Gulshan Grover is the legendary actor and self-proclaimed “bad man” of Indian cinema with reference to his many iconic roles playing the villain on screen. However, the repertoire of this talented artist extends far beyond just negative roles in Bollywood, now also backing up his son – Sanjay Grover – on his debut as an independent producer of the acclaimed new film ‘Dear Jassi’.
This film, based on a real-life love story from Punjab, attracted resounding audience appreciation at its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this week and is now all set for the BFI London Film Festival (LFF) next month – marking another big milestone as a competition entry to this year’s line-up.
Gulshan Grover, as the proud father, had flown down to Canada with the film’s director for its TIFF premiere even as his producer son had to stay back in London to complete another shooting schedule.
From Toronto, Grover said: “After ages a film made me cry and I was not stopping my tears or being proper in front of the public, I just cried; pulled out my handkerchief several times and wiped my tears. This is a heart wrenching love story and my friend, director Tarsem, has done an extraordinary job.
“Also, it’s a very special moment for me because ‘Dear Jassi’ is a film produced by my son, Sanjay Grover, in partnership with TSeries and Wakkoo films. I am very happy that Sanjay, after having worked at Hollywood studios MGM headquarters in Los Angeles for over 12 years as producer, has made his first independent film with my friend director Tarsem.
“I am normally very disciplined when it comes to watching a film. At the start of the film, Tarsem made a public announcement about switching off all cellphones but as the film began, I pulled my phone out and recorded the beginning credits and filmed my son Sanjay’s name at beginning and also at the end credits.”
As the LFF note on the film explains, Jassi of the film’s title is a well-to-do Canadian-Punjabi girl, who falls in love with Mithoo while on a trip to India and all hell breaks loose.
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“Acclaimed for his signature visual style, filmmaker Tarsem Singh Dhandwar (‘The Cell’, ‘The Fall’, ‘Immortals’) returns to his roots with a sweeping love story that unfolds like a legend. The result is a powerful portrait of Punjab society, where there is widespread emigration and global access, but where ‘family honour’ is prized above all,” it adds.