Film Synopsis: Gandhi Park
Director: Tom George Kolath
Producer: Dr. Anil V. Paulose
Banner: Amerasia Pictures, Corp.
Executive Producer: Mathai Kolath George
Cast: Brandon Sommers, Sneha Ullal, Anupam Kher, Sush Nayar, Vikaas Kalantri, Shreya Nandakumar, Jason Verga, Patricia Shay, Rajesh Hebbar, Melissa Singh, Viny La Racco, Dinesh Arora, Lalu Alex, Nita George, Luan Begetti, Richard Rony
Gandhi Park is a contemporary, cross-cultural romantic comedy. At heart, it is a love story that deals with the realities when an Indian girl and an American white boy fall in love, the family tension, the inherent conflict of cultures, the pressures of going against strict family traditions.
Gandhi Park travels from the suburbs of New Delhi to the suburbs of New York. It is a touching human drama that depicts fragile emotional moments. In finding a way to bridge the often seemingly divided roots of a person’s upbringing, our hero and his sweetheart find a way to reach out to each other. We have a passionate and human story fueled by the true love of two youngsters who together discover the way to perform one of life’s small miracles, despite the differences caused by race and culture.
From the Director
I believe that a directorial endeavor is nothing but hard work, confidence, perseverance and common sense. A director must have a vision of every aspect of his creation. I define vision as “the art of seeing things that don’t exist”. A director has to be able to visualize a cinema from beginning to end by simply reading a screenplay.
Many a times, crossover films subscribe to cultural stereotypes, focusing on the poverty, slums and desperation. I want to change that with GP, where the focus will be on our rich culture, our traditional values and the fact that winning the heart of an Indian girl means more than just wooing her, it means winning the hearts of her family too. I don’t want to reveal too much about the plot but rest assured that it would be a movie worth family entertainment with romance and comedy peppered in.
I would say the strength and beauty of Gandhi Park lies in the way it captures our rich culture against the backdrop of an unlikely romance between two people who come from different ends of cultural spectrum, in other words East and West – more proverbially speaking, where the sun rises and where the sun sets. Gandhi Park relies on the caliber of its actors, their stellar performances, and the unique narrative.
I don’t believe in quantity but quality of my movies. If I can make one great movie that captures the hearts and minds of millions then I can say I have succeeded in what I wanted to achieve. I don’t want to dilute my efforts into many pursuits that leave little or no impact. I want my movies to have a profound effect on my viewers, so much so that they are compelled to think about it and talk about it for months if not years to come. I am not shy of aiming high and trying my best to get there. The rest depends on my viewers. Gandhi Park is not a “Tom George Film”, it’s a movie about every Indian citizen. It’s about that Indian programmer, that Indian doctor or nurse, who has toiled and worked hard and proven his/her brilliance to the rest of the world. Perhaps, this movie will resonate with those professionals by recognizing their contribution to the global diaspora.
I am well aware that making inroads into Hollywood can be uphill and fraught with competition. Being of Indian origin tilts the scale against me a bit because there is a stereotype built into that idea. That sometimes makes it more difficult to reach mainstream cinema and viewers. I would not dream of erasing my heritage and values for any commercial aspirations, on the contrary, I want to bring those very heritage and values to international attention by making a movie based on those.
Many are born great; many achieve greatness and on many greatness is thrust upon. I believe that every man or woman should aspire to leave a footprint in history. It would be my dreams come true, when people say my name in the same breath as great moviemakers Ishmail Merchant and Satyajit Ray. I would perennially work hard to blaze the trail for future aspirants and continue to improve our presence in Hollywood by getting to know and learning from Hollywood dignitaries such as Manoj Knight Shyamalan, Ashok Amritharaj, Chris Kennedy, Michael Moore and more.
