Ludhiana, June 4
The film “Hope”, script of which is written by Shelley Chawla, a doctor hailing from Ludhiana, was screened at the Cannes film festival last week. Shelley today called up to inform his father L.S. Chawla, founder vice-chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, five international media companies had already made offers for the screening of the film.
The offbeat film, supporting research on stem cells for future medical care, became one of the favourites at the festival. The film, based on the book “Hope... in vitro”, got good response from film and documentary organisations from France, the UK, South Africa and India. Shelley is also the co-producer of the film and enacts role of a doctor.
Shelley spent early years in Ludhiana. He did plus two from Sacred Heart School and MBBS from Dayanand Medical college here. The book has been co-authored by Dianne Wilson, a fellow nursing professional at Topeka in Kansas state of the US, where Shelley is at present based.
The movie makes strong case for stem cell research. The issue has acquired greater significance now as the research Bill has been vetoed by US President George Bush thrice. Shelley was motivated to make the movie when he found that a number of patients suffering from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease visited his clinic day in and day out.
In a recent interview, Shelley said: "Lives are at stake, it is not a typical show-business melodrama. I want to help my patients. The film is not intended to be slick entertainment, it intends to push people into action."
The story talks about a US Senator whose son gets paralysed in a motor accident. The Senator is shown to have been opposing the stem cell research in Parliament, while his son’s girlfriend and mother try to get the patient undergo stem cell surgery. India is seen as a destination where a solution could be found.
