Guiana 1838, the movie about Indians shipped from Calcutta to labor on sugar cane plantations in British Guiana in the 19th century made its mark in the world's highest grossing movie industry, Hollywood.

The film is the first made in Guyana this century and the responsibility of telling the story about the first Indians to land in the Caribbean / West Indian region rested on the shoulders of director and producer Rohit Jagessar who led a team of sixty actors and technicians from the US, England, Israel and India to Guyana early last year to work on the production.

During filming, Jagessar systematically launched a marketing campaign that would continue to the premiere of the film in New York on September 24th, 2004. By Monday, September, 27th, after the film's premiere weekend, Guiana 1838 made the Hollywood film charts breaking the highest per screen average record set in the US. 

Jagessar received the phone call from his agent at midnight on Sunday, September 26th, informing him that his film had possibly taken in the highest per screen average lead at the North American box office and should the numbers hold up into the next several hours over all other major Hollywood films, Guiana 1838 could secure its place in history. 

Jagessar recalled the moments of that night:

" When my secretary told me that my agent was on the line, visions ran through my mind about how far we had come as a people and where we are about to go and what possibilities lies ahead for us as a people from a region the world chose not to think about. I had planned for this moment right from the time I conceived the idea of making this film about the people of India, Africa, Britain and Guyana during colonial times. And this moment had now arrived. The moment that would either put Guyana and the region in Hollywood history books permanently or set us back once again. I took the phone as if it was the first time I held a phone in my hand and my agent gave me the news straight up. I remember him telling me to keep the champagne corked for a few more hours until Hollywood released its official numbers. "

" The next call came in around ten hours later and it was now official. Not only had Guiana 1838 broken the box office records with the highest per screen average in the US, it also secured its place on the all time Hollywood highest per theater top 25 charts. "

" This is a proud moment for all the people of Guyana and the Caribbean, the West Indies, India and Africa and for their families overseas. It is a tribute to those who lived during colonial times, their struggles and their triumphs. 

" Some nations would celebrate such accomplishments as recognized by Hollywood upon Guiana 1838 triumph. And so too, we should. It is the celebration of our accomplishments that inspires those amongst us to go forward with confidence, knowing that the impossible is very much within reach and things we dream of can become reality. I encourage our people to tear down our invisible barriers and borders with open minds and humbly celebrate our accomplishments with pride and let us continue to move forward as a people. "

" I would like to thank my entire team, my producing partner Dr. Hemant Shah, my executive producers Pooja Bathija and Ken Schur, my editor George Englezos, my cinematographer Matt Uhry, the stars of the film Mr. Kumar Gaurav and Aarti Bathija, my entire cast and crew, the meida and last but not least, the fans who stood by Guiana 1838 and came in large crowds, stood patiently in long lines to see my film, our film. It is the people that came to see the film that brought it to the Hollywood Box Office charts. "

Guiana 1838 tells the story of the Abolition of African slavery in the British West Indies and the arrival of Indians who were brought to the colony to replace the freed slaves on plantations of British Guiana in 1838. The film stars Kumar Gaurav as Laxman, Aarti Bathija as Urmila, Henry Rodney as the maroon Cabi, Neville Williams as the African slave Amie, Kiran Pande as the Indian labor recruiter Sinha and Thomas Garvey as David, the fierce Plantation driver.

The film has now completed its platform release and already grossed about $200,000 on three screens. It opens wider to sixteen screens in Florida on February 4th and then on to several hundred US and Canadian screens during this quarter. The film will make its European, Asian, African and West Indian premieres during the second quarter of this year. The DVD release has been pushed back to December.

The trailer can be viewed on the web site www.guiana1838.com