Exclusion, a film on the the Komagata Maru incident

Exclusion is a forthcoming Hindi language film to be directed by internationally acclaimed director, Deepa Mehta. The film will star Amitabh Bachchan, John Abraham, Seema Biswas and well-known British actor Terence Stamp in lead roles. The film will have music by A. R. Rahman and cinematography and editing by Giles Nuttgens and Colin Monie respectively.

Exclusion showcases the Komagata Maru incident, an incident where Canada turned away 397 Indian dissidents as a part of a policy to keep Canada racially white. The Indians on the boat saw this as proof that they were not equal citizens of the British empire, and after being forced to leave Canada and return to Calcutta in India, decided that they would march on the capital in protest of the events that had taken place. The British in turn took this as a sign of rebellion and opened fire, killing many of them.

The film will most probably be released in 2007 with a release date yet to be announced. The Exclusion, which costs five times ($15 million) the budget of Water ($3 million), centres on the plight of 375 asylum-seekers from India who were fleeing the British and arrived in Vancouver, Canada, aboard a hired ship, the Komagata Maru, in 1914.

They were not allowed to land, except for a few Indians, and forced to return to India to face British wrath. This is one of the most notorious incidents in the history of exclusion laws in Canada designed to keep out immigrants of Asian origin.

Cast

   * Amitabh Bachchan as ... Gurdit Singh
   * John Abraham
   * Manisha Koirala
   * Mahima Chaudhry
   * Seema Biswas as ... Daljit Kaur
   * Terence Stamp