The made-in-Surrey feature movie Desi Angrej: The Fusion Generation will be released in theatres across Canada on Friday, Aug. 30.
R. Paul Dhillon’s romantic comedy debuted at a festival last November, and is now set for wider commercial release.
“We had a great turnout for our film premiere (at Toronto’s International Film Festival of South Asia) and we are so proud to showcase this uniquely multicultural Canadian and British Columbia-based story right here in my hometown of Surrey, and now across Canada,” Dhillon, the film’s writer, director and producer, said in a release from Brand D Media.
“We had a great response to the film,” he added. “The audience reactions showed that the comedy in the film comes through with lots of laughs and that the story about modern relations and love connected with its core audience at the IFFSA premiere.”
A four-minute trailer for the movie is posted on Youtube.
Set in Vancouver, the film stars veteran Bollywood performer Gulshan Grover, award-winning Canadian theatre actor Munish Sharma and also Sitara Hewitt, of Little Mosque On The Prairie fame.
The cast also includes rapper Thugpun and veteran actress Balinder Johal “in a uniquely west coast story of the South Asian community where Grover plays pioneer Indo-Canadian-Sikh lumber mogul Sam Sahota.”
In English, the phrase “Desi Angrej” means Indian Englishmen or Caucasians.
Dhillon said that while the movie is a “fun, raunchy party film about love, romance and getting married,” it also tackles serious issues like gender roles and the roles of women in the South Asian community.
“I wanted to make something really fun while also addressing the cultural mores and the role of women in our community and who we are,” said Dhillon, who also works as a journalist. “In our small-budget passion project, I tried to blend the current and the past into a fun adventure. It’s also raunchy and naughty but we will be releasing a tamer Punjabi dubbed version for all audiences along with the English version which is for mature audiences.”
The film is produced by Dhillon’s MMM Film Finance International, a Surrey-based company that makes feature films, documentaries and TV shows. Dhillon’s previous film work includes Bhangralicious, a 13-part music documentary series, and Sweet Amerika, his debut feature film.
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