[nyfoil-l] Guiana 1838 in Jersey City March 5

[Sekhar Ramakrishnan]

http://www.guiana1838.com/

2 movies on Saturday March 5th, in Jersey City:
Guiana 1838 
& 
The Right & the Wrong

Tickets are also available at the Box Office!!!
For more information, please call:
718-777-2560 or 631-804-5972 or 914-661-6626

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http://www.belizefilmfestival.com/press.htm has photos.

              "GUIANA 1838" to open 3rd Belize International Film Festival

The Historic docu-drama "GUIANA 1838," which sold out virtually 
every screening since its premiere in Sept., 2004 - and breaking US 
box office records in the process - has been selected to open the 
Third Edition of the Belize International Film Festival on Monday, 
February 21st, 2005 at the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts in 
Belize City.  

"Incredible is the only word that can be used to describe the preview 
of 'GUIANA 1838,' the Rohit Jagessar film that focuses on the 
abolition of slavery and the arrival of Indians in the British West Indies 
during the 19th century. The vivid cinematography on 'GUIANA 1838' 
sucks the viewer in immediately and takes one through the journey of 
indentured laborers arriving on the ship, the Hesperus, and the 
conflict that initially ensues between the black slaves and the new 
arriving Indian ones."  

- Online West Indian Times (July 18th 2004) 	  

When the abolition of slavery in the British Caribbean in 1834 
prompted The Gillanders, Arbuthnot & Company in Calcutta, a part of 
the East India Company, to recruit Coolies from India to fill the 
resulting labor void, the company hires Sinha, a fierce small timer to 
sell dreams of El Dorado to the unsuspecting, impoverished Coolies. 
They are signed to five-year contracts as indentured servants. Upon 
the Coolies' arrival in British Guiana in 1838, the British planters 
promptly enslaves them to ensure that the growth of sugar in the 
British West Indies will continue uninterrupted. John Scoble of the 
British and Foreign Anti Slavery Society arrives on the colony a year 
later to discover a new form of slavery; this time on the backs of 
Indians. (The film's trailer can be viewed at www.guiana1838.com)  

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http://www.desiclub.com/bollywood/bollywood_features/bolly_article.cfm?id=225&session=hc65265rgl8encfey6cjdxb

                  Rohit Jagessar - Director of Guiana 1838

This is definitely one for the West Indian brothas and sistas, but we 
should ALL check it out. Why? Its a mad good movie, thats why!  

                  by Khalid Ilahi

Rohit Jagessar

Every once in a while comes along a meaningful, impactful feature 
film for South Asians and for all those of South Asian-decent. Yes, in 
the cloudy rinku tinku world of Bollywood cinema, where we all get 
caught up in the song and dance around the mystic mountains and 
trees, exists a reality. A reality that only exists to some, a reality that 
some intentionally remain ignorant to.  

Not Rohit Jagessar, director of the epic Guiana 1838, now in select 
theaters. Rohit has put seven plus years of his life into this project, 
and its outcome is self-explanatory. Having cast a Bollywood legend, 
Kumar Gaurav joined Rohit's cast and the end result is a magnificient 
film showcasing a part of Desi history that we should all be aware of.  

Everyone should realize where we all come from, where we've been 
and where we're going. This movie beautifully tells us the story of 
Guiana, how it came to be and why. I would be embarrassed for our 
people if we did not watch this film. A good way to describe it would 
be to call it an epic drama, and I was lucky enough to talk to the man 
behind it, Rohit Jagessar.  

Khalid Ilahi: What initially motivated/influenced you to take on this 
project? Rohit Jagessar: As a little boy growing up, my grandmother 
used to tell me stories about the people that were brought on ships by 
the British Planters from India to British Guiana during the 19th 
century. Over a period of 80 years, well over 1 million Indians were 
shipped out from India to many parts of the world to labor on British 
plantations. My grandmother and her parents made the voyage more 
than 100 years ago.  

I visited the University of Lucknow to begin research on the subject 
and to my surprise not even the professors there were aware about 
this part of India's history. This compelled me even more to make this 
story into a feature film.  

KI: What other projects have you worked on prior to Guiana 1838? 
RJ: Guiana 1838 is my first film.  

KI: Wow, it being your first film, what did you take away from the 
experience? What was your favorite thing about directing and what 
was your least favorite? RJ: Directing Guiana 1838 is an experience I 
will cherish for a long time to come. Before doing the film I spent a 
large part of the last twenty five years producing music, concerts and 
radio shows. Through these experiences I knew I had to be hands on 
during the production of my film.  

I remained completely in charge right from day one and always went 
by my instincts. From the reviews and advance ticket sales this has 
paid off big time for me. I think all film makers should stick to their 
guns if they are striving for originality. On film sets everyone is 
suddenly a film maker. Even the clapper boy. It is good to listen 
attentively as this promotes harmony, which is always encouraged but 
at the end of the day you have got to go with your gut feeling. Afterall, 
it is your film and film making is a director's medium.  

My most favorite part of directing is knowing exactly what I want for 
my audience and I fight for it. At times, I would shoot a scene from 
backwards to the beginning. The actors cannot comprehend the tactic 
and this prompts them to think. The more you involve actors to 
participate the better their performance will come out.  

The least favorite thing about directing for me is having to deal with 
the occasional unprofessional behavior. It comes with the territory. 
When it does, I set things right and move on with my shoot. I don't 
think there is any other sensible way to handle these things but to take 
care of them as and when it comes up. The focus should always 
remain on good film making and cordial people management.  

KI: What kind of research was required for historical accuracy? 
Where did you go, what did you have access to? RJ: I spent seven 
years researching the story and put together around 50,000 pages of 
research materials, illustrations and map routes of the ships. The one 
thing I noticed was a lot of published materials were inconsistent with 
history. Therefore, I spent a lot of time cross checking the papers to 
make sure my story was accurate. While doing the research I also 
visited historical sites such as the Bay of Bengal from where the first 
ships departed India for the British West Indies in 1838. I also visited 
Liverpool, where the slave traders were based and various parts of 
Uttar Pradesh and Calcutta from where Indians were recruited for the 
voyages. These visits prompted the imagination and were helpful to 
me while writing the screenplay for the film.  

"...I made a film that I would like to see myself..."  

KI: What did you look for in the actors/actresses you chose to be in 
your film? RJ: Right from the inception I instructed my casting director 
Puja Bathija that I wanted actors and the main focus must be on their 
complete dedication and hard work since the shoot was going to be a 
tough one. Then there was the depth of the actors as my film is a 
period piece dealing with the struggles and ultimate triumph of the 
Indians on foreign soil. Puja responded with what will perhaps 
become the best crop of actors ever put together for a film. I recently 
showed my film to a select audience and they were amazed to see a 
film where each and every actor engages the audience and remained 
true to their characters from start to finish.  

Guiana 1838KI: How was it working with Kumar Gaurav? RJ: Working 
with Bunty (Kumar Gaurav) was a complete experience in film 
making. He is an exceptional actor and his skills and talents lifted the 
character of Laxman beyond expectations. He is a hard worker and 
completely dedicated to his craft. I can see why he is extremely 
selective about his films. As a person, one cannot ask for a better 
human being to work with. On the sets he is a thorough professional 
and listens attentively to the director and has full confidence in what 
he is about to do. I think this was his toughest shoot and when things 
got too intense for me as director he would come out of no where and 
say "hi Rohit, good morning". He would smile as if to say don't worry, I 
am here and we are all with you. I am certain the audience will be 
impressed with Bunty's performance. He lights up the screen in what 
will perhaps go down in history as one of the most brilliant 
performances in cinema.  

KI: On a personal level, do you think imperialism helped or hurt 
Guiana? RJ: I think the colonies needed to be developed in those 
early years and for the required resources, powerful countries were 
needed. Where imperialism went wrong was with the methods that 
were applied, they were highly inappropriate. The powerful nations 
should have fed the hands that did the work in developing the colonies 
instead of cutting them off. Therefore, imperialism failed to cultivate 
nations through development.  

KI: Can you give us an idea of the expectations you have from your 
audiences? RJ: I have spent the last seven years making my film and 
all through these years I have been thinking of this question. I can say 
with full confidence that I made a movie keeping the audience in full 
focus at all times and I am sure the audience will in turn benefit from 
this. It is their film. It is the story of our Indian people thrown into a 
system they did not come looking for and were caught by complete 
surprise when the British planters enslaved those that made the early 
voyages from India to British colonies in the West Indies. My 
expectation is that the audience will feel the intensity and suspense of 
the story and journey through the 19th century along with the 
characters up on the screen.  

KI: Will we be seeing more work from you in the future? What are 
some of your upcoming projects? RJ: My upcoming films are the 
continuation of the Guiana 1838 trilogy, a feature film on the life and 
times of the great poet, writer and composer Rabindranath Tagore 
and Porkknockers based on the legend of the Amazon region of 
South America.  

KI: Any final message for DesiClub.com's readers? RJ: I am in good 
company with all of DesiClub.com's readers as I visit the portal for 
useful information, updates and happenings on a regular basis. I think 
everyone will find my film as a complete cinematic experience and 
they will be proud of my film as it is made keeping the audience in 
mind. I can assure everyone that I made a film that I would like to see 
myself and therefore it is a film made especially for the audience. I 
took all the things I don't like about cinema and kept them aside and 
made a film with the things I like to watch on the big screen. My film, 
Guiana 1838 is a film for the people, about the people.  

Thank you for your time. I enjoyed this interview thoroughly and thank 
you for asking me questions which are not normally asked.  

And that's why we're DesiClub.com Rohit!  

For more info on this movie, show times, updates, keep a constant 
tab on The Guiana 1838 Website.  

Do you have any thoughts on this? Feel free to send Khalid an e-mail 
@ Khalid Ilahi.