Ghar Pardes makes a point
When filmmaker Vimal Reddy recently handed me a DVD of his latest movie and asked me to review it, I was hesitant.
Having experienced disappointment with another movie made in Fiji a very long time ago, I wasn’t comfortable going down that path again.
“Just give it your honest review,” said Reddy.
I thought that was pretty bold of him to ask for a frank opinion on his latest release, shot in Melbourne and Fiji, and out on DVD recently.
Ghar Pardes (Home Abroad) is a surprisingly pleasant viewing, which drives home a bold message for the Fiji Indian community, sprinkled with typical Fiji humour and at-times intense family drama.
Shot briefly in the lush cane fields and the golden beaches of western Fiji, “Ghar Pardes” is the story of Priya (played by Pritash Dutt), a cane farmer’s daughter in Fiji, who is overjoyed when her family receives a proposal for their daughter to marry the son of a wealthy man from Melbourne.
The blissful first few weeks of her married life turns to custard when the couple find that they are not compatible. Her husband, Ravi (Praneel Rajoria), is a creature with chronic nocturnal habits which don’t sit well with the “bholi bhali” Priya.
Thus, Priya finds herself “alone” in a strange city as her married life falls apart, despite the efforts of her father-in-law, Ramesh (Vijay Kumaran), to bring his wayward son in line.
Not an uncommon story in post-coup Fiji, but one brought to the big screen for the first time – poor cane farmers worried about the future of their daughter, keen to get her settled overseas for “a better life”.
Looking at it from an overseas angle: anxious parents of their notorious son, keen for him to settle into a “homely” life – thinking that marriage to a village girl would change his behaviour. This does not materialise.
This movie neither contains Bollywood cast, nor is the director of Bollywood heritage – in fact none of the cast has ever been near an acting school, let alone in a movie, before. Reddy himself is a former Fiji bank executive.
It is a simple movie which manages to deliver on a valuable message, well combined with typical Fiji humour such as the scene where a photo thought to be that of a house owned by Ravi, is actually the Australian parliament house.
Raghu and Gopal Kaka are very real characters, as is Jona, the Fijian family friend, who belts out Jhil Mil Sitaro Ka Aaangan Hoga . . . when he learns of Priya going to live in a big city.
Ghar Pardes is well backed by the music of Naresh and Sukhdev and Ali Sarshar, with enjoyable photography by George Joseph.
While more polished acting would have given Ghar Pardes zest, it is nonetheless an enjoyable movie; if you are from Fiji, you’ll enjoy it more.
When filmmaker Vimal Reddy recently handed me a DVD of his latest movie and asked me to review it, I was hesitant.
Having experienced disappointment with another movie made in Fiji a very long time ago, I wasn’t comfortable going down that path again.
“Just give it your honest review,” said...
When filmmaker Vimal Reddy recently handed me a DVD of his latest movie and asked me to review it, I was hesitant.
Having experienced disappointment with another movie made in Fiji a very long time ago, I wasn’t comfortable going down that path again.
“Just give it your honest review,” said Reddy.
I thought that was pretty bold of him to ask for a frank opinion on his latest release, shot in Melbourne and Fiji, and out on DVD recently.
Ghar Pardes (Home Abroad) is a surprisingly pleasant viewing, which drives home a bold message for the Fiji Indian community, sprinkled with typical Fiji humour and at-times intense family drama.
Shot briefly in the lush cane fields and the golden beaches of western Fiji, “Ghar Pardes” is the story of Priya (played by Pritash Dutt), a cane farmer’s daughter in Fiji, who is overjoyed when her family receives a proposal for their daughter to marry the son of a wealthy man from Melbourne.
The blissful first few weeks of her married life turns to custard when the couple find that they are not compatible. Her husband, Ravi (Praneel Rajoria), is a creature with chronic nocturnal habits which don’t sit well with the “bholi bhali” Priya.
Thus, Priya finds herself “alone” in a strange city as her married life falls apart, despite the efforts of her father-in-law, Ramesh (Vijay Kumaran), to bring his wayward son in line.
Not an uncommon story in post-coup Fiji, but one brought to the big screen for the first time – poor cane farmers worried about the future of their daughter, keen to get her settled overseas for “a better life”.
Looking at it from an overseas angle: anxious parents of their notorious son, keen for him to settle into a “homely” life – thinking that marriage to a village girl would change his behaviour. This does not materialise.
This movie neither contains Bollywood cast, nor is the director of Bollywood heritage – in fact none of the cast has ever been near an acting school, let alone in a movie, before. Reddy himself is a former Fiji bank executive.
It is a simple movie which manages to deliver on a valuable message, well combined with typical Fiji humour such as the scene where a photo thought to be that of a house owned by Ravi, is actually the Australian parliament house.
Raghu and Gopal Kaka are very real characters, as is Jona, the Fijian family friend, who belts out Jhil Mil Sitaro Ka Aaangan Hoga . . . when he learns of Priya going to live in a big city.
Ghar Pardes is well backed by the music of Naresh and Sukhdev and Ali Sarshar, with enjoyable photography by George Joseph.
While more polished acting would have given Ghar Pardes zest, it is nonetheless an enjoyable movie; if you are from Fiji, you’ll enjoy it more.
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