Leela (film)
Encyclopedia
Leela is a 2002
drama film
directed by Somnath Sen. The movie stars Dimple Kapadia
and Deepti Naval
. The film's story is loosely based on Summer of '42
,. The film premiered at Reel World Film Festivalm, Toronto, in 2005 . It also was featured in the 2002 edition of the IAAC Film Festival , conducted by the Indian diaspora, which works to showcase the Indian films to the West.
with funding from Kavita Munjal and Somnath Sen. This is the directorial debut of Somnath Sen.
. "It's a universal story that many women will be able to relate to," remarked Dimple Kapadia, on the sets .
The review in The Hindu
was moderate, which mainly lauded Dimple Kapadia
's acting, declared that the plot has many loose ends andsigned off with a note that it is not a bad choice to watch "at the end of a long, lonely day"
The Daily Telegraph
declared it as a flop in its positive review on Shantanu Moitra.
2002 in film
The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Somnath Sen. The movie stars Dimple Kapadia
Dimple Kapadia
Dimple Chunnibhai Kapadia is an Indian film actress. She made her acting debut at the age of 16, playing the title role in Raj Kapoor's teen romance Bobby . In that same year she married Indian actor Rajesh Khanna, and retired from acting. Kapadia returned to films in 1984 after her separation...
and Deepti Naval
Deepti Naval
Deepti Naval is an acclaimed Indian actress. She has acted in over 75 Hindi films, and most often worked in arthouse and independent films, known as parallel cinema in India.-Early life:Born in Amritsar, Punjab, India...
. The film's story is loosely based on Summer of '42
Summer of '42
Summer of '42 is a 1971 American coming-of-age drama film based on the memoirs of screenwriter Herman Raucher. It tells the story of how Raucher, in his early teens on his 1942 summer vacation on Nantucket Island, off the coast of New England, embarked on a one-sided romance with a woman, Dorothy,...
,. The film premiered at Reel World Film Festivalm, Toronto, in 2005 . It also was featured in the 2002 edition of the IAAC Film Festival , conducted by the Indian diaspora, which works to showcase the Indian films to the West.
Production
The film was shot mostly in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
with funding from Kavita Munjal and Somnath Sen. This is the directorial debut of Somnath Sen.
. "It's a universal story that many women will be able to relate to," remarked Dimple Kapadia, on the sets .
Plot
Leela is a professor from Mumbai. Married to a popular poet, her life has always been prefixed with the title 'Nashaad's wife'. She wins a chance to be sent as a visiting professor to California, where she rediscovers herself, the woman she is, beyond the duties of a wife that she had always devoted her life to. Kris comes as a bright sunshine in her life, who makes her realise her own desires, the desires of the body. Is it going to be an happily ever after fairy tale? Or an another bollywood melodrama?Cast
- Dimple KapadiaDimple KapadiaDimple Chunnibhai Kapadia is an Indian film actress. She made her acting debut at the age of 16, playing the title role in Raj Kapoor's teen romance Bobby . In that same year she married Indian actor Rajesh Khanna, and retired from acting. Kapadia returned to films in 1984 after her separation...
as Leela - Deepti NavalDeepti NavalDeepti Naval is an acclaimed Indian actress. She has acted in over 75 Hindi films, and most often worked in arthouse and independent films, known as parallel cinema in India.-Early life:Born in Amritsar, Punjab, India...
as Chaitali - Amol Mhatre as Kris/ Krishna
- Vinod KhannaVinod Khanna-Early life:Khanna was born to Kamla and Kishanchand Khanna, a textiles, dyes and chemicals businessman of Hindu Punjabi Khatri origin, on 6 October 1946, in Peshawar, British India . He has three sisters and one brother...
as Nashaad - Gulshan GroverGulshan GroverGulshan Grover is an Indian actor, who has acted in over 400 films through a career spanning over 30 years.Gulshan Grover is one of the first Indian actors to have made a successful transition from Bollywood into Hollywood and international Cinema....
as Jai - Brendan Hughes as Summer
- Kelly Gunning as JC
- Garrett Devereux as Chip
- Kyle Erby as Jamaal
- Michelle Van Wagner as Jennifer
- Sarayu RaoSarayu RaoSarayu Rao is an American actress whose face became familiar to the audience with a polaroid commercial. Her recent notable role is as Angela in 20th Century Fox Television series Sons of Tucson-Acting career:...
as Mira - Partha Dey as Shantanu
- Sandeep Walia as Harsh
- Delna Rastomjee as Joya Chatterjee
- Gargi Sen as Maheed
Critical Reception
Anil. S. Arora, of Chowk wrote that film could be considered "the first art film made on the Indian community in north America". He added that the film was about the taboo that sex still is to the Indian Community and their "inability to accept them as the basis for family relationships". He though was dissatisfied with the way Leela is portrayed as a faithful wife to a straying husband, which he wrote is quite outdated for a Mumbai woman who dwells on sexual equality.The review in The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
was moderate, which mainly lauded Dimple Kapadia
Dimple Kapadia
Dimple Chunnibhai Kapadia is an Indian film actress. She made her acting debut at the age of 16, playing the title role in Raj Kapoor's teen romance Bobby . In that same year she married Indian actor Rajesh Khanna, and retired from acting. Kapadia returned to films in 1984 after her separation...
's acting, declared that the plot has many loose ends andsigned off with a note that it is not a bad choice to watch "at the end of a long, lonely day"
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
declared it as a flop in its positive review on Shantanu Moitra.
Recognition & Awards
- Special Jury Award - Reel World Film Festival, Toronto (2002)
- Screened at the Commonwealth Film Festival, Manchester (2002)