SPOTLIGHT
CALORIE ADDS WEIGHT AND DEPTH TO 1985
Calorie, from Indo-Canadian writer/director Eisha Marjara, opens in theatres across Canada on November 28.
Calorie, the newest feature from Indo-Canadian writer/director Eisha Marjara (Venus, Am I the Skinniest Person You’ve Ever Seen?) opens in theatres across Canada on November 28.
Inspired by Marjara’s loss of her mother and sister in the 1985 Air India tragedy, as well as her childhood struggles with an eating disorder, the film is a bittersweet drama that follows three generations of women whose present and past lives collide during an emotionally packed summer trip in India.
Monika is a stressed-out single mom of two teens, calorie-obsessed Alia and rebellious Simi. She’s planning a trip to India with the girls to visit their great aunt and uncle. when she has to cancel last-minute due to work commitments, she decides to send them anyway at the suggestion of her aunt. She hopes that connecting her daughters to their Punjabi roots will set them straight. What begins as a reluctant trip soon turns into a transformative coming-of-age journey. Amid culture shock, family clashes, and unexpected bonds, Alia and Simi discover a hidden family tragedy that Monika has kept hidden from them and whose wounds threaten to splinter the entire family in this bittersweet drama.
Inspired by real events, Calorie is a deeply moving, poignant and unexpectedly funny story about family, identity and the weight of the past, proving that sometimes the only way forward is to go back.
“Calorie is a female-driven drama that spans continents, cultures, and generations,” says Marjara. “It exposes the deep, affecting and conflicted relationship daughters have with their mothers. In the summer of 1985, my mother decided to return to India to reunite with her family in Amritsar. It was a tumultuous time in Punjab. Regardless, she and my younger sister boarded Air India flight 182 from Montreal, and the plane blew up. It was a flight that I was fated to be on. The plane exploded in mid-air, killing all 329 passengers, mostly Canadian. At a time when I was coming of age and finding myself as a young woman, the loss left an indelible hole. Questions of identity and the mother-daughter bond became increasingly complex. It left unanswered questions, unresolved issues and profound grief. As I witness the next generation grow up, specifically my young nephews, I am fascinated by how they are experiencing the legacy of this tragedy while having little connection to its history except for the politically charged narrative that surrounds the Air India bombing that till this day has left a community deeply divided. The film serves as a way to mend the complicated fabric of this past to those affected by it and provide a broader picture that leans towards connection and healing by putting a family at its centre. We witness a Sikh Canadian family grappling with contemporary issues within walls of silence, misunderstanding, and buried hurt and see them come out on the other side more whole, more centered and united.”
Starring Anupam Kher, Dolly Ahluwalia, Ellora Patnaik (Sort Of), Ashley Ganger (Grand Army, Late Bloomer), and introducing Shanaya Dhillon-Birmhan in her first major starring role as Alia.
“Calorie is a powerful story about hidden secrets and divisions cutting across generations in Canada and India,” says producer Joe Balass. “From the start of the 10-year journey it has taken us to make the film, I knew it was essential to find the right actors to embody this family. Anchored by the legendary Anupam Kher and the incredibly funny Dolly Ahluwalia, the film’s heart beats through its actresses, including leads Ellora Patnaik, Ashley Ganger and Shanaya Dhillon-Birmhan. Shanaya hails from the South Asian community in Ontario and was only 11 years old when we started filming. Calorie is Shanaya’s very first feature, but she brings unforgettable depth and sensitivity to the role of young Alia, capturing the joys and struggles of a daughter trying to understand her mother, in a way audiences will connect with and bring people together.”
Anupam Kher and Dolly Ahluwalia as the loving great aunt and uncle doing their best to make sense of kids they don’t know or understand are perfectly cast. As are Ashley Ganger and Shanaya Dhillon-Birmhan – two young girls navigating a new culture in what they describe as “an old folks home in India”. Ashley Ganger’s Simi is rebellious, pushing her mother away one moment and fighting for her attention the next. “You’re not a single mom, you’re an absent mom,” she says in a confrontation. She plays prickly and vulnerable at the same time beautifully. Shanaya Dhillon-Birmhan as Alia, pretend-chewing her way through an eating disorder makes you want to enfold her in a hug. And Ellora Patnaik is pitch perfect as the single mom struggling to keep it together while holding the pain and associated guilt of a devastating loss deep within her.
It’s moving, it’s funny, it’s a must-watch.
Calorie won Best Canadian Feature, as well as Best Canadian Actress and Director at IFFSA Toronto and was screened at the International Film Festival of India in Goa.
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