaval in India (ironically
cinemas were burnt down for projecting Fire). Alongside the continuing work for
Lucasfilm, he shot various seasons of TV police shows for British television and several
films for cinema including Earth for Deepa Mehta and worked as 2nd Unit Director of
Photography on Episode I of Star Wars.
In 2000 he met up with David Siegel and Scott McGehee and photographed The Deep
End around Lake Tahoe in California for which he won the Cinematography Award at
Sundance the following year.
2002 brought a new connection when Giles photographed Young Adam starring Ewan
McGregor and Tilda Swinton, the first of his films for David Mackenzie. Over the next
three years he finished off both Episodes II and III of Star Wars with George Lucas,
Asylum starring Ian McKellen once again for director David Mackenzie, Bee Season
starring Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche and Water, the third of Deepa Mehta’s
elemental trilogy. More recently he completed Hallam Foe and Good Night starring
Penélope Cruz and Danny DeVito.
Dilip Mehta
Production Designer
Dilip Mehta was born in Delhi, India. For his secondary education, he attended the
prestigious Doon School in Dehra Dun and graduated from the Delhi University with a
degree in Economics/Commerce.
As an internationally renowned photojournalist, Dilip has photographed for some of the
world’s leading publications such as National Geographic, Time, Newsweek, Figaro,
Stern, The London Sunday Times and The New York Times amongst others.
His incisive coverage of the Bhopal Gas tragedy and photo reportage of its aftermath over
a five-year period won him accolades including the World Press and Overseas Press
Awards.
He is a member-photographer of the prestigious New York and Paris based CONTACT
PRESS IMAGES, a photo agency that represents an exclusive group of photojournalists
who share a unique vision.
His work has been published in the award-winning Day in the Life series in America,.23
Canada, Russia, Australia, Japan, Italy, Spain, and China and he was the subject of a one
hour documentary –Traveling Light: The Photojournalism of Dilip Mehta, co-produced
with CBC and Channel-4, England.
In addition to his photojournalism, Dilip is active in the field of television and
filmmaking. He was the Special Stills Photographer on Gandhi, The Razor’s Edge, Fire
and the Canadian television series, Danger Bay. He was the Creative Producer of Deepa
Mehta’s critically acclaimed Earth, and was the Production Designer and Associate
Producer of the film, Water, shot on location in Sri Lanka.
In 2007 Dilip made his directorial debut with the feature documentary film The Forgotten
Woman which explores the issues of Widows in contemporary India.
Colin Monie
Film Editor
Colin Monie was born in Scotland and attended the University of Glasgow where he
studied Film and Drama before working for the BBC film unit. Peter Mullan’s Orphans
was his first feature credit and he went on to edit Mullan’s The Magdalene Sisters, which
won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival and the Discovery Award at the
Toronto International Film Festival.
Colin Monie
Film Editor
Colin Monie was born in Scotland and attended the University of Glasgow where he
studied Film and Drama before working for the BBC film unit. Peter Mullan’s Orphans
was his first feature credit and he went on to edit Mullan’s The Magdalene Sisters, which
won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival and the Discovery Award at the
Toronto International Film Festival.
Mychael Danna
Music Composer
Mychael Danna has been scoring films since his 1987 feature debut for Atom Egoyan's
Family Viewing, a score which earned Danna the first of his 11 Canadian film award
nominations. Danna is recognized as one of the pioneers of combining non-Western
sound sources with orchestral and electronic minimalism in the world of film music.
This reputation has led him to work with such acclaimed directors as Atom Egoyan, Scott
Hicks, Ang Lee, Gillies MacKinnon, James Mangold, Mira Nair, Billy Ray, Joel
Schumacher and Denzel Washington.
He studied music composition at the University of Toronto, winning there the Glenn
Gould Composition Scholarship in 1985. Danna also served for five years as composer-.24
in-residence at the McLaughlin Planetarium in Toronto (1987-1992). Works for dance
include music for “Dead Souls” (Carbone Quatorze Dance Company, directed by Gilles
Maheu 1996), and a score for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's “Gita Govinda” (2001) based
on the 1000-year-old classical Indian erotic poem, with choreographer Nina Menon.
More recently, Danna scored Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and Atom Egoyan’s latest film
Adoration. |
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