Indian English

In 1970, Jillian Haslam was a white girl born to British parents in the rat-ridden backstreets of Calcutta. Jillian became part of the persecuted nationality, called ‘Indian English’ – a rare instance where the English were racially abused. After 32,154 days of British rule, many of the Indian population were resentful and turned on the English families that remained, often calling them ‘white rats’. Being one of 12, Jillian survived by living and begging on the filthy streets with her siblings, 4 of whom passed away as a result of malnutrition.  

Today, Jillian is an acclaimed motivational speaker, philanthropist and award-winner of the 2017 ‘XX Mother Teresa Memorial International Award’.  Her memoirs, ‘Indian English’ capture her very dark times in Calcutta and are the inspiration for this screenplay, which portrays Jillian today as she embarks on a journey to give the most important speech of her life. Along the way, she bumps into ghosts from her past and we relive her amazing, heart-aching story of survival. Jillian is under the impression that she is going to a normal country club for her speech – bit of tennis, coffee and afternoon for ladies – however, what she doesn’t know is that it’s the most affluent country club in California; last years speaker was Steven Spielberg and the year before was Henry Kissinger… now they think royalty is coming from England. She is on a collision course; not for the first time.