Angry in the Great White North

Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla is peeved.  She says that promotional material for the movie Kyon?  Kis Liye? was altered, and that in any case, Ruby Dhalla never signed a waiver:

Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla is trying to block DVD sales of a Bollywood-style movie she co-starred in before her election to Parliament.

The politician, who represents Brampton-Springdale, claims Kyon Kis Liye (Why? And for Whom?) plus posters and photos for the low-budget 2003 Hamilton-made film were "doctored." She does not deny appearing in the movie.

Admitting yesterday "we've never seen a copy of the film," Dhalla, 35, said "they are misrepresenting myself ... they put my face on someone else's body, in clothes I never wore."

She also denied producer and co-star Charanjit "Chico" Sihra's claims she signed a distribution waiver, was paid $2,000 or gave a supportive TV interview at the premiere in an Albion Rd. cinema that screens made-in-India movies.

"We've asked them repeatedly to provide consent forms for the film, which I never signed," she said.

Fire destroyed his documents, countered Sihra, but an employee "witnessed her signing a consent paper," and is prepared to testify in any civil action.

Dhalla said the producer and proposed distributor in India are "opportunists" trying to exploit her status as an MP.

With respect to Ruby Dhalla, and conscious of the fact that the legality of the promotional material is being challenged, I won't reproduce the images in question here.

But with regards to the case itself, it has interesting elements.  That Ruby Dhalla was in the movie is not in question, of course.  It was well known, being noted prominently in the University of Winnipeg Alumni Report of 2003:

'95 Ruby Dhalla, a chiropractor and organizer for the Liberal Party of Canada, is concentrating on her acting career these days. Ruby is the star of an Ontario-produced film titled Kyon? Kis Liye? (Why? And for Whom?), a Hindi-language film produced and shot in Hamilton, Ont. and targeted at Asian audiences.

That the film was made in Hamilton was a big deal to the Liberals at the time.  Ruby Dhalla wasn't an MP yet (that would happen a year later).  Instead, Sheila Copps made a big fuss over the potential for more Bollywood moviemaking in Canada:

Bollywood ventured north Friday with an agreement by India's massive film industry to establish a formal relationship with Canadian productions, allowing filmmakers in both countries to pool creative, technical and financial resources and take advantage of tax incentives.

Heritage Minister Sheila Copps and Indian High Commissioner Shashi Tripathi signed a letter of intent to create a co-production arrangement for film and television between the two countries.

The agreement promises to boost local companies like Sihra Productions, which earlier this year produced Canada's first movie specifically for the Indian market.

The Hindi film Kyon? Kis Liye? - translated as Why? And for Whom? - told the story of a husband who poisons his wife for insurance money.

"We have this hidden jewel of these movies that are being made here that a lot of people don't know about," Copps told an audience gathered inside a refurbished auto body shop.

A hidden jewel?

The Sihra family, which has operated Hillyard Auto Body for 25 years, converted part of the property into the production company's headquarters.

Dancers and drummers performed on stage before and after the signing ceremony.

Copps said she hoped the agreement will help revitalize Hamilton's industrial areas by increasing Canadian co-productions by 10 per cent.

India produces as many as 1,000 movies each year with revenues of more than $1 billion.

"India is the largest film and television capital in the world," noted Copps. "Bollywood outstrips Hollywood three to one, and having a co-production agreement will permit any Canadian film-maker...to create projects with India together and access tax incentives on both sides."

Chico Sihra said he hopes Hamilton will become a hot-spot for Bollywood-style films.

"Now when an Indian film maker comes to Canada I can rent him a studio," Sihra said, who runs Sihra Productions with brother Gee and father Nand.

"We can give them everything they need to shoot a film here in Hamilton."

Quite the party for Kyon? Kis Liye?

But instead of the savvy businessmen fashioning hidden cinematic jewels in Hamilton, as Shelia Copps described, it turns out the Sihra clan are crass opportunists hoping to cash in on Ruby Dhalla's notoriety as an MP.

Or so says Ruby Dhalla.

Perhaps it is also distressing that taxpayer money probably help produce the movie.  Oh well.

But the most ironic thing about this is that Kyon? Kis Liye? represents Ruby Dhalla's sole venture into the world of cinema.  It is of little interest here to most Canadians, and yet Ruby Dhalla is reacting very strongly to the DVD being released.

At one point in her life, Ruby Dhalla was very excited about being an actress.  From an article in July 2003, just a few months before Kyon? Kis Liye? was released:

What is important, opines Dr Ruby Dhalla, "is to have a passion for acting and the determination to pursue this passion."

It is this passion for the "magical world" of films that has made Dr Dhalla put her medical career on hold. Her debut Hindi film Kyon Kisliye, shot entirely in Canada, is slated for an international release soon.

Dhalla went to the university to pursue a degree in science and capped it with one in medicine. However, even as she was busy studying human anatomy, she continued her affair with modeling and emceeing.

"Often I would run into people from the Hindi film industry, who would say that I should get into films," she says.

[It] was in the middle of her busy practice at her chiropractic clinic that the offer to star in a lead role in the Hindi film Kyon Kisliye came her way. So, she took off for three months from the clinic.

The sabbatical however is a long one now as Dhalla has decided to take up acting as fulltime career. And while she would love to do Bollywood films, she has her eyes set on Hollywood.

Does this sound like someone who would refuse to promote her movie?  She insists that she did not promote the movie upon its completion.  But then it might have worked out that way. 

Why?

Simply because her acting career never panned out.  Instead, Ruby Dhalla became a Liberal MP in 2004, not even a year after the movie wrapped.  Since then, she seems to have distanced herself completely from her foray into acting:

As a community activist, doctor, and entrepreneur she is one of the leading progressive voices in Parliament and works tirelessly on behalf of those that struggle to be heard.

No mention of acting here.  Quite the turnaround, really.  Like she's embarrassed by it all.

Which doesn't make sense, if there was nothing about the movie to be embarrassed about.

Her complaint is not just about the promotional material, which she says was doctored.  She also insists that the did not sign a distribution waiver, which I presume would have given Chico Sihra the right to distribute the image via other channels besides theatrical release, such as a DVD run.

Somehow her reaction seems to be a bit over the top for what is essentially a bit of throwaway Bollywood nonsense.

Makes me want to see this "hidden jewel" now.