FILMS IN FIJI

New Zealand Listener, Volume 10, Issue 237, 7 January 1944, Page 13

FILMS IN FIJI

-And A Lot Of Other Things

OU mightn’t have known it, but the favourite films of the natives of Fiji are cowboy thrillers, and the favourite films of the Indian inhabitants are movies produced in India. with Indian dialogue and Indian plots.. For added diversity of taste, the European residents prefer sophisticated dramas. So it is not surprising that T. G. Grant, M.B.E., the proprietor of a chain of theatres in Fiji, finds it difficult to choose pictures to suit everybody. Surprisingly, however, favourite films with all three races were Robin Hood and A Tale of Two Cities. But films in Fiji are not the only subject on which Mr. Grant is qualified to speak. He is an Indian by birth, but he takes a keen interest in every aspect of Fijian life, and it was for his social work that he was granted the M.B.E, in January, 1941. Mr. Grant and his wife visited New | Zealand recently to see a daughter who has just completed her third year’s training at St. Helens Hospital, Auckland. So we called on them. Mr. Grant is many_things in Fijia member of the Town Board, the Claims Tribunal, and the Fair Rents Board for a start. As a member of the

Fair Rents Board he was able to tell us that the position in Fiji is much the same as in New Zealand: it is necessary to exercise control over rents. Much of the land is taken up with sugar-cane plantations, the most important industry im Fiji. Next to sugarcane comes copra-with Europeanowned plantations worked by mixed labour. Before the war the copra industry was a poorly-paying proposition: since the war, it has blossomed again. The Indians, Chinese, and Europeans conduct the business side of Fijian life: the Fijians themselves have very poor business’ heads, said Mr. Grant, but they are very patriotic, very generous. And the Indians, too, have done very well: a fighter plane and two ambulances were bought from Indian contributions alone, One of the positions that Mr. Grant takes most seriously is that of President of the Indian Reform League. Its aim is to bring the three races together socially, and the door is open to anyone who likes to join.