Heaven on Earth

(Canada, 2008, 106 mins)

35mm

Selected Filmography:  

EXEC PRODS: Ravi Chopra, David Hamilton, Silva Basmajian (NFB), Deepa Mehta, Sanjay Bhutiani
PROD: David Hamilton
COPRODS: Mehernaz Lentin, Anita Lee (NFB)
SCR: Deepa Mehta
CAM: Giles Nuttgens
ED: Colin Monie
Cast: Preity Zinta, Vansh Bhardwaj, Balinder Johal, Rajinder Singh Cheema, Yanna McIntosh

Deepa Mehta (Water) delivers a textured and emotional drama in her latest feature. Vibrant and irrepressibly alive, Chand (Preity Zinta) is a young bride leaving her home in Ludhiana, India, for Brampton, Ontario, where her husband Rocky (Vansh Bhardwaj) and his very traditional family await her arrival. Everything is new and unfamiliar to Chand, including the quiet and shy Rocky who she meets for the first time at Pearson Airport. Chand approaches her new life with wide-eyed optimism and hope.

But soon optimism turns to isolation as the family she has inherited struggles beneath the weight of unspoken words and familial obligations. No one feels the pressure more than Rocky, weighed down by a controlling mother who can't let him go, a sweet but ineffectual father and a sister whose two children and unemployed husband are also a burden. Unable to express his anger, he finds other ways to release it and it's Chand who bears the brunt of his repressed rage.

Trapped in a world she cannot comprehend and unable to please her husband, Chand is desperate. Hope comes in the form of Rosa (Yanna McIntosh), a tough and savvy Jamaican-Canadian woman who works alongside Chand in a factory. As the lines between fantasy and reality converge, Chand and Rocky come face to face with each other and themselves.

Sponsored By:

South Asian Post

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