Amal

Indian Canadian director Richie Mehta makes a heartfelt feature debut with this street-level fable of modern India as seen through the eyes of a kind-hearted rickshaw driver, a cantankerous millionaire-turned-homeless man and the man’s scheming, jaded family members.

Sticking out like a sore thumb among New Delhi’s constant schemers and dreamers, the straightforward Amal (Rupinder Nagra) wants only to do his job, shuttling customers like the gorgeous shop-owner Pooja (Koel Purie) between their destinations. Impressing a drunk, belligerent bum (Naseeruddin Shah) with his kindness, Amal thinks nothing more of it, until that bum later turns out to be a millionaire (a dying one at that), one who’s bequeathed his entire fortune to our hero. With the millionaire’s dissolute sons and easily corruptible lawyer attempting to shaft Amal out of this unexpected inheritance (providing they can find him first), Amal must also contend with a young street girl whom he has befriended.

There’s none of the usual first-time-filmmaker’s fixation with gangsters, ultraviolence or MTV pyrotechnics here; Mehta instead presents a gentle fable that harkens back to the days of classic Hollywood and Indian cinema. Mehta’s gathered a who’s-who of Indian stars, including Seema Biswas (Water), Roshan Seth (Such A Long Journey), and the legendary Shah (Monsoon Wedding) to anchor the film, but it’s relative newcomers Nagra and Purie who steal the show with a radiance and likeability as memorable as any Hollywood/Bollywood pairs from the past.

This film is the San Jose Opening Night film. The ticket for the Friday, March 21 screening includes admission to a Gala Reception at the nearby San Jose Museum of Art. For more information about the Gala Reception, follow this link.