Sivan's debut Hollywood film to hit US theatres

Before the Rains, the English language debut film by Santosh Sivan, will be released in Los Angels and New York on May 9, followed by a national release May 16.

Before the Rains, the English language debut film by acclaimed Indian director-cinematographer Santosh Sivan, will be released in Los Angels and New York on May 9, followed by a national release May 16.

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In an email to IANS, Sivan said Roadside Attractions, a movie distribution company based in Los Angeles; and Merchant Ivory Production, would release the film. Written by the late Cathy Rabin, the film is set in southern India in the late 1930's against the backdrop of a growing nationalist movement.

The film explores the turmoil of a man, divided between two worlds and the choices he makes to gain his freedom and embrace his true identity.

T.K. Neelan, played by Rahul Bose, a Western-educated idealistic young Indian man, finds himself torn between his ambitions for the future and his loyalty to the past when the local villagers learn of an adulterous affair between his boss, Henry Moores (Linus Roache), a British colonialist striving to build a road to expand his spice harvesting business, and Moores' married Indian housemaid Sajani, played by Nandita Das.

The 98-minute film had its world premiere at the 32nd Toronto International Film Festival in September last year.

British actor Roache, who attracted media attention in the BBC television series Seaforth (1994), went on record saying his work in Before the Rains was his best ever in his two decades in the film industry.