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KHOYA (Canada/India 2016) ***
Directed by Sami Khan

Stars: Rupak Ginn, Ravi Khanvilkar, Stephen McHattie

Read Interview with the Director

Review by Gilbert Seah

Sami Khan’s first feature is an occasionally impressive piece about a man in search of his identity.

The man is Roger Moreau (Rupak Ginn), a Canadian from a small town in Ontario, who when the film opens is on his way to the airport (as seen in the Airport Road sign on Toronto’s 401 Highway). This is how intimate Khan’s film gets, as evident in other scenes as well. Roger is travelling to India in search for his adoptive parents.

The event is initiated when Roger’s adopted mother unexpectedly dies. Roger loses his last tie to his Canadian upbringing and identity. But his arrival in India is not what he expected. The crowded and hot streets of Mumbai compared to what he is used in Canada are more than he bargained for.

Director Khan’s film works when he shows what Mumbai and Madha Pradesh in the rural heartland of India are like. Just as Roger is struck down with culture shock, the audiences is however, able to enjoy the vast differences in culture from the comfort of their theatre seats. India is poor, hot, dirty and poor. But the natural beauty is unmistakably stunning. Khan’s segment where Roger soaks his feet in the huge river (see photo inset) is extremely striking.

The film contains a few scenes set in Canada. One is in the garage where Roger works where Canadian actor Stephen McHattie has a cameo. Another is his meeting with a Chinese lady with whom Roger confides his secrets. These segments are uncomfortably told in flashbacks at awkward points in the film.

Roger Moreau is played by American actor Rupak Ginn who is in almost very frame of the film. Ginn, who has appeared in Hollywood films like FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS and Mira Nair’s THE NAMESAKE is barely able to carry the film on his own. Fortunately, Khan uses India as the main actor in KHOYA.

Khan’s film is actually two films in one. The first is the story of India and her poetic beauty. The other is the mystery of Roger’s family. Though given the run around at the start, Roger’s persistence eventually pays off. He learns the truth and he unexpectedly finds something more than he expected (what this is will not be revealed in the review).

KOHOYA is more a lyrical film than a mystery of a family identity. Though not perfect in it execution, KHOYA is still a worthy tribute of a young director who deserves more works in the future. Khan is currently working on a documentary on four Cuban baseball players.

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