1 a Minute is a docu-drama film written and directed by Indian American

Indian American

Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestral roots lie in India. The U.S. Census Bureau popularized the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Indigenous peoples of the Americas who are commonly referred to as American Indians.-The term: Indian:...

 actress Namrata Singh Gujral

Namrata Singh Gujral

Namrata Singh Gujral born 26 February 1976 is an American actress.She is of Sikh faith and Indian as well as Tibetan descent. She was born in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh and is a 1998 graduate from the University of West Florida.-Roles:...

, and is based around her own life and the lives of other women and their battle with cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

.

Synopsis

The film is a hybrid between narrative structure and documentary style set to interweave throughout the film's plot. Based around the director's own experiences, the film follow the life of one woman and her struggle with breast cancer. The personal experiences of other celebrities who have themselves dealt with breast cancer, are interspersed throughout the film, as told by the celebrities themselves.

Participants

Narrated by Kelly McGillis

Kelly McGillis

Kelly Ann McGillis is an American actress. Her films include Top Gun, The Accused, and Witness, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination.-Career:...

, the film includes interviews with Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra is an Indian medical doctor, public speaker, and writer on subjects such as spirituality, Ayurveda and mind-body medicine. Chopra began his career as an endocrinologist and later shifted his focus to alternative medicine. Chopra now runs his own medical center, with a focus on...

, oncologist Dennis Slamon

Dennis Slamon

Dennis Joseph Slamon, is an American oncologist and chief of the division of Hematology-Oncology at UCLA. He is best known for his work identifying the HER2/neu oncogene that is amplified in 25-33% of breast cancer patients and the resulting treatment Herceptin.He currently serves as director of...

, and Ambassador Nancy Brinker

Nancy Brinker

Nancy Goodman Brinker is the founder and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an organization named after her only sister, Susan, who died from breast cancer in 1980 at age 36. Brinker was also United States Ambassador to Hungary from 2001 to 2003 and Chief of Protocol of the United States from...

, and features the participation of numerous celebrities who have themselves dealt either directly or indirectly with breast cancer. These include Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...

, Namrata Singh Gujral

Namrata Singh Gujral

Namrata Singh Gujral born 26 February 1976 is an American actress.She is of Sikh faith and Indian as well as Tibetan descent. She was born in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh and is a 1998 graduate from the University of West Florida.-Roles:...

, Jaclyn Smith

Jaclyn Smith

Jacquelyn Ellen "Jaclyn" Smith is an American actress and businesswoman. She is best-known for the role of Kelly Garrett in the television series Charlie's Angels, and was the only original female lead to remain with the series for its complete run...

, Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Lou Etheridge is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician.Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals...

, Bárbara Mori

Bárbara Mori

Bárbara Mori Ochoa is a Mexican actress and model. She became famous for being the female lead in the Bollywood film, Kites....

, Lisa Ray

Lisa Ray

Lisa Ray , born 4 April 1972, is a Canadian actress and former model.-Early life:Lisa Ray was born in Toronto to a Bengali Indian father and a Polish mother and grew up in the suburb of Etobicoke...

, Diahann Carroll, William Baldwin

William Baldwin

William Joseph "Billy" Baldwin is an American actor, producer, and writer, known for his starring roles in such films as Flatliners , Backdraft , Sliver , Fair Game , Virus , Double Bang , as Johnny 13 in Danny Phantom , Art Heist , The Squid and the Whale , as himself...

, Daniel Baldwin

Daniel Baldwin

Daniel Leroy Baldwin is an American actor, producer and director. He is the second oldest of the four Baldwin brothers, all of whom are actors. Daniel Baldwin is known for his role as Detective Beau Felton in the popular NBC TV series Homicide: Life on the Street...

, Mumtaz

Mumtaz (actress)

Mumtaz , fondly called Mumu, is a famous Bollywood actress, best remembered for her roles in Tere Mere Sapne and Khilona . Her performance in Khilona got her the Filmfare Best Actress Award, while the film itself won the Filmfare Best Movie Award...

, Jasmine Singh Cooper, and Priya Dutt

Priya Dutt

Priya Dutt Roncon is an Indian politician. She was first time elected to the 14th Lok Sabha from Mumbai North West constituency in Maharashtra on 22 November 2005, representing the Indian National Congress party...

.

Background

The film deals a heavy focus on breast cancer

Breast cancer

Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...

, and features female

Woman

A woman , pl: women is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent...

 celebrities

Celebrity

A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...

 from around the world who are cancer survivors. Scheduled to kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the film released on October 6, 2010 in 532 theaters in the USA, where these theaters simulcast

Simulcast

Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...

 a live panel discussion featuring director Gujral, Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Lou Etheridge is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician.Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals...

, and Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...

 among others, immediately preceding the world premiere showing of the film. The film released in Indian theaters on 29 October 2010. This is reported to be the largest release to date for a cancer docudrama.

Response

According to the Indo-Asian News Service

Indo-Asian News Service

Indo-Asian News Service or IANS is India's largest private news agency. The IANS is run by a group of professional journalists.The IANS was founded by Indian American publisher Gopal Raju as the India Abroad News Service. It was later renamed the Indo-Asian News Service...

, "[t]he documentary is an unprecedented push by global celebrity women, who are also cancer survivors, to help raise funds to find the cures, promote awareness and prevention as well as support survivors of women's cancers", with donations from the film set to support international Non-Profits & NGOs such as: Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Susan G. Komen for the Cure, formerly known as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, often referred to as simply Komen, is the most widely known, largest and best-funded breast cancer organization in the US....

 and Nargis Dutt Memorial Cancer Foundation.