Synopsis : Jassi is a young, Canadian-born Indian girl in the final years of college. She’s never been to India and she’s cocooned by her wealthy and protective family, who have a very conservative and orthodox mindset despite their exposure to the Western way of life. During one of her summer holidays, Jassi travels to India with her mother and her uncle to finally understand her “roots” and have a first-hand experience of the land she belongs to—Punjab. Jassi has no idea that this is where she is going to meet the man who will eventually change the course of her life—Mithu. Mithu lives in a modest one-room tenement just three streets across from the grand mansion Jassi’s family owns somewhere in the heart of Punjab. Mithu is a happy-go-lucky man, doing odd jobs to survive. He plays kabaddi, works in the fields and drives a “bee” (an auto rickshaw). Jassi is someone who has never experienced caste or class differences— her attraction towards Mithu is pure and unconditional.When she is sent back home, she embarks in a secret correspondence with Mithu, and tries to get him to Canada. When it appears impossible that Mithu will ever be granted a visa, she returns to India to secretly marry him, but when her family finds out, they try everything in their power to destroy their union, including tricking Jassi into signing a false accusation against Mithu, stating he forced her to marry him to obtain a Canadian visa. Desperate, Jassi runs away from home and flies back alone to India one last time to be with her love. As she reunites with Mithu again, they are now on the run—finding solace in each other, away from the judgmental eyes of the world, but threatened and chased by her family. Jassi has hatched a plan for their future. She and Mithu would soon head back to the West, where they would get protection. She would work and help him stand on his own in a foreign country. And they would live happily ever after. But that’s when life strikes its cruelest blow on them, orchestrated by the person who should love Jassi the most: her own mother.
Festival History : Toronto International Film Festival, 2023
Awards : 2023 TIFF Platform Award
Director :
Tarsem Singh
Producer :
Bhushan Kumar, Krishnan Kumar, Vipul D Shah, Ashwin Varde, Rajesh Bahl
, Sanjay Grover,
T-Series, Wakaoo Films, Creative Strokes Group
Screenplay :
Amit Rai
DOP :
Brendan Galvin
Editor :
Tarsem Singh
Cast :
Pavia Sidhu, Yugam Sood, Vipin Sharma, Sunita Dhir, Kanwar Grewal
TARSEM SINGH is the award-winning director of the feature films THE CELL; THE FALL; IMMORTALS; MIRROR MIRROR, and SELF/LESS. Singh is also a legendary director of music videos and commercials. His groundbreaking video for R.E.M’s song ‘Losing My Religion’ won six MTV Video Music Awards, including the coveted ‘Video of the Year’ award. He has created videos for artists including Lady Gaga, Suzanne Vega, and En Vogue. Among his most well-known television commercials is the Pepsi “We Will Rock You” campaign, featuring Britney Spears, Pink and Beyoncé.