At the bottom of this article are links to the official website, two trailers (one downloadable and one streaming), two stills galleries, and three posters for Jag Mundhra's Backwaters. The movie is scheduled to be screened at the Sixth Annual IAAC Film Festival in New York City on November 5th; it's to be the festival's closing night film.
The screenplay for Backwaters was written by Carl Austin and Sameer Ketkar, based on a story by Mundhra. The movie stars Nicholas Irons as Andy Becker, Tamzin Outhwaite as Lili Taylor, Jason Flemyng as Jason Weiss, Gulshan Grover as Suresh Menon, Sandra Teles as Sara Varghese, and Milind Gunaji as Thomas Varghese.
Here's a synopsis for Backwaters from the Sixth Annual IAAC Film Festival subsite: "A wealthy British couple, Andy - a writer - and Lili - a soap-opera star - get into a car accident, returning home from a big party at Lili's American step-brother Jason's sprawling estate in the English countryside. The accident leaves the wife paralyzed below waist while the husband, who was driving, miraculously escapes unhurt. Months of treatment and physical therapy don't improve Lili's condition. She is bitter and angry, and holds her husband responsible for her condition. Consumed by guilt, Andy takes her constant beratings quietly. The marriage is undergoing tremendous tension. The doctor suspects the paralysis to be psychosomatic; perhaps alternative medicine should be considered. Jason recommends that the couple go to Kerala on a vacation. He had gone there before to shoot a documentary for the Discovery Channel. He suggests that Kerala's Ayurvedic herbal massages may heal her injury and a vacation together may heal their marriage. ¶ The couple arrives in Cochin and rent a houseboat on the backwaters. They hire a masseuse who starts the wife's herbal therapy treatment. While she undergoes her massage, the husband goes for long walks pondering his situation. During one such walk along the backwaters, he notices a very beautiful dusky woman bathing in a waterfall. This is Sara. He is unable to take his eyes off her; he watches her with guilt. Next, he sees her as a dancer at a felicitation organized by the hotel to welcome his wife. Andy keeps running into her, in art galleries, restaurants - as if they were destined to be together. A relationship develops. ¶ One day Andy finds Sara sobbing quietly to herself. Persistent inquiry reveals she is a physically abused woman by her fisherman husband, who is presently out at sea. Andy is emotionally abused by his wife. The two victims are gradually drawn towards each other and become lovers. Andy looks forward to his afternoon trysts with Sara, while his wife is going through her massage treatment. ¶ One day when Andy returns to the houseboat, he finds his wife missing. Her wheelchair is on the deck, but she has disappeared. The police are called, who begin their search. The next morning, Lili's body is caught in the nets of a fisherman named Thomas Varghese. The autopsy shows she was strangled before her body was dumped in the water. Andy becomes the prime suspect, as he was the beneficiary of a multi-million pound life insurance policy on Lili. When he is arrested, he tells the police officer that he wasn't even there at the time of his wife's death because he was with his lover. The cop says only if she gives an alibi can he be released from custody. ¶ The cop visits Sara's home. Her fisherman husband, who is now back from sea, opens the door. This is the same fisherman, Thomas Varghese, who found the body earlier in the morning. Thomas refuses to let the cop question his wife without his presence. Sara denies ever having seen the Englishman. It seems like Andy's fate is now sealed, as he will have to face the charge of his wife's murder. However, the cop notices the discomfort in the mannerism of the woman. His intuition tells him that the case is not that straightforward and simple...."
Those who are interested in Backwaters may wish to watch the trailer for Darrell Michael's horror movie Cryptid, which Teles also stars in. (Note: I suspect that "Darrell Michael" is a pseudonym for Darrell James Roodt and Michael D. Sellers.)
Backwaters trailer #1 (downloadable 5.1 MB WMV file - viewer discretion is advised)
Backwaters trailer #2 page (viewer discretion is advised)
Backwaters stills gallery #1 (21 stills)
Backwaters stills gallery #2 (8 stills)
Backwaters poster #1 (160 KB JPEG)
Backwaters poster #2 (76 KB JPEG)
Backwaters poster #3 (68 KB JPEG - slight variation of poster #2)
Backwaters official website
YouTube: Cryptid trailer page
Cryptid official website
