Some viewers may sneer at its intellectualism, others at its out-and-out romanticism, but this dreamy, beautifully lensed tale about a young man in love with two elusive women explores the overlap between two cultures - French surrealism and Indian mysticism - in an original and interesting way. The sweeping conviction of first-time director Vijay Singh (who based the film on his 1989 novel) should find appreciative echoes for "Jaya Ganga" among imaginative art-film aficionados.

Nishant (Asil Rais), a young Indian writer living in Paris, stumbles across the mysterious Jaya (Paula Klein) in the cemetery where surrealist writer Andre Breton is buried. She says an Indian sadhu (holy man) has helped her remember her former life as Nadja, the girl of the '20s who inspired Breton's most famous novel.

Jaya vanishes into thin air, and the scene switches to the Himalayas, where Nishant is determined to undertake a solo journey down the river Jaya loves, the sacred Ganges. Travelling by bus and boat, past shrines and National Geographic scenery, he finally meets his soul mate, the beautiful dancer and prostitute Zehra (Smriti Mishra), whose poetic manners remind him of Jaya. Their new love is challenged by Nishant's tremulous encounter with Jaya/Nadja on the river-bank in Benares, the holy city, where the fate of both women will be decided.

The tale has huge potential for silliness, but Singh avoids it by juggling poetry and self-irony, romance and good, hard storytelling. He takes a sceptic's view of both gurus and ghosts, debunking myths even as he attempts to explore them. The intriguing thing about "Jaya Ganga" is the questions it gives rise to about how real its characters are.

A few scenes fall flat- notably, a visit to a hellish Indian brothel that could be straight out of Kipling. But when the pic's magic does work, characters spring to life with almost painful intensity.

Rais is a handsome, forceful hero whose self-searching honesty about his feelings wins sympathy. Mishra, a famed Kathak dancer making her screen debut, is dreamy as the poet/artist/prostitute and equally realistic as a jealous woman in love. A special nod goes to stage thesp Klein's vision of the JayalNadja character, aided by Piyush Shah's evocative cinematography and Shahnaz Vahanvaty's period costumes.

A haunting score by Vanraj Bhatia, based on themes by Eric Piederriere and Smriti Mishra, is used sparingly but well. Piederriere, screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere and Singh himself make playful cameos in the film.

Deborah Young