A bittersweet coming-of-age story about family, identity and healing

CALORIE
A Film By Eisha Marjara

CLIP

Canada-Wide Theatrical
Starts November 28, 2025

Winner of Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress – Canadian Film, IFFSA Film Festival
International Premiere – 56th International Film Festival of India (Goa), November 23, 2025

Director Eisha Marjara, Producer Joe Balass, and Actors, available for interviews

Filmoption International presents Calorie, the new feature from award-winning filmmaker Eisha Marjara, starring Ellora Patnaik (Sort Of), Anupam Kher (Silver Linings Playbook), Ashley Ganger (Grand Army, Late Bloomer), and introducing Shanaya Dhillon-Birmhan in her first major starring role as Alia.

Calorie follows three generations of women whose present and past collide during an emotionally packed summer in India. Monika is a stressed-out single mom of two teens, calorie-obsessed Alia and rebellious Simi. She decides to send her girls to India to visit their great aunt and uncle. Monika hopes that connecting her daughters to their Punjabi roots will set them straight. But what begins as a reluctant trip soon turns into a transformative coming-of-age journey. Amid culture shock, family clashes, and unexpected bonds, Alia and Simi discover a hidden family tragedy that Monika has kept hidden from them and whose wounds threaten to splinter the entire family in this bittersweet female-driven drama.

Fresh off its wins for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress, Canadian Film at the IFFSA Film Festival, Calorie will have its international premiere at the 56th International Film Festival of India (Goa) November 23, before launching its Canada-wide theatrical release on November 28.

Inspired by real events, Calorie is a deeply moving, poignant and unexpectedly funny story about family, identity and the weight of the past, proving that sometimes the only way forward is to go back.

“Calorie is a female-driven drama that spans continents, cultures, and generations. It exposes the deep, affecting and conflicted relationship daughters have with their mothers.  In the summer of 1985, my mother decided to return to India to reunite with her family in Amritsar. It was a tumultuous time in Punjab. Regardless, she and my younger sister boarded Air India flight 182 from Montreal, and the plane blew up. It was a flight that I was fated to be on. The plane exploded in mid-air, killing all 329 passengers, mostly Canadian. At a time when I was coming of age and finding myself as a young woman, the loss left an indelible hole. Questions of identity and the mother-daughter bond became increasingly complex. It left unanswered questions, unresolved issues and profound grief.  As I witness the next generation grow up, specifically my young nephews, I am fascinated by how they are experiencing the legacy of this tragedy while having little connection to its history except for the politically charged narrative that surrounds the Air India bombing that till this day has left a community deeply divided. The film serves as a way to mend the complicated fabric of this past to those affected by it and provide a broader picture that leans towards connection and healing by putting a family at its centre. We witness a Sikh Canadian family grappling with contemporary issues within walls of silence, misunderstanding, and buried hurt and see them come out on the other side more whole, more centered and united.”
– Director, Eisha Marjara

“Calorie is a powerful story about hidden secrets and divisions cutting across generations in Canada and India. From the start of the 10-year journey it has taken us to make the film, I knew it was essential to find the right actors to embody this family. Anchored by the legendary Anupam Kher, and the incredibly funny, Dolly Ahluwahlia, who is from Punjab herself, as well as, our powerful ensemble from Canada, the film’s heart beats through its actresses, including leads Ellora Patnaik, Ashley Ganger and Shanaya Dhillon-Birmhan, our youngest star. Shanaya hails from the South Asian community in Ontario and was only 11 years old when we started filming. Calorie is Shanaya’s very first feature, but she brings unforgettable depth and sensitivity to the role of young Alia, capturing the joys and struggles of a daughter trying to understand her mother, in a way audiences will connect with and bring people together.”
– Producer, Joe Balass

Written and directed by Eisha Marjara and produced by Joe Balass for Compass Productions, Calorie features cinematography by Marc Simpson-Threlford (CSC) and Christophe Dalpé, editing by Paul Chotel, original music by Gaëtan Gravel, production design by Patricia Christie, and costume design by Marie-Florence Gagnon.

Calorie received support from Telefilm Canada, and the Canada Media Fund, as well as CBC Films, Hollywood Suite, and ATN.

About the Director – Eisha Marjara
Eisha Marjara gained recognition with her NFB docudrama Desperately Seeking Helen, winning the Critic’s Choice Award at Locarno and the Jury Prize at München. She later wrote and directed The Tourist, House for Sale, and the award-winning feature Venus. Her NFB short documentary Am I the Skinniest Person You’ve Ever Seen? won the Betty Youson Award for Best Canadian Short at the 2024 Hot Docs Festival, as well as Best Documentary at Frontdoc, and at It’s All True FF. Calorie is her most recent feature to date, inspired by real events.

About the Producer – Joe Balass
Producer Joe Balass founded Compass Productions in 1997 and has produced and directed numerous award-winning films, including Baghdad Twist, Venus, and Am I the Skinniest Person You’ve Ever Seen?  His work blends seriousness with unexpected humour and focuses on underrepresented voices. Calorie, shot in Canada and India, continues his commitment to telling bold, human stories.

Calorie is distributed in Canada by Filmoption International.

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