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Guru Granth Sahib
Composition, Arrangement & Layout
ਜਪੁ | Jup
ਸੋ ਦਰੁ | So Dar
ਸੋਹਿਲਾ | Sohilaa
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਿਰੀਰਾਗੁ | Raag Siree-Raag
Gurbani (14-53)
Ashtpadiyan (53-71)
Gurbani (71-74)
Pahre (74-78)
Chhant (78-81)
Vanjara (81-82)
Vaar Siri Raag (83-91)
Bhagat Bani (91-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਝ | Raag Maajh
Gurbani (94-109)
Ashtpadi (109)
Ashtpadiyan (110-129)
Ashtpadi (129-130)
Ashtpadiyan (130-133)
Bara Maha (133-136)
Din Raen (136-137)
Vaar Maajh Ki (137-150)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗਉੜੀ | Raag Gauree
Gurbani (151-185)
Quartets/Couplets (185-220)
Ashtpadiyan (220-234)
Karhalei (234-235)
Ashtpadiyan (235-242)
Chhant (242-249)
Baavan Akhari (250-262)
Sukhmani (262-296)
Thittee (296-300)
Gauree kii Vaar (300-323)
Gurbani (323-330)
Ashtpadiyan (330-340)
Baavan Akhari (340-343)
Thintteen (343-344)
Vaar Kabir (344-345)
Bhagat Bani (345-346)
ਰਾਗੁ ਆਸਾ | Raag Aasaa
Gurbani (347-348)
Chaupaday (348-364)
Panchpadde (364-365)
Kaafee (365-409)
Aasaavaree (409-411)
Ashtpadiyan (411-432)
Patee (432-435)
Chhant (435-462)
Vaar Aasaa (462-475)
Bhagat Bani (475-488)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੂਜਰੀ | Raag Goojaree
Gurbani (489-503)
Ashtpadiyan (503-508)
Vaar Gujari (508-517)
Vaar Gujari (517-526)
ਰਾਗੁ ਦੇਵਗੰਧਾਰੀ | Raag Dayv-Gandhaaree
Gurbani (527-536)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਹਾਗੜਾ | Raag Bihaagraa
Gurbani (537-556)
Chhant (538-548)
Vaar Bihaagraa (548-556)
ਰਾਗੁ ਵਡਹੰਸ | Raag Wadhans
Gurbani (557-564)
Ashtpadiyan (564-565)
Chhant (565-575)
Ghoriaan (575-578)
Alaahaniiaa (578-582)
Vaar Wadhans (582-594)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੋਰਠਿ | Raag Sorath
Gurbani (595-634)
Asatpadhiya (634-642)
Vaar Sorath (642-659)
ਰਾਗੁ ਧਨਾਸਰੀ | Raag Dhanasaree
Gurbani (660-685)
Astpadhiya (685-687)
Chhant (687-691)
Bhagat Bani (691-695)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਤਸਰੀ | Raag Jaitsree
Gurbani (696-703)
Chhant (703-705)
Vaar Jaitsaree (705-710)
Bhagat Bani (710)
ਰਾਗੁ ਟੋਡੀ | Raag Todee
ਰਾਗੁ ਬੈਰਾੜੀ | Raag Bairaaree
ਰਾਗੁ ਤਿਲੰਗ | Raag Tilang
Gurbani (721-727)
Bhagat Bani (727)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੂਹੀ | Raag Suhi
Gurbani (728-750)
Ashtpadiyan (750-761)
Kaafee (761-762)
Suchajee (762)
Gunvantee (763)
Chhant (763-785)
Vaar Soohee (785-792)
Bhagat Bani (792-794)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਲਾਵਲੁ | Raag Bilaaval
Gurbani (795-831)
Ashtpadiyan (831-838)
Thitteen (838-840)
Vaar Sat (841-843)
Chhant (843-848)
Vaar Bilaaval (849-855)
Bhagat Bani (855-858)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੋਂਡ | Raag Gond
Gurbani (859-869)
Ashtpadiyan (869)
Bhagat Bani (870-875)
ਰਾਗੁ ਰਾਮਕਲੀ | Raag Ramkalee
Ashtpadiyan (902-916)
Gurbani (876-902)
Anand (917-922)
Sadd (923-924)
Chhant (924-929)
Dakhnee (929-938)
Sidh Gosat (938-946)
Vaar Ramkalee (947-968)
ਰਾਗੁ ਨਟ ਨਾਰਾਇਨ | Raag Nat Narayan
Gurbani (975-980)
Ashtpadiyan (980-983)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਲੀ ਗਉੜਾ | Raag Maalee Gauraa
Gurbani (984-988)
Bhagat Bani (988)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਰੂ | Raag Maaroo
Gurbani (889-1008)
Ashtpadiyan (1008-1014)
Kaafee (1014-1016)
Ashtpadiyan (1016-1019)
Anjulian (1019-1020)
Solhe (1020-1033)
Dakhni (1033-1043)
ਰਾਗੁ ਤੁਖਾਰੀ | Raag Tukhaari
Bara Maha (1107-1110)
Chhant (1110-1117)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕੇਦਾਰਾ | Raag Kedara
Gurbani (1118-1123)
Bhagat Bani (1123-1124)
ਰਾਗੁ ਭੈਰਉ | Raag Bhairo
Gurbani (1125-1152)
Partaal (1153)
Ashtpadiyan (1153-1167)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਸੰਤੁ | Raag Basant
Gurbani (1168-1187)
Ashtpadiyan (1187-1193)
Vaar Basant (1193-1196)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਾਰਗ | Raag Saarag
Gurbani (1197-1200)
Partaal (1200-1231)
Ashtpadiyan (1232-1236)
Chhant (1236-1237)
Vaar Saarang (1237-1253)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਲਾਰ | Raag Malaar
Gurbani (1254-1293)
Partaal (1265-1273)
Ashtpadiyan (1273-1278)
Chhant (1278)
Vaar Malaar (1278-91)
Bhagat Bani (1292-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਾਨੜਾ | Raag Kaanraa
Gurbani (1294-96)
Partaal (1296-1318)
Ashtpadiyan (1308-1312)
Chhant (1312)
Vaar Kaanraa
Bhagat Bani (1318)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਲਿਆਨ | Raag Kalyaan
Gurbani (1319-23)
Ashtpadiyan (1323-26)
ਰਾਗੁ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਤੀ | Raag Prabhaatee
Gurbani (1327-1341)
Ashtpadiyan (1342-51)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਜਾਵੰਤੀ | Raag Jaijaiwanti
Gurbani (1352-53)
Salok | Gatha | Phunahe | Chaubole | Swayiye
Sehskritee Mahala 1
Sehskritee Mahala 5
Gaathaa Mahala 5
Phunhay Mahala 5
Chaubolae Mahala 5
Shaloks Bhagat Kabir
Shaloks Sheikh Farid
Swaiyyae Mahala 5
Swaiyyae in Praise of Gurus
Shaloks in Addition To Vaars
Shalok Ninth Mehl
Mundavanee Mehl 5
ਰਾਗ ਮਾਲਾ, Raag Maalaa
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Sikh History & Heritage
Sikh Personalities
Sarab Singh Neelam
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<blockquote data-quote="spnadmin" data-source="post: 108750" data-attributes="member: 35"><p><strong>Doctor Meets Screen in "Ocean of Pearls"</strong></p><p></p><p><strong> Doctor Meets Screen in "Ocean of Pearls"</strong></p><p></p><p> By: Ellen Piligian, 8/6/2009</p><p> <span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><img src="http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%20126/DR-drdr-lead520.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Doctor and film director Sarab Neelam, M.D., is living proof that medicine is both science and art. And, yes, pain has a flip side. The Indian-born gastroenterologist has moved from operating room to screening room with his debut feature film, <a href="http://www.oceanofpearls.com/" target="_blank">Ocean of Pearls</a>, set for a Detroit-area premiere on August 7. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><img src="http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%20126/DR-portrait-350.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Stunned by a system where physicians were rewarded or penalized based on tests they ordered, Neelam themed the film, which was ten years in the making, around a turban-wearing Sikh doctor's struggles with his heritage and the inequalities of U.S. healthcare. His semi-autobiographical story introduces Amrit Singh, who grips the opposite poles of a modern Western society and his traditional Eastern religious culture. After landing a prestigious position as a transplant surgeon in a Detroit hospital, leaving his family and Indian girlfriend behind in Toronto, Amrit struggles against self-doubt, discrimination, and tough choices in both an unfair medical system and in love.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Neelam's universally appealing story has made the rounds of film fests from coast to coast, was voted Best Feature Film at the 2009 <a href="http://www.dwiff.org/" target="_blank">Detroit Windsor International Film Festival</a>, and won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 <a href="http://www.vconline.org/festival/" target="_blank">Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival</a>.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">"It's the story of every American and the pressure to assimilate," says Hollywood screenwriter Jim Burnstein (<em>Renaissance Man</em>), who served as executive producer and assisted with the script. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><img src="http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%20126/DR-drportrait-240.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><strong>The Sikh POV</strong></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">"There is so much misunderstanding of what Sikhs are," says Neelam, 48, sitting barefoot in jeans and a short-sleeve shirt on his Troy backyard deck after covering for two doctors one Saturday afternoon. Neelam, who is based at St. John Macomb and Troy Beaumont hospitals and has a private practice in Sterling Heights, has already made a documentary on the subject for teachers and libraries. "We're a peaceful people," he says.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Sikhism, a religion founded in India in the late 15th century, has about 25 million followers worldwide and about half a million in the U.S. An estimated 4,000 to 5,000 live in Metro Detroit, says Neelam, who attends a gurdwara in Plymouth, one of five such places of worship in the area.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Many <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikh" target="_blank">Sikhs</a> never cut their hair and consider the turban a symbol of their faith and part of their identity. "It's our crown of spirituality. This is part of us," says Neelam. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">And while the vast majority Neelam says 99 percent of men in the U.S. who wear turbans are Sikhs, many people wrongly assume they are Muslims, a group that's faced a lot of discrimination since 9/11. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">That made things particularly bad for Sikhs, says Neelam, who came to Detroit for his residency at Wayne State University in 1984 after finishing medical school in Toronto. He recalls the stares while standing up to stretch his legs on a plane and facing routine stops at the Canadian border on trips to Toronto. Even at work, he was suddenly required to show his photo ID. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><img src="http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%20126/DR-hair-350.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Amrit, in turn, is told not to enter a nightclub without removing his turban, and contemplates cutting his hair in an effort to feel accepted.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Neelam says Sikhs have faced discrimination and persecution for years. The film refers to the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan, when Neelam's father, then age 10, saw his entire family, with the exception of his grandmother, wiped out.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Even on screen, depictions have been less than starry. "In Indian films, they are usually comic relief. They never get the girl." In Hollywood, he says, Sikh characters "usually have a thick accent. I don't have a thick accent."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Things are better now, but not enough, says Neelam. Sikhs, who practice "seva" or selfless service, are far from a hostile people. "That's the biggest thing. They'll do community service without asking for a thing." </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Today he's proud of what he believes is the first feature film with both a director and lead character (the lead actor is actually Muslim) of Sikh origin. "I hope people realize we have more similarities than differences," he says.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><img src="http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%20126/DR-hug-350.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><strong>Dream to Reality</strong></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">After moving to Toronto at age 10, by high school he was making family movies with Super 8 film. "My insides kept telling me I want to make films," says Neelam, who knew his parents felt otherwise. Like both of his brothers, he was destined to be a doctor making a steady income. "Most Indian parents would say, there's no way you're going to be a filmmaker," he says. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">But childhood dreams rarely fade out, so within a couple years of moving to Detroit, Neelam discovered Oscar-winning screenwriter Kurt Luedtke (<em>Out of Africa</em>) lived in the area.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">"I'm a doctor and I want to make a movie," he told Luedtke, who replied: "Are you crazy?" Neelam: "I'm a little crazy."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Luedtke put him in touch with Burnstein, already an established screenwriter. At their first meeting, Neelam mentioned his desire to make a Middle East epic about the conflict between Arabs and Jews, maybe starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert DeNiro. Burnstein looked at him blankly: "'What are you? Cecil B. DeMille? What else you got?'"</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><img src="http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%20126/DR-actor-350.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Burnstein, who teaches screenwriting at the University of Michigan, found Neelam's personal story so compelling he even considered pitching a script about a Sikh doctor. "Write what you know," he advised.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Meanwhile, as Neelam focused on his medical career and family life he and wife Jaspal have twin 15-year-olds and a seven-year-old he devoured books on film and used vacation time to take film classes around the country. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Eventually, <em>Ocean of Pearls</em>, which took about three years to write, took form. Burnstein brought on former student V. Prasad to polish the script. Neelam, despite having "no connections," got top players in the biz, from casting directors to producer's rep Jeff Dowd (aka "The Dude", the basis for the <em>The Big Lebowski </em>character). Dowd became an executive producer on the film. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Neelam, who shot the film in Michigan while on leave from work in the fall of 2006 used a local crew but wanted a seasoned cast. "I realized actors make or break a film," he says. He went through more than 200 actors before choosing Omid Abtahi, from FX's <em>Over There</em>, as Amrit. Brenda Strong of <em>Desperate Housewives </em>plays a transplant patient, and Navi Rawat from <em>The O.C.</em> and <em>Numb3rs.</em> plays his Indian girlfriend.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><img src="http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%20126/DR-filming2-350.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">The local Sikh community supported the production, offering up its new gurdwara in Plymouth for production and office sets, he says. Many played extras and tied turbans. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Finding investors was the hardest part, says Neelam, who only slightly exceeded his $1 million budget. In addition to his own investment, he did many "dog and pony shows" convincing mostly fellow doctors to support the project, usually offering a film credit and parts as extras.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Dr. Heminder Singh and his wife Raman, who had a speaking part as the Indian girlfriend's mother, believed. Their investment, she says, was more than a financial bet. "We wanted to support his dream."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Neelam credits sheer passion for making his dream a reality. "People will listen if you really believe in something," he says. Plus, "I think Hollywood is tired of blowing up cars and chasing girls. This is a unique story."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Burnstein, who meets hordes of people with big movie dreams who never follow through, is still amazed by Neelam's perseverance. "You may say, 'Sarab, you're crazy.' But he did exactly what he said he was going to do. You can't stop him."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><img src="http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%20126/DR-atwork-350.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><strong>A Sequel?</strong></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Neelam's biggest sacrifice </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">has been family time. His youngest son left a plaintive message one day: " 'Dad, when are you coming home? I miss you,' " he recalls. "It gets to you."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Not that Neelam has any plans to quit the biz. His eyes light up as he spills the dozen ideas in his brain, from a children's adventure to a musical set in the Caribbean to a road trip comedy to that Middle East epic. "There are so many darn good stories I want to tell," he says, this time hoping a studio will back the projects.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">One thing he knows: "They'll be about a journey in life and finding peace in yourself." And another: "I will have a Sikh character in all my films, just as part of it."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px">If his film career takes off, he has no interest in leaving medicine or Michigan. "I would always do medicine as charity. I love medicine. It's fun," says Neelam. Gesturing toward his expansive green lawn, he asks, "Where am I going to get a backyard like this in L.A.?"</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><em>Ocean of Pearls opens August 7 at the Landmark Maple Art Theater in Bloomfield Hills. Neelam and lead actor Omid Abtahi will be there to discuss the film. It opens at both the Emagine Canton theater and AMC Forum in Sterling Heights on August 14. Neelam will be at each theater for one night of questions, dates TBD</em></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><em>.</em></span></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="spnadmin, post: 108750, member: 35"] [b]Doctor Meets Screen in "Ocean of Pearls"[/b] [B] Doctor Meets Screen in "Ocean of Pearls"[/B] By: Ellen Piligian, 8/6/2009 [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2][IMG]http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%20126/DR-drdr-lead520.jpg[/IMG] Doctor and film director Sarab Neelam, M.D., is living proof that medicine is both science and art. And, yes, pain has a flip side. The Indian-born gastroenterologist has moved from operating room to screening room with his debut feature film, [URL="http://www.oceanofpearls.com/"]Ocean of Pearls[/URL], set for a Detroit-area premiere on August 7. [IMG]http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%20126/DR-portrait-350.jpg[/IMG]Stunned by a system where physicians were rewarded or penalized based on tests they ordered, Neelam themed the film, which was ten years in the making, around a turban-wearing Sikh doctor's struggles with his heritage and the inequalities of U.S. healthcare. His semi-autobiographical story introduces Amrit Singh, who grips the opposite poles of a modern Western society and his traditional Eastern religious culture. After landing a prestigious position as a transplant surgeon in a Detroit hospital, leaving his family and Indian girlfriend behind in Toronto, Amrit struggles against self-doubt, discrimination, and tough choices in both an unfair medical system and in love. Neelam's universally appealing story has made the rounds of film fests from coast to coast, was voted Best Feature Film at the 2009 [URL="http://www.dwiff.org/"]Detroit Windsor International Film Festival[/URL], and won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 [URL="http://www.vconline.org/festival/"]Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival[/URL]. "It's the story of every American and the pressure to assimilate," says Hollywood screenwriter Jim Burnstein ([I]Renaissance Man[/I]), who served as executive producer and assisted with the script. [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2][IMG]http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%20126/DR-drportrait-240.jpg[/IMG][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2][B]The Sikh POV[/B][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2] "There is so much misunderstanding of what Sikhs are," says Neelam, 48, sitting barefoot in jeans and a short-sleeve shirt on his Troy backyard deck after covering for two doctors one Saturday afternoon. Neelam, who is based at St. John Macomb and Troy Beaumont hospitals and has a private practice in Sterling Heights, has already made a documentary on the subject for teachers and libraries. "We're a peaceful people," he says. Sikhism, a religion founded in India in the late 15th century, has about 25 million followers worldwide and about half a million in the U.S. An estimated 4,000 to 5,000 live in Metro Detroit, says Neelam, who attends a gurdwara in Plymouth, one of five such places of worship in the area. Many [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikh"]Sikhs[/url] never cut their hair and consider the turban a symbol of their faith and part of their identity. "It's our crown of spirituality. This is part of us," says Neelam. And while the vast majority Neelam says 99 percent of men in the U.S. who wear turbans are Sikhs, many people wrongly assume they are Muslims, a group that's faced a lot of discrimination since 9/11. That made things particularly bad for Sikhs, says Neelam, who came to Detroit for his residency at Wayne State University in 1984 after finishing medical school in Toronto. He recalls the stares while standing up to stretch his legs on a plane and facing routine stops at the Canadian border on trips to Toronto. Even at work, he was suddenly required to show his photo ID. [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2][IMG]http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%20126/DR-hair-350.jpg[/IMG][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]Amrit, in turn, is told not to enter a nightclub without removing his turban, and contemplates cutting his hair in an effort to feel accepted. Neelam says Sikhs have faced discrimination and persecution for years. The film refers to the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan, when Neelam's father, then age 10, saw his entire family, with the exception of his grandmother, wiped out. Even on screen, depictions have been less than starry. "In Indian films, they are usually comic relief. They never get the girl." In Hollywood, he says, Sikh characters "usually have a thick accent. I don't have a thick accent." Things are better now, but not enough, says Neelam. Sikhs, who practice "seva" or selfless service, are far from a hostile people. "That's the biggest thing. They'll do community service without asking for a thing." Today he's proud of what he believes is the first feature film with both a director and lead character (the lead actor is actually Muslim) of Sikh origin. "I hope people realize we have more similarities than differences," he says. [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2][IMG]http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%20126/DR-hug-350.jpg[/IMG][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2][B]Dream to Reality[/B] [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]After moving to Toronto at age 10, by high school he was making family movies with Super 8 film. "My insides kept telling me I want to make films," says Neelam, who knew his parents felt otherwise. Like both of his brothers, he was destined to be a doctor making a steady income. "Most Indian parents would say, there's no way you're going to be a filmmaker," he says. But childhood dreams rarely fade out, so within a couple years of moving to Detroit, Neelam discovered Oscar-winning screenwriter Kurt Luedtke ([I]Out of Africa[/I]) lived in the area. "I'm a doctor and I want to make a movie," he told Luedtke, who replied: "Are you crazy?" Neelam: "I'm a little crazy." Luedtke put him in touch with Burnstein, already an established screenwriter. At their first meeting, Neelam mentioned his desire to make a Middle East epic about the conflict between Arabs and Jews, maybe starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert DeNiro. Burnstein looked at him blankly: "'What are you? Cecil B. DeMille? What else you got?'" [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2][IMG]http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%20126/DR-actor-350.jpg[/IMG][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]Burnstein, who teaches screenwriting at the University of Michigan, found Neelam's personal story so compelling he even considered pitching a script about a Sikh doctor. "Write what you know," he advised. Meanwhile, as Neelam focused on his medical career and family life he and wife Jaspal have twin 15-year-olds and a seven-year-old he devoured books on film and used vacation time to take film classes around the country. Eventually, [I]Ocean of Pearls[/I], which took about three years to write, took form. Burnstein brought on former student V. Prasad to polish the script. Neelam, despite having "no connections," got top players in the biz, from casting directors to producer's rep Jeff Dowd (aka "The Dude", the basis for the [I]The Big Lebowski [/I]character). Dowd became an executive producer on the film. Neelam, who shot the film in Michigan while on leave from work in the fall of 2006 used a local crew but wanted a seasoned cast. "I realized actors make or break a film," he says. He went through more than 200 actors before choosing Omid Abtahi, from FX's [I]Over There[/I], as Amrit. Brenda Strong of [I]Desperate Housewives [/I]plays a transplant patient, and Navi Rawat from [I]The O.C.[/I] and [I]Numb3rs.[/I] plays his Indian girlfriend.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2] [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2][IMG]http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%20126/DR-filming2-350.jpg[/IMG][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]The local Sikh community supported the production, offering up its new gurdwara in Plymouth for production and office sets, he says. Many played extras and tied turbans. [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2] Finding investors was the hardest part, says Neelam, who only slightly exceeded his $1 million budget. In addition to his own investment, he did many "dog and pony shows" convincing mostly fellow doctors to support the project, usually offering a film credit and parts as extras. Dr. Heminder Singh and his wife Raman, who had a speaking part as the Indian girlfriend's mother, believed. Their investment, she says, was more than a financial bet. "We wanted to support his dream." Neelam credits sheer passion for making his dream a reality. "People will listen if you really believe in something," he says. Plus, "I think Hollywood is tired of blowing up cars and chasing girls. This is a unique story." Burnstein, who meets hordes of people with big movie dreams who never follow through, is still amazed by Neelam's perseverance. "You may say, 'Sarab, you're crazy.' But he did exactly what he said he was going to do. You can't stop him." [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2][IMG]http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%20126/DR-atwork-350.jpg[/IMG][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2][B]A Sequel?[/B] [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]Neelam's biggest sacrifice [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]has been family time. His youngest son left a plaintive message one day: " 'Dad, when are you coming home? I miss you,' " he recalls. "It gets to you." [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]Not that Neelam has any plans to quit the biz. His eyes light up as he spills the dozen ideas in his brain, from a children's adventure to a musical set in the Caribbean to a road trip comedy to that Middle East epic. "There are so many darn good stories I want to tell," he says, this time hoping a studio will back the projects. One thing he knows: "They'll be about a journey in life and finding peace in yourself." And another: "I will have a Sikh character in all my films, just as part of it." If his film career takes off, he has no interest in leaving medicine or Michigan. "I would always do medicine as charity. I love medicine. It's fun," says Neelam. Gesturing toward his expansive green lawn, he asks, "Where am I going to get a backyard like this in L.A.?" [I]Ocean of Pearls opens August 7 at the Landmark Maple Art Theater in Bloomfield Hills. Neelam and lead actor Omid Abtahi will be there to discuss the film. It opens at both the Emagine Canton theater and AMC Forum in Sterling Heights on August 14. Neelam will be at each theater for one night of questions, dates TBD .[/I][/SIZE][/FONT] [/QUOTE]
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