Skip to content

'The Bad Mother' making Creston debut at Tivoli Theatre

Award-winning film by Creston's Sarah Kapoor running at Tivoli Theatre on May 21 and May 23...
28537crestonbadmother
Filmmaker Sarah Kapoor’s mother

Creston audiences will get an early look at a movie partly filmed here, written by and starring Prince Charles Secondary School grad and current resident Sarah Kapoor, at the Tivoli Theatre on Saturday and Monday.

The Bad Mother stars a real family and tells the story of Tara, a mid-30s woman who has to lean out of her career to take care of her kids. The lid of her frustration is blown off when her five-year-old son accidentally posts a private rant she wrote about her husband’s evil workplace to the Internet. Tara and her family must deal with the dizzying consequences, which include drug cocktails, the humbling eye of her own mother and a reunion with her ex-boyfriend, played by superfood “rock star” David Avocado Wolfe.

Featured in a story in a story last fall (Part 1 and Part 2), The Bad Mother was just about to be screened for the first time. Two days later, Kapoor was at the Hamilton Film Festival, where her first effort as a movie actress earned her nominations in the best actress and best feature categories. The Bad Mother won the best cinematography prize.

On May 27 the movie will be screened at Hawaii’s Big Island Film Festival and on June 19 Kapoor travels back to Eastern Canada, where The Bad Mother will be featured at the Niagara International Film Festival.

After Kapoor wrote the script, she and her business partner, David-James Fernandes, set about making the movie. She had no intention, Kapoor told the Advance in November, of acting in it.

“That was a really tough decision. I am actually quite a private person and I enjoy my privacy. I am an introvert, an ambivert at best. You’ll see that the main character in the film, Tara Dubay, is very much an introvert who really struggles to do what her voice is needed for in the world, which is part of where the comedy comes from. We felt it was more important for us to start now, use the energy and the enthusiasm we had for the script and go for it.”

The story was similar when it came to shooting scenes featuring Tara Dubay’s mother. No suitable actor could be found.

Enter Kapoor’s mom, Sadhna.

“My mother could not say a single line from the script that I had written, so we said, ‘Mom, you get the gist of it. Say whatever you want.’ There were times when the crew was slayed. We had to stop rolling because she was just so naturally, uh, offensive! In that motherly way! My mom is a superstar in this film. People will enjoy her.”

Tara Dubay’s mom is not intended to be Sarah Kapoor’s mom, she insisted.

“My mom is both sweeter and more terrifying in real life,” she laughed. “This character is a caricature.”

While The Bad Mother is a fictional story, it does mirror Kapoor’s own struggles to balance family and professional life. She left a successful career with CBC when she had her first child, choosing to start a production company with her friend, Fernandes. She continues to work with Fernandes even after she and her husband, John, moved back to Creston with their two children.

Seeing Sarah and Sadhna Kapoor on the big screen won’t be the only treat for Creston viewers. Some of the film’s scenes were shot in Creston.

“You’ll see the rec centre, my mom’s house, Valley View Motel.”

The Bad Mother will play at the Tivoli Theatre at 2 p.m. May 21 and 7:30 p.m. May 23.