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Desperately Seeking Helen
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Wikipedia article
'Desperately Seeking Helen' is a 1998 film by Eisha Marjara, produced by the National Film Board of Canada.
It documents the life of the Bollywood star Helen and also discusses Marjara's process of self-discovery.Ali, Firdaus. "[http://www.rediff.com/us/2000/apr/24us1.htm In search of a vamp]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20121018203358/http://www.rediff.com/us/2000/apr/24us1.htm Archive]). 'Rediff'. April 24, 2000. Retrieved on November 22, 2014. Marjara liked Helen as a child, and Marjara stated "Helen is a conduit into my childhood my relationship with my mother, my struggle with anorexia and the Air India disaster which took the lives of my mother and sister."Black, Barbara. "[http://ctr.concordia.ca/2004-05/apr_07/20/ Air India disaster hit Concordia hard]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20170809213002/http://ctr.concordia.ca/2004-05/apr_07/20/ Archive]). 'Concordia's Thursday Report'. April 21, 2005. Volume 29, No. 14. Retrieved on November 22, 2014. Jerry Pinto, author of 'Helen: The Life and Times of an H-bomb', wrote that the film "is as much about Eisha Marjara's perception of Helen as it is about Helen."Pinto, Jerry. 'Helen: The Life and Times of an H-bomb'. Penguin Books India, 2006. , 9780143031246. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ng_vVIcq5yQC&pg=PA204 204]. 'Desperately Seeking Helen' uses Hindi music.
The film covers the complications in the relationship between Marjara and her mother,Jones, D.B. "Brave New Film Board". In: Beard, William and Jerry White (editors). 'North of Everything: English-Canadian Cinema Since 1980'. University of Alberta, 2002. , 9780888643902. Start: p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=iLNhHWfarosC&pg=PA19 19]. CITED: p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=iLNhHWfarosC&pg=PA36 36]. Devinder."[http://www.airindia182.com/downloads/AirIndia182PressKit.pdf Air India 182 Press Kit]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032431/http://www.airindia182.com/downloads/AirIndia182PressKit.pdf Archive]). 'Air India 182' (film) official website. p. 11/12. Retrieved on October 22, 2014. Marjara had the perception that her mother was unable to balance the culture of Canada against that of India, and Devinder was more feminine and traditional compared to her daughter. The film also discusses the 1985 Air India Flight 182 bombing,Bontempo, Mirella. "[http://montrealserai.com/2012/07/27/the-other-english-canadian-film-indo-canadian-cinema/ The Other English-Canadian film: Indo-Canadian cinema]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221240/http://montrealserai.com/2012/07/27/the-other-english-canadian-film-indo-canadian-cinema/ Archive]). 'Montreal Serai'. July 27, 2012. Retrieved on November 22, 2014. which ultimately killed Davinder along with Seema, one of Marjara's sisters.
D.B. Jones, the author of "Brave New Film Board," wrote that the filmmaker "verges on self-pity and often seems self-absorbed, but she can also be brutally honest about herself." Sabeena Gadihoke, the author of "Secrets and Inner Voices: The Self and Subjectivity in Contemporary Indian Documentary," wrote that the "deeply personal" film "did not easily fit popular conceptions of documentary" since it had a "fictive structure in which the filmmaker staged her own body" as well as "reflexive use of humor" and "whimsy".Gadihoke, Sabeena. "Secrets and Inner Voices: The Self and Subjectivity in Contemporary Indian Documentary." In: Lebow, Lisa (editor). 'The Cinema of Me: Self and Subjectivity in First-Person Documentary Film' (Nonfictions series). Columbia University Press, August 13, 2013. , 9780231850162. Google Books [https://books.google.com/books?id=uS7wAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT213 PT213]-[https://books.google.com/books?id=uS7wAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT214 PT214]. Angela Failler argued that the film was what had been described as a "counter-memorial" of the Air India Flight 182 disaster.Henderson, Jennifer and Pauline Wakeham (editors). 'Reconciling Canada: Critical Perspectives on the Culture of Redress'. University of Toronto Press, June 17, 2013. , 9781442695474. Google Books [https://books.google.com/books?id=DZWBAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT259 PT259].
Background
The National Film Board selected Marjara to make a film on the Air India Flight 182 disaster in 1994. She did research by visiting Trois-Rivires and taking one trip to India. The title is a reference to the 1985 film 'Desperately Seeking Susan'.
Marjara dedicated her film to Air India Flight 182 victims, including Davinder and Seema.Somani, Alia Rehana. "[http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1579&context=etd Broken Passages and Broken Promises: Reconstructing the Komagata Maru and Air India Cases]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20141129080508/http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1579&context=etd Archive]) (PhD thesis). The University of Western Ontario. 2012. p. 146-147 (PDF file p. 155-156).
Release
Its first screening in India was during the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF).Gadihoke, Sabeena. "Secrets and Inner Voices: The Self and Subjectivity in Contemporary Indian Documentary." In: Lebow, Lisa (editor). 'The Cinema of Me: Self and Subjectivity in First-Person Documentary Film' (Nonfictions series). Columbia University Press, August 13, 2013. , 9780231850162. Google Books [https://books.google.com/books?id=uS7wAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT213 PT213].
Reception
It was ranked as the "Theater Critic's Choice" in the 'Chicago Reader' in 1999.Shen, Ted. "[http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/desperately-seeking-helen/Content?oid=899061 Desperately Seeking Helen]" (review) ([https://web.archive.org/web/20141219084344/http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/desperately-seeking-helen/Content?oid=899061 Archive]). 'Chicago Reader'. April 29, 1999. Retrieved on November 22, 2014. Firdaus Ali of Rediff wrote that the film received "rave reviews". Gadihoke stated that in India the film received some criticism due to a perception that it was "self-absorbed"; Gadihoke argued that this was because the film used "strategies unfamiliar to documentary discourse in India at the time."
References
Further reading
* Failler, Angela. "Remembering the Air India Disaster: Memorial and Counter-Memorial." 'Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies' 31 (2009). p. 166-172.
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