Dinesh Kamath's column on film 'From Sydney With Love' that was published in Newsband

From Sydney With Love is directed by Prateek Chakravorty, grandson of yesteryears' celebrated filmmaker Pramod Chakravorty. The film has fresh faces, and they include Sharad Malhotra, Bidita Bag, Evelyn Sharma and Reshmi Ghosh. From Sydney... is a family comedy.

The film has an interesting story. It was a dream come true for Meghaa Banerjee, a small town girl in West Bengal, India when she earned a scholarship from the prestigious University of New South Wales in Australia to pursue her Masters degree in Economics with inevitable butterflies in her stomach.

She embarks upon her maiden expedition to Sydney leaving her protective shell and family behind. Coming from a conservative middle class background, life and culture in Sydney was an instant eye opener for her. Under guidance of her caring cousin Kalpana fondly called 'Kol', Meghaa slowly embraces her new life in Sydney where she makes new set of friends, who include cherubic Lubaina, prankster Raj, and narcissistic Suhail. Love and romance was something that was strictly not in her agenda of things. However being young at heart it was just something waiting to happen to her when she met Rohit - a charismatic, full of sheen and friendly natured fellow student in the University with whom she starts gelling right from the word go.

What happens thereafter is something to watch out in this fun, quirky, emotional and furiously endearing love story set across two hemispheres in the entertainment extravaganza called From Sydney with Love.

From Sydney with Love is the latest film on the block which will try to make its presence felt among big ticket films. The debutant director Prateek Chakravorty is not new to the film industry. His family banner has made films like Love in Tokyo, Deedar and Barood in the past, but this is his chance to re-hoist the family flag.

In 2003-05, he was studying in Sydney where he was doing my MBA in marketing. At that time, the whole perspective of a student from India, who goes to Australia from a small town and how she adapts there, interested him. He had his own incidences and occurrences and he had an idea about the changes in a student's life, so this formed the basic milieu of the story. It was a cool concept and he has tried to retain that coolness.

Prateek always had a keen interest in cinema. The inner urge to be a part of the cinema compelled him to go for From Sydney with Love.

Having a well known director as grandfather helped him in the film industry. Prateek wanted to impress his audience, so he tried to be honest and sincere with his story. He could have taken the options of big stars but it was a university film. He got a star cast which was hungry to work; their attitude towards work compelled him to take them as his family.

Sohail Sen's music is quite something in the film. In this film, due to some strange forces of nature, young minds got together. Making a film with all newcomers is a risk but Prateek felt it was worth taking.

You might like the film From Sydney With Love due to its music and for the story it narrates. So do watch it.