''Dear Jassi'' is a 2023 drama film directed by

Tarsem Singh Tarsem Singh Dhandwar (born 26 May 1961), known professionally as Tarsem, is an Indian director who has worked on films, music videos, and commercials. He directed '' The Cell'' (2000), '' The Fall'' (2006), '' Immortals'' (2011), '' Mirror M ...

and written by Amit Rai.Charles Bramesco
"Dear Jassi review – Hollywood maximalist makes first Indian movie"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 11 September 2023. A coproduction of companies from India, Canada and the United States, the film is based on the real-life story of Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu, a Punjabi Canadian woman who ran afoul of her family when she fell in love with and chose to marry a working-class man they did not approve of.Tim Grierson
"'Dear Jassi': Toronto Review"
''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'', 10 September 2023. The film stars Pavia Sidhu as Jassi and Yugam Sood as her love interest Mithu, as well as Gourav Sharma, Sukhwinder Chahal, Sunita Dhir, Baljinder Kaur, Karan Arora, Abhinash Bachchan, Kam Bains, Paras Bajaj, Rajni Bajaj, Avni Batra, Ranjodh Beli, Aman Bhogal, Harinder Bhullar, Mahabir Bhullar, Suchi Birgi and Roopa Cheema in supporting roles.

Critical response

Charles Bramesco of ''

'' wrote that "Like so many high school theater iconoclasts before him, Tarsem differentiates his iteration of Shakespeare's dog-eared narrative through context, in this instance the byzantine Kafka nightmare of immigration. On top of the animosity from Jassi's parents, border control agents conspire to keep our lovers apart after Jassi is sent back to the Great White North, separating them with a wall of documents, deadlines and fees. At every stage, a brutal khaki-clad police force can and must be bribed to forge papers, look the other way or do just about anything else. The emotional peaks rise not from the main couple's ardor, but from the extraordinary fortitude and determination that the simple act of moving from one country to another demands of ordinary citizens. Forced to navigate an intentionally discouraging institution with minimal guidance, a brazenly unjust series of hurdles designed to devalue and restrict life itself, Mithu hits more poignant notes in his fight for the freedom of mobility than in his quest for his beloved." For ''

'', Tim Grierson wrote that "Singh Dhandwar fashions lovely moments when this pair's relationship first blossoms. Especially satisfying is the contrast between the homes where Jassi's and Mithu's families reside: hers is taller, and so when he stands on his rooftop to look up at her on her rooftop, it's a clever visual allusion to ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

s famous balcony scene. But like

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, ''Dear Jassi'' is heading toward heartbreak, with the filmmaker delivering the brutal final scenes without sensationalism."

Distribution

The full extent of the story, and the fact that it ultimately revolved around a murder, were not promoted in advance of the premiere, so as to heighten the initial impact of the twist in what had been presented in the early marketing as a simple romance film. The film premiered at the

2023 Toronto International Film Festival The 48th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 7 to 17, 2023.Victoria Ahearn"TIFF reveals new programmers and other 2023 festival details" '' Playback'', April 20, 2023. The most noted change from past years was tha ...

, where it was named the winner of the

Platform Prize The Platform Prize is an annual film award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to films of "high artistic merit that also demonstrate a strong directorial vision."honor killing An honor killing (American English), ''honour killing'' (Commonwealth English), or ''shame killing'' is a type of murder in which a person, usually a woman or girl, is killed by or at the behest of male members of their family or their male ...

" in relation to stories like Jassi's, on the grounds that it can create the impression that the murder was justifiable.

References

External links

* {{TIFF Platform Prize 2023 films 2023 drama films 2020s American films 2020s Canadian films 2020s English-language films 2020s Indian films 2020s Punjabi-language films American drama films American films based on actual events Canadian drama films Canadian films based on actual events Drama films based on actual events English-language Canadian films English-language drama films English-language Indian films Films about the caste system in India Films about honor killing Films about Indian Canadians Films directed by Tarsem Singh Honour killing in India Indian drama films Indian films based on actual events Punjabi-language Indian films