Military/warrior legacy, the Taj and the Sikh-Canadian diaspora in Breakaway (original) (raw)

This study examines the portrayal of the Sikh diaspora in Canada in the film Breakaway/Speedy Singhs (2011). In particular, I explore two scenes that are at the intersections of transnational configurations and homeland paradigms: (i) the depiction of the Taj in specific aesthetic ways (ii) the micro-interplays of the use of the ancestral material objectthe metal headgear resembling a pagri belonging to Sikh warriors that injects a new dimension of how materiality can be recast to generate fresh meanings. These and the other themes in the film gesture at integrative practices and reconceptualizing of tradition, thereby resonating with Sikhism as an everyday experience.