As a Sikh man with a full beard and turban, AMRIT SINGH is often the target of racial profiling. But when he sees his dreams of becoming Chief of Surgery at a state-of-the-art transplant center dwindle because of his appearance, Amrit goes against a tradition he's maintained his whole life and cuts his hair. Hiding this decision from his girlfriend and family in Toronto is only the start of a series of compromises Amrit finds himself making as he deals with hospital politics and health care injustices. When his compromises result in the death of a patient, Amrit begins to reexamine the value of the religious traditions he'd turned his back on.
It has been a long road of over ten years for director (and physician), Dr. Neelam, who has wanted to make movies for as long as he can remember. His purpose in making this movie was two-fold. One was to bring awareness about Sikhs and Sikhism to the general public. He says “Growing up in Toronto, we went through a lot of discrimination. After 9/11, it got worse. I feel movies are a powerful medium to bring about awareness and hopefully reduce hate crimes.”
The other purpose was for Sikhs themselves. “Even though there are millions of Sikhs worldwide, there are hardly any films that depict us in our proper way. Usually, we are absent in Hollywood films or comic relief characters in Bollywood,” he states passionately. “It’s important for us to be involved in visual media to break down barriers as great African Americans such as Sidney Poitier, Oprah Winfrey, Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry have done for their community.” One small way to get “involved”, he states, is to come see the movie and bring a few friends. The test audiences, made up of mainstream Americans, enjoyed the movie so much that over 75% of them said they would recommend it to their friends.
“Ocean of Pearls” is a love story and a spiritual journey of a young Sikh physician, Amrit Singh. He wants to succeed professionally and desperately wants to fit in. But is his religious background holding him back? Hoping for a new start, he embarks on an ambitious pursuit of success, but soon learns that he must first define his own singular identity before he achieves peace. The story carefully weaves in bits of information about Sikhism and the challenges facing Sikhs today without sounding preachy. The same holds true for the problems facing our health system. “Most Americans do not realize that even if you have health insurance and earn good money, an accident or a health crisis can bankrupt you,” emphasized Dr. Neelam.
“Ocean of Pearls” is a story not just for Sikhs as it seeks to answer questions of how one struggles to balance romance, spirituality, ethics and family in today’s complex society.
The actors include Omid Abtahi, Navi Rawat, Ron Canada, Ajay Mehta, Heather McComb and Brenda Strong. The music is beautifully composed by Pinar Toprak, Karsh Kale and features vocals by Snatam Kaur Khalsa.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Snatam Kaur Featured Artist in New Movie
