contemporary world cinema for salmon arm and kelowna |
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Amal
Country: Canada
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In chaotic New Delhi, an aged and irascible man, seemingly homeless, cheats everyone he meets. When Amal, an auto-rickshaw wallah, generously allows him to dodge his fare, both are affected in a way that has far-reaching consequences. This portrait of contemporary India is an ambitious debut for director, Richie Mehta: Amal is a powerful and touching story of one man’s decency. When a beautiful client has her bag stolen from Amal’s auto-rickshaw, Amal (Rupinder Nagra) chases after the young cutpurse, but the little girl runs into traffic and is struck by a car. Amal takes her to the hospital and assumes responsibility for her care—an expense he cannot afford. Meanwhile, the irritable old cheat has died, and his funeral reveals he was in fact G. K. Jayaram (Naseerudddin Shah), the patriarch of a wealthy family. Disillusioned with his grasping children, he has willed his fortune to Amal. Now, within 30 days, the estate’s executor must find one anonymous man in this city of 14 million. If he is found, the wastrel heirs will be deprived of their inheritance, and the little pickpocket can receive the care she needs. Familial machinations descend to vicious levels as the search for Amal plays out. Nuanced performances from some of India’s most beloved performers, including Seema Biswas (Water), Shah (Monsoon Wedding), Roshan Seth (Such a Long Journey) and Koel Purie (White Noise) enhance the film’s authenticity and immediacy. This life-affirming story evokes lingering vestiges of the caste system and examines a family in which wealth creates nothing but the hunger for more. At the end of his life, the patriarch hold up a mirror to the world he inhabited as a tycoon but departed as an ascetic. Amal has always known something that the rich man only just learned: we are defined as much by what we sacrifice as we are by what we possess. “…winsome entertaining viewing…of bustling Delhi…” TIFF |
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