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{{about|the 2008 Canadian film|other films|Heaven on Earth (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Heaven on Earth
| image = Heaven On Earth.jpg
| caption = Movie Poster for ''Heaven On Earth''.
| writer = [[Deepa Mehta]]
| starring = [[Preity Zinta]] Vansh Bhardwaj
| director = [[Deepa Mehta]]
| producer = Deepa Mehta [[Ravi Chopra]] [[David Hamilton (Canadian producer)|David Hamilton]]
| cinematography = [[Giles Nuttgens]]
| editing = Colin Monie
| distributor = Hamilton-Mehta Productions Inc. [[National Film Board of Canada]]
| country = Canada India
| released = {{Film date|2008|10|24|df=y}}
| runtime = 106 min
| language = English
| music = [[Mychael Danna]] [[Hari & Sukhmani]] (folk song: ''Kangi Bawan'')
| budget =
}}

'''''Heaven on Earth''''' a.k.a. '''''Videsh''''' is a 2008 [[Cinema of Canada|Canadian]] film directed and written by [[Deepa Mehta]]. [[Preity Zinta]] plays the leading role of Chand, a young Indian Punjabi woman who finds herself in an abusive arranged marriage with an Indo-Canadian man, played by theatre actor Vansh Bhardwaj. The film released in India dubbed into Hindi under the title ''Videsh''. Zinta received unanimous acclaim for her performance in both Canada and India.

==Plot==
Vibrant Chand is a young bride leaving her home in Ludhiana, Punjab, India, for Brampton, Ontario, Canada, where her husband Rocky and his very traditional family await her arrival. Everything is new and unfamiliar to Chand including the quiet and shy Rocky who she meets for the first time at the Arrivals level of Pearson Airport. Chand approaches her new life and land with equanimity and grace, and at times the wide-eyed optimism of hope—her first snowfall is a tiny miracle of beauty, and the roar of Niagara Falls creates the excitement of new beginnings.

But soon optimism turns to isolation as the family she has inherited struggles beneath the weight of unspoken words, their collective frustration becoming palpable. No one feels the pressure more than Rocky, weighed down by familial obligations. Maji, his controlling mother, won’t let him go; Papaji, is a sweet but ineffectual father; Aman, his sister, who feels the embarrassment of living in the same house with her unemployed husband Baldev, their teenaged son Jabir and younger daughter, Lovleen. All live with Rocky and Chand in a two-bedroom house in the suburbs of Toronto. To make matters worse, Rocky is expected to find the money to bring more of his new extended family to Canada. Unable to express his anger, he finds other ways to release it and it’s Chand who bears the brunt of his repressed rage.

Trapped in a world she cannot comprehend and unable to please her husband, Chand is desperate. Hope comes in the form of Rosa, a tough and savvy Jamaican woman who works alongside Chand in a factory where immigrant women from all over the world clean and press dirty hotel laundry. Rosa sees past the make-up that covers Chand’s bruised face. Realizing Chand has nowhere to turn, Rosa gives her a magical root advising her "to put it in whatever the bastard drinks." The root is supposed to seduce the one who takes it, making them fall hopelessly in love with the person who gives it to them. Chand’s attempts with the magic root lead to surreal incidents and her life gradually begins to mirror an Indian fable involving a King Cobra. As the lines between fantasy and reality converge, Chand and Rocky come face to face with each other and themselves. Eventually, Chand comprehends all the surreal episodes in her life and upon separation from her husband decides to go back to India.

==Cast==
* [[Preity Zinta]] as Chand
* Gick Grewal as Chand's mother
* Vansh Bhardwaj as Rocky
* [[Geetika Sharma]] as Loveleen
* Orville Maciel as Kabir
* Ramanjit Kaur as Aman
* [[Balinder Johal]] as Maji
* Rajinder Singh Cheema as Papaji
* Gourrav Sihan as Baldev
* [[Yanna McIntosh]] as Rosa

==Production==
Deepa Mehta penned the screenplay in 2007.<ref name="Heaven on Earth">K Jha, Subhash (26 September 2007).[http://www.indiafm.com/news/2007/09/26/10157/index.html Deepa Mehta signs Preity for Heaven On Earth]. indiaFM.com. Accessed 1 October 2007.</ref> She met Preity Zinta at the 2007 [[International Indian Film Academy Awards]] and offered her the role of a Punjabi housewife. Initially, Zinta could not commit to the project due to schedule conflicts, but they were worked out and Zinta signed on to play the role.<ref name="Heaven on Earth"/> [[Seema Biswas]], who was part of Mehta's previous project ''[[Water (2005 film)|Water]]'' was also chosen to be part of the cast,<ref name="CBC">CBC news (7 September 2007). [http://www.cbc.ca/arts/film/story/2007/09/07/mehta-film.html Mehta set to shoot feature Heaven on Earth]. [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]. Accessed 1 October 2007.</ref> but she eventually did not act. Mehta, who saw ''[[The Last Lear]]'' (2007) starring Zinta in the lead female role, said "I think Preity is perfect!". Yet she organized an acting workshop for Zinta in Toronto, which Zinta attended in September "to understand and come to grips with the character's milieu and body language. I think Preity can look very, very Punjabi." said Mehta.<ref name="Heaven on Earth"/>

Principal photography for ''Heaven on Earth'' commenced in November 2007 and concluded at the end of December 2007. The film was primarily shot in [[Toronto]] and [[Brampton, Ontario|Brampton]],<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.thestar.com/living/article/529749 | work=The Star | location=Toronto | title=Mehta's film resonates with Indian women | date=4 November 2008 | accessdate=4 May 2010}}</ref> [[Canada]], with additional location shooting in [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]], [[India]], where it was completed.<ref>TNN (8 December 2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20120919214021/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-12-08/news-interviews/27962575_1_preity-zinta-deepa-mehta-priety-zinta Preity cries for home]. [[Times of India]]. Accessed 13 December 2007.</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=ApunKaChoice|date=27 December 2007|title=Preity Zinta in Punjab for 'Heaven On Earth'|url=http://www.apunkachoice.com/scoop/bollywood/20071227-4.html|accessdate=2008-06-27|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604135706/http://www.apunkachoice.com/scoop/bollywood/20071227-4.html|archivedate=4 June 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Indo-Asian News Service|date=22 January 2008|title=Deepa Mehta loves 'excessive work'|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=96331e72-58e0-4678-be7f-eba282307c31|newspaper=[[Hindustan Times]]|accessdate=2008-06-27|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415141442/http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=96331e72-58e0-4678-be7f-eba282307c31|archivedate=15 April 2008}}</ref> For the film, the [[folktronic]] duo [[Hari & Sukhmani]] produced the folk song ''Kangi Bawan'' .<ref>https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/homes-where-heaven-is/</ref>

==Reception==
The film was screened at the [[Toronto International Film Festival]], the [[Edmonton International Film Festival]], and the [[Kingston Canadian Film Festival]]. It was released in select Canadian theatres on 24 October 2008 to generally mixed reviews, but full praise for Zinta's performance. ''[[The Vancouver Sun]]'' wrote, "Bollywood star Zinta and her Canadian co-star Bhardwaj are nothing short of genius".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Monk |first1=Katherine |title=Heaven on Earth an eloquent portrayal of a family in trouble |url=http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/arts/story.html?id=6aac15f4-de60-49d5-998a-2b03907ae4a2 |accessdate=15 July 2020 |work=[[The Vancouver Sun]] |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081027014738/http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/arts/story.html?id=6aac15f4-de60-49d5-998a-2b03907ae4a2 |archivedate=27 October 2008 |quote=Bollywood star Zinta and her Canadian co-star Bhardwaj are nothing short of genius}}</ref> According to S. James Wegg, Chand is "beautifully created by Preity Zinta who grows with the role that few her age could master".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wegg |first1=S. James |title=Like mother like son |url=http://www.jamesweggreview.org/Articles.aspx?ID=734 |website=www.jamesweggreview.org |publisher=JWR |accessdate=15 July 2020 |date=9 October 2008 |quote=Chand ... beautifully created by Preity Zinta who grows with the role that few her age could master}}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote "Zinta, who appears in nearly every scene … undertake[s] a stunning psychological transformation".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Debruge |first1=Peter |title=Heaven on Earth |url=https://variety.com/2008/film/reviews/heaven-on-earth-2-1200470914/ |accessdate=15 July 2020 |work=Variety |date=7 September 2008 |language=en |quote=Cut off from her family and trapped within a system of willing accomplices, Chand becomes a different person in the States — an opportunity for the beautiful Zinta, who appears in nearly every scene, to undertake a stunning psychological transformation.}}</ref> Wendy Mitchell of ''[[Screen Daily]]'' noted, Zinta … poignantly plays against the ‘cool-chick’ persona for which she is renowned on the Bollywood circuit."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mitchell |first1=Wendy |title=Heaven On Earth |url=https://www.screendaily.com/heaven-on-earth/4040671.article |accessdate=15 July 2020 |work=Screen |date=7 September 2008 |language=en |quote=She has a compelling vessel for the bereft and bemused Chand in Zinta, who poignantly plays against the ‘cool-chick’ persona for which she is renowned on the Bollywood circuit.}}</ref> Will Sloan of ''[[Exclaim!]]'' magazine wrote, "Her performance here is a revelation, infusing her role with surprising depth and pathos."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sloan |first1=Will |title=Heaven On Earth |url=http://exclaim.ca/musicreviews/latestsub.aspx?csid1=126&csid2=870&fid1=34367 |accessdate=15 July 2020 |work=[[Exclaim!]] |date=2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413012758/http://exclaim.ca/musicreviews/latestsub.aspx?csid1=126&csid2=870&fid1=34367 |archivedate=13 April 2009 |quote=Her performance here is a revelation, infusing her role with surprising depth and pathos.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Howell |first1=Peter |title=Heaven on Earth: Magic in Mehta's message |url=http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/523612 |accessdate=15 July 2020 |work=[[Toronto Star]] |date=24 October 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081028223938/http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/523612 |archivedate=28 October 2008 |language=en}}</ref> [[Susan G. Cole]] praised the film, calling it "a film that has real power".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cole |first1=Susan G. |author1-link=Susan G. Cole |title=Heaven on Earth |url=https://nowtoronto.com/movies/reviews/heaven-on-earth-2008-10-22 |access-date=27 February 2021 |work=[[Now (newspaper)|NOW Magazine]] |date=22 October 2008}}</ref>

In India the film generated little notice or discussion and received mostly negative reviews upon release, though Preity Zinta was universally praised for her portrayal, which several critics considered her best. Sukanya Verma of [[Rediff.com]] rated the film 2/5 stars, concluding, "Watch Videsh for Preity Zinta".<ref>{{cite news|first=Sukanya|last=Verma|title=Watch Videsh for Preity Zinta|url=http://www.rediff.com/movies/2009/mar/27review-watch-videsh-for-preity-zinta.htm|date=2009-03-27|accessdate=2009-04-12}}</ref>

==Awards==
;Won
* 2008 [[Chicago International Film Festival]], [[Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] (Silver Hugo) award for [[Preity Zinta]]<ref name="silverHugo">{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagofilmfestival.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CIFFSite.woa/wa/pages/Awards%202008|title=Chicago International Film Festival|publisher=Chicagofilmfestival.org|accessdate=7 November 2014}}</ref>
* 2008 [[Dubai International Film Festival]], Best Screenplay (Muhr Award) - Deepa Mehta.
* 2010 [[Stardust Awards]], Searchlight Award for Best Actress - Preity Zinta<ref>{{cite news|author=Webmaster|date=January 18, 2010|title=Stardust Awards 2010 Nominations|url=http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/features/2010/01/18/5856/index.html|work=Bollywood Hungama|accessdate=18 January 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110307033420/http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/features/2010/01/18/5856/index.html|archivedate=7 March 2011}}</ref>
;Nominated
* [[29th Genie Awards]]
**[[Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role|Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role]] - Preity Zinta
**[[Genie Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]] - Deepa Mehta
*[[Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2008#Canadian|2008 Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards]]
**[[Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Canadian Film|Best Canadian Film]]
**Best Director of a Canadian Film - Deepa Mehta
**[[Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in a Canadian Film|Best Actress in a Canadian Film]] - Preity Zinta

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|id=1146285|title=Heaven on Earth}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090412005851/http://www3.nfb.ca/webextension/heaven-on-earth/ Heaven on Earth: National Film Board, Official film site]

{{Deepa Mehta}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heaven On Earth}}
[[Category:2008 films]]
[[Category:Indian-Canadian films]]
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:Canadian films]]
[[Category:National Film Board of Canada films]]
[[Category:Films about domestic violence]]
[[Category:Films shot in Toronto]]
[[Category:Films directed by Deepa Mehta]]

Heaven on Earth (2008 film) - Revision history

>Sid95Q: only major language in infobox