Pamela Rooks
Encyclopedia
Pamela Rooks was an India
n film director
and screenwriter
, most known for the film, Train to Pakistan
(1998) set in Partition of India
and based on Khushwant Singh
’s novel
, it was screened at several international film festivals. Apart from it she also made award-winning films like, Miss Beatty's Children (1992) and Dance Like a Man (2003) and several documentaries.
, where she got interested in dramatics.Later while studying mass communication in Delhi in the 1970s, she was involved with Delhi-based theatre group, Theatre Action Group (TAG), which was founded by theatre director, Barry John
and Siddharth Basu, Roshan Seth
, Lilette Dubey, and Mira Nair amongst others.
programmes on television and it was during this period that she met director, Conrad Rooks who had received much acclaim for his film, Siddhartha
(1972) for an interview, subsequently they went on to marry.
Later this paved way for her career as a documentary filmmaker and made critically acclaimed documentaries, such as Chipko: A response to the forest crisis, Girl Child: fighting for survival, Punjab: a human tragedy and Indian cinema: the winds of change , before making her first feature film, Miss Beatty's Children (1992), based on a novel of the same name by her. The film won her the Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director
at the National Film Award. Then in 1998 came her much anticipated film based on writer, Khushwant Singh
historical novel, Train to Pakistan
(1956), set in the Partition of India
in 1947, while previous attempts by other people to turn the novel into film had failed. The film ran into trouble with Indian Censor Board, but was eventually released, after going to a tribunal, with few cuts, mostly audio.
Having seen playwright Mahesh Dattani
's play Dance like a Man, a friend, the late dancer Protima Bedi
, who has also worked in his first film, arranged a meeting with playwright in Bangalore. Subsequently bought the rights to the play and went on co-write the screenplay with him. Eventually next venture Dance like a Man was released in 2005. and won a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English
for 2003.
in Delhi while she was returning from Indira Gandhi International Airport
after a trip to Amsterdam
. She was subsequently put in drug-induced coma. She never recovered from the coma and died of cardiac arrest at her Defense Colony home on early hours of October 1, 2010 at the age of 52.
Maharaja of Indore
, Shivaji Rao Holkar, whom she had first met in 1998 in her Defense Colony neighbourhood. In following years they grew close and decided to be life companions.
Together Pamela and Richard brought life back to Richards ancestral home Ahilya Fort in Maheshwar
, and were the directors of Ahilya Hospitality and Travels Private Limited. Holkar was accompanying her during the 2005 car accident.
Richard Holkar joined the Indian Head Injury Foundation, founded in February 2007, by Gaj Singh, Maharaja of Jodhpur
, whose son Shivraj Singh had received serious head injury, due to accident on the polo grounds in Jaipur in February 2005.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, most known for the film, Train to Pakistan
Train to Pakistan (film)
Train to Pakistan is a 1998 Hindi film adapted from Khushwant Singh's 1956 historical novel by the same name set in the Partition of India of 1947 and directed by Pamela Rooks...
(1998) set in Partition of India
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
and based on Khushwant Singh
Khushwant Singh
Khushwant Singh is a prominent Indian novelist and journalist. Singh's weekly column, "With Malice towards One and All", carried by several Indian newspapers, is among the most widely-read columns in the country....
’s novel
Train to Pakistan
Train To Pakistan is a historical novel by Khushwant Singh, published in 1956. It recounts the Partition of India in August 1947.Instead of depicting the Partition in terms of only the political events surrounding it, Singh digs into a deep local focus, providing a human dimension which brings to...
, it was screened at several international film festivals. Apart from it she also made award-winning films like, Miss Beatty's Children (1992) and Dance Like a Man (2003) and several documentaries.
Early life
Born Pamela Juneja in an Army household, of Col A N Juneja and Gudi Juneja. She did her schooling in boarding schools in Nainital and ShimlaShimla
Shimla , formerly known as Simla, is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of the British Raj in India. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is often referred to as the "Queen of Hills," a term coined by the British...
, where she got interested in dramatics.Later while studying mass communication in Delhi in the 1970s, she was involved with Delhi-based theatre group, Theatre Action Group (TAG), which was founded by theatre director, Barry John
Barry John (theatre director)
Barry John is a British born, Indian theatre director and teacher, who was the Founder-Director of 'Theatre Action Group' , one of the early theatre group based in Delhi. In 1997, he launched Imago Media Company, along with Sanjay Sujitabh, and also started Imago Acting School in Delhi, both of...
and Siddharth Basu, Roshan Seth
Roshan Seth
Roshan Seth is an Indian-born British actor, who appears mainly in British and American films. He is known for his critically acclaimed performances in the films Gandhi, Mississippi Masala, Not Without My Daughter, My Beautiful Laundrette, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Such a Long...
, Lilette Dubey, and Mira Nair amongst others.
Career
She started her career as journalist, as started her career as a producer of current affairsCurrent affairs (news format)
Current Affairs is a genre of broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of news stories that have recently occurred or are ongoing at the time of broadcast....
programmes on television and it was during this period that she met director, Conrad Rooks who had received much acclaim for his film, Siddhartha
Siddhartha (film)
Siddhartha is a film based on the novel of the same name by Herman Hesse, directed by Conrad Rooks. It was shot on location in Northern India, and features work by noted cinematographer Sven Nykvist....
(1972) for an interview, subsequently they went on to marry.
Later this paved way for her career as a documentary filmmaker and made critically acclaimed documentaries, such as Chipko: A response to the forest crisis, Girl Child: fighting for survival, Punjab: a human tragedy and Indian cinema: the winds of change , before making her first feature film, Miss Beatty's Children (1992), based on a novel of the same name by her. The film won her the Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director
Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director
The Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director is a National Film Award - Golden Lotus Award, given to a feature film director's first film.The National Film Award - Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director winners:...
at the National Film Award. Then in 1998 came her much anticipated film based on writer, Khushwant Singh
Khushwant Singh
Khushwant Singh is a prominent Indian novelist and journalist. Singh's weekly column, "With Malice towards One and All", carried by several Indian newspapers, is among the most widely-read columns in the country....
historical novel, Train to Pakistan
Train to Pakistan
Train To Pakistan is a historical novel by Khushwant Singh, published in 1956. It recounts the Partition of India in August 1947.Instead of depicting the Partition in terms of only the political events surrounding it, Singh digs into a deep local focus, providing a human dimension which brings to...
(1956), set in the Partition of India
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
in 1947, while previous attempts by other people to turn the novel into film had failed. The film ran into trouble with Indian Censor Board, but was eventually released, after going to a tribunal, with few cuts, mostly audio.
Having seen playwright Mahesh Dattani
Mahesh Dattani
Mahesh Dattani is an Indian director, actor and writer. He wrote plays like Final Solutions, Dance Like a Man,Bravely Fought the Queen,On a Muggy Night in Mumbai,Tara and 30 days in September...
's play Dance like a Man, a friend, the late dancer Protima Bedi
Protima Bedi
Protima Gauri Bedi was an Indian model turned Odissi exponent. In 1990, she established 'Nrityagram', a dance village near Bangalore.-Early life:...
, who has also worked in his first film, arranged a meeting with playwright in Bangalore. Subsequently bought the rights to the play and went on co-write the screenplay with him. Eventually next venture Dance like a Man was released in 2005. and won a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English
The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English winners:-References:*...
for 2003.
Accident and death
In November 2005, she received serious brain injury when a Maruti Alto lost control and collided with her Toyota Landcruiser, at Vasant KunjVasant Kunj
Vasant Kunj is an upmarket residential colony located in South West Delhi district of Delhi, India, on the hills of Aravali, which today has well over 100,000 residents...
in Delhi while she was returning from Indira Gandhi International Airport
Indira Gandhi International Airport
Indira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport of the National Capital Region of Delhi, India, situated in West Delhi, 16 km southwest of New Delhi city centre. Named after Indira Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India, it is the busiest airport in India in...
after a trip to Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. She was subsequently put in drug-induced coma. She never recovered from the coma and died of cardiac arrest at her Defense Colony home on early hours of October 1, 2010 at the age of 52.
Personal life
She was married to director, Conrad Rooks and the couple had a son Ryan, before they divorced in 1985. Later she and Richard Holkar, son of HolkarHolkar
The Holkar dynasty , whose earliest known clan-man was Malhar Rao, who joined the service of the Peshwa in 1721, and quickly rose to the ranks of Subedar...
Maharaja of Indore
Indore
Indore is one of the major city in India, the largest city and commercial center of the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. Indore is located 190 km west of the state capital Bhopal. According to the 2011 Indian census, Indore city has a population of 1,960,631...
, Shivaji Rao Holkar, whom she had first met in 1998 in her Defense Colony neighbourhood. In following years they grew close and decided to be life companions.
Together Pamela and Richard brought life back to Richards ancestral home Ahilya Fort in Maheshwar
Maheshwar
Maheshwar is a town in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh state, in central India. It is located 13 km east of National Highway 3 and 91 km from Indore, the commercial capital of the state. The town lies on the north bank of the Narmada River.-Etymology:The name Maheshwar comes from...
, and were the directors of Ahilya Hospitality and Travels Private Limited. Holkar was accompanying her during the 2005 car accident.
Richard Holkar joined the Indian Head Injury Foundation, founded in February 2007, by Gaj Singh, Maharaja of Jodhpur
Gaj Singh, Maharaja of Jodhpur
Gaj Singh is a former member of the Indian parliament and a former High Commissioner of India. He was the Maharaja of Jodhpur from 1952 until the royal powers, privileges and privy purses were abolished by an amendment to the Constitution of India in 1971. -Early years...
, whose son Shivraj Singh had received serious head injury, due to accident on the polo grounds in Jaipur in February 2005.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Contribution | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Miss Beatty's Children | Director/Writer | National Film Award - Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director The Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director is a National Film Award - Golden Lotus Award, given to a feature film director's first film.The National Film Award - Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director winners:... |
| 1998 | Train to Pakistan Train to Pakistan (film) Train to Pakistan is a 1998 Hindi film adapted from Khushwant Singh's 1956 historical novel by the same name set in the Partition of India of 1947 and directed by Pamela Rooks... |
Director/Writer/Producer | Nominated - Best Film, Cinequest Film Festival Cinequest Film Festival The Cinequest Film Festival is an annual independent film festival held in San Jose, California. The festival highlights the work of new film makers.... |
| 2003 | Dance Like a Man | Director | National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English winners:-References:*... |
External links
- Prompted by predicament (Interview) at The HinduThe HinduThe Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...