A GUN & A RING

A GUN & A RING: CANADIAN DRAMA FILM

The movie begins with a memory. Gnanam is a young man with a difficult past. As a youth, he was a rebel cadre training in India. Under intense interrogation by the “The Butcher”, he gave up a plan made by his friends to escape the camp they hated, and in return was granted his freedom and passageway to Canada. Years later, living in Toronto, Gnanam is a tortured soul – overly anxious and prone to violence which drives his wife away. Gnanam is angry at the world, his nights racked by guilt and painful memories. However, when he spots the Butcher after many years in Toronto – a man who still haunts his dreams – he fervently sets out to exact his revenge and make everything right again.

In stark contrast to Gnanam is Sornam, a community leader. Sornam idolizes his wife, who passed up her chance to move to Canada to remain, instead, in Sri Lanka to help her people survive the war. Sornam is the type of man whom others look up to and seek help from. Sornam’s attempts to help others begin to overshadow his primary concern – the safety of his young daughter, Meenu. However, there is someone else who is paying a lot of attention to her – a pedophile murderer hunting for his next victim.

Tracking down this monster for more than three years is detective John. A man committed to his job of protecting the public, John makes numerous personal sacrifices in the line of duty. Used to leading with his heart and not his head, John does not heed the advice of his partner and makes a critical decision to use Meenu as bait to trap the killer. Believing he is prepared to live with the consequences, he also chooses to not inform Meenu’s father of the imminent danger his daughter is in. He lays down his fateful trap and waits.

One of the people Sornam tries to help is Aby, a young war survivor with a sad past. Having witnessed the death of everyone she knew in Sri Lanka, she arrives in Canada for a fresh start – an arranged marriage to a Tamil Canadian man who abandons her at the airport. Aby is forced to stay at the home of the relative who had arranged her marriage who desperately tries to ensure the union succeeds. Unable to cope with her extended family’s pressure tactics and ignorance, Aby decides to register herself in a shelter where she meets Abit, a war victim like herself but from Sudan. Aby slowly realizes that she has much more in common with Abit than with her community of Tamil Canadians and a beautiful new possibility opens up.

Ariyam, an aging man, and his wife struggle to understand the death of their son who commits suicide by hanging himself from a tree in the nearby park. Ariyam chooses to deal with this loss by immersing himself in his job working as a dishwasher as many new immigrants do. However, he is constantly reminded of their loss by his wife who slowly sinks into depression. Ariyam withdraws even further and as he tries to a find way out, his dark past shows up at his door and he finally has an opportunity to release his anger and frustration.

Aathi receives some devastating news – his lover has been found dead having hung himself from a tree in a park. Aathi is a bright young man who lives with his tradition-bound father. While Aathi has lived up to his father’s expectations in many ways, he has failed miserably in one aspect – he is a homosexual which his father refuses to accept. Aathi believes him choosing his father over his lover led to the latter committing suicide. He chooses to deal with this guilt in silence, brooding over his loss and his father’s expectations until he can no longer control his emotions.

The story reaches its climax as these different characters decide to take action in their own ways. Connected by a gun and a ring, one that symbolizes a dark and violent past while the other symbolizes hope and renewal, these characters’ lives intersect as some of them reconcile with the loss and pain while others try to seek redemption.

PARTICIPATES INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

  • Shanghai International Film Festival in June, 2013.
  • Montreal World Film Festival in August, 2013.
  • Louisville’s International Festival of Film in October, 2013.
  • American CineRockom International Film Festival in October, 2013.
  • Hamilton Film Festival in November, 2013.
  • Norway Tamil Film Festival in April, 2014 [4].
  • Chennai Women’s International Film Festival in May, 2014.
  • International Film Festival of Colombo in September, 2014.

AWARDS

  • Nominated for Golden Goblet Award at Shanghai International Film Festival.
  • Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor Awards at American CineRockom IFF.
  • Best Film Award Nominee at Hamilton Film Festival in November.
  • Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress Awards at Norway Tamil Film Festival.
  • Best Film, Best Director, Best Editor, Best Actor and Best Actress Awards at Chennai Kalakam Awards in October, 2014.
A GUN & A RING ARTIST TECHNICIANS NAMES
JON BERRIE DIRECTOR – LENIN M. SIVAM
THENUKA KANTHARAJAH WRITTER – LENIN M. SIVAM
BASKAR MAHENDRAN PRODUCER – VISHNU MURALI
MATHIVASAN SEENIVASAGAM EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS – SABESAN JEYARAJASINGAM, MUKUNDA MURALEE
KANDASAMY GANGADHARAN LINE PRODUCER – SENTHIL VINU
ANUSHA (INTRODUCTION) HEROINE ART – SATHEES KUMAR
SHELLY ANTONY ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS – HEMO ARUMAIADURAI, RAMAKRISHNAN MURALI, GOBI THIRU
DAVID BRANDON GEORGE PRODUCTION MANAGER – RAMESH SELLADURAI
SEKAR THAMBIRAJAH DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY – SURESH ROHIN
ARTHUR SIMEON FILM EDITOR – PRES LINGAM
SELVAJOTHI RAVINDRAN MUSIC COMPOSER – PRAVIN MANI
GOBI THIRU PRODUCTION DESIGNER – DUBRAVKO NAUMOV
MICHAEL JOHNSON CASTING DIRECTOR – SUTHA SHAN
BAVANI SOMASUNDARAM MAKEUP ARTISTS – ALYSON GOUGH