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Review
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Water touches you
indya.com rating: 3 out of 5 *
Cast: John Abraham, Lisa Ray, Seema Biswas, Baby Sarala and Manorama
Director: Deepa Mehta
Synopsis: Set in 1938, Benares, the film begins with 7-year-old Chuhiya being brought to the widow house after her husband's death. The then prevalent customs rob innocent little Chuhiya's every single joy. Widows in those days had to live a life of self denial and the little girl has to unwillingly adjust to the laws of the widow house run by Madhumati (Manorama). Shakuntala (Seema Biswas) becomes Chuhiya's first friend in the house and often shields her from Madhumati. When Chuhiya meets Kalyani (Lisa Ray) in the house both take an instant liking for each other. The beautiful Kalyani is used by Madhumati for the ashram's monetary purposes by pimping her to rich zamindaars.
One day while following her dog on the streets, Chuhiya accidentally bumps into Narayan (John), a Gandhian and son of a rich landlord. Through Chuhiya he meets Kalyani and falls in love with her. Kalyani responds and their love starts blossoming secretly with Chuhiya's help. Narayan intends to marry her despite his father's objections. But one unintentional mistake by Chuhiya and all hell breaks loose. How everyone's life changes after that is what the rest of the film is all about.
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Acting: Though John and Lisa Ray act very well in difficult roles, the film entirely belongs to the eight year old Sarala, who touches your heart in many scenes. Her innocence comes across so naturally well. Seema Biswas is very good. Yesteryears vamp Manorama (Seeta Aur Geeta, Bombay to Goa) back to films after 2 decades in hibernation proves that she still hasn't lost the edge. Her overweight body structure adds to her character. Raghuvir Yadav playing the pimp is good.
indya.com rating: 3 out of 5
Direction: Deepa has handled the complex subject well. Symbolizing the film's title, Deepa makes wonderful use of water during important moments in the film in the form of rain and river. She uses minimal dialogues at times and conveys her message a little abstractly through colours. The pace of the film slackens in regular intervals but then comes back alive with some melodious numbers. Mehta builds up plenty of moments that stay with you even after the movie ends. For instance - the oldest widow in the ashram, Patiraji's fascination for the ladoo, Chuhiya getting angry on Madhumati while massaging her back and the boat sequence between Kalyani and Narayan in the second half.
indya.com rating: 3 out of 5
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Script: Mehta's script exposes the norms that Hindu widows had to follow then which were conveniently masked in the guise of religious tradition. The freedom struggle movement lead by Mahatma Gandhi has been beautifully woven along with the main theme of the film. Anurag Kashyap's dialogues are powerful.
indya.com rating: 3 out of 5
Music: A.R. Rahman musical score is classically beautiful but not of the popular variety. Aayo Re Sakhi by Sukhwinder Singh is the best of the lot, followed by the Radha Krishna background song Bangri Marodi and the holi number Sham Rang Mein.
indya.com rating: 3 out of 5
-- Abhijit Mhamunkar
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