The Pool Review

The Pool first played at Sundance back in 2007, and it has taken over two years to reach Canadian theatres. Considering the fact that the film made a number of critics’ lists for Best Movies of 2008, you’d think there would be a lot more buzz surrounding it. However, now that Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire has given mainstream audiences a new fascination with Indian culture, perhaps it will open some doors for The Pool. From here on in I fully expect to hear a lot of comparisons between the two, despite the fact that The Pool was actually shot first, and despite the fact that they are wildly different films.

The story is a rather simple one, and it was initially conceived by Randy Russell, the star of Chris Smith’s first movie American Job. Together they took a rough draft to India and decided to let the film evolve during the shoot. Venkatesh (Venkatesh Chavan) is a young man working at a hotel in Panjim that is situated next door to the home of a wealthy family. He becomes fascinated by the swimming pool in their backyard, vowing that one day he will swim in the cool waters. After offering his services to the man who lives next door (played by Bollywood star Nana Patekar), he learns how to tend to his garden and becomes smitten with his rebellious daughter (Ayesha Mohan). Eventually an opportunity presents itself and Venkatesh is forced to make a difficult decision about his future.