Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s rendition of Preeti’s character in The Winter of Love (formerly ‘A Quiet Desperation’) is deeply moving and original.Playing the part of Preeti, Gurpreet brought to light the struggles of a young woman wanting to live her own life. She live Anil who is played by Pravesh Kumar in The Winter of Love pay a high price for love. Although a brief appearance in the film, Anil’s character is central to the development of Preeti’s character which culminates in tragedy.

Filmed entirely on location, The Winter of Love tells the story of a family in turmoil after the death of Paji, Preeti’s father. The return of Shammi, Preeti’s uncle, unlocks a plethora of ghosts.

Since the completion of the film many of the actors who appeared in the film have gone on to create amazing projects and Gurpreet has since established herself as a highly skilled playwright for the British stage.

Her play Bhezti, which caused much controversy and joins the ranks of many well crafted plays by British Asian playwrights, went on to ask probing and difficult questions as is the role of any writer.

Gurpreet went on to win the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for Bhezti. The US-based award is made annually to the best English language play by a woman and is worth $10,000.

At the time of winning the prize, BBC Midlands covered the story and wrote that:

“Critics have marked out Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti as a playwright to watch – be it as a fresh, original or provocative voice in British theatre.

Bhezti is Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s second play. Born in Watford, she has mixed acting with writing and has two plays plus work on scripts for Crossroads and East Enders to her name. “

Read here for the full article.

Originally published in the About Film Blog.