Review of Water
Unquenched Water
Oscar fever was over on Star Movies and so were awards ceremony with celebrating the immensely talented cinema. But, for India the fever has just began. Last week, we saw release of Water Oscar nominated film for Best Foreign Film based in India and nominated from Canada. Irony isn’t it?? But then the movie is also based on ironical subject. Deepa Mehta set out to make her last of trilogy some years ago in Varanasi, where the film was based on. But, then some bunch of double standard scared of exposure, burn the set threatened to chop the crew up. Upset and defoliated Deepa had to shelve the project and went into transgression, till a day she realized she had to complete her dream. Shot in SriLanka and produced in Canada, her hard work paid off with an Oscar nomination and film released in India. The film was worth watching for her hard work if not for her reputation of previous films or controversy or Oscar nomination. So, undisputedly I sat through these 150 min. movie and here’s a quick synopsis of it.
The 1938 era of movie in a town on banks of Ganga , shows us an widow ashram where Gandhi is an unknown, unheard entity. Entry of new child widow Chuhiya (Sarla) changes the whole ambience of the brothel where widows were fed to demons of hell. A 7 yyear old Chuhiya cannot place herself in old hags who pass their time in chanting some mantras and believe every pleasure in a world is door to hell from heaven. Solitude and torture assures them of heaven and to serve the caretaker Madhumati (Manorama). Once a child widow in same ashram now Madhumati runs the ashram now by snorting cocaine, bossing others and selling young ashram girls to Braham seths for money to run the ashram. Her acquaintance and partner in crime is a eunuch played perfectly by Raghuvur Yadav, who also supplies cocaine and news of outside world. In the ashram of hell, there also is mentor of Chuhiya , Shakuntala Didi (Seema Biswas) who works her heart out, prays, cooks and protects Chuhiya as her daughter and takes care of the old and bed ridden. She believes in God and serves Him selflessly, studies Vedas and also sees smooth running of ashram. Chuhiya finds a friend and playmate in twenty something Kalyani (Lisa Ray) who is allowed to keep long hair for sex business, Keeps pet pup and is forced to stay separately and eat separately in fear her presence would corrupt the whole breed of widows. Chuhiya runs into John Abraham one day, Brahaman recently graduated as lawyer and die hard Gandhian. He falls in head over heels for Kalyani sighting her fair affluent smooth skin, dark blue tinged deep eyes and wild cat looks with innocent body language. The proposal for marrying a widow faces a lot of criticism outside and inside ashram as well. Manorama threatened of losing a good pimp to marriage locks her up and tells the widows it’s unholy for widow to marry and she will bring curse upon. Even Shakuntala does believe her till a day a learned man acknowledges her with new law of widow marriage. She helps Kalyani for uniting with Narayana. Off she sprints with him with a hope of marriage only to learn that she has slept with her would be father in law. Confident that marriage wont takes place, she returns to ashram and is denied the entry. Dejected she commits suicide and her death awakens Shakutala didi to reality. Manorma of greed even sells Chuhiya for a night to a Brahmin seth. Shakuntala on realizing truth wants to free Chuhiya and triumphs in doing that with a bizarre rendezvous with Gandhiji.
The film though has and excellent script and message, it lacks in many aspects. Oscar was a hype given too poorly written film. Even ace director like Deepa Mehta couldn’t survive a bad screenplay. Dialogues are feeble and cinematography is not convincing. As for roles Sarla was boon in shelving of film in India. This discovery in Sri Lanka is astonishing and appraising. Seema Biswas has brilliantly mastered her role one of best performance. John and Lisa are expressionless and were forced to act. Manoraa was brilliant and Raghuvir Yadav showed his extra talent in gender bias role. Even the Oscar nomination cannot justify this badly sewn movie. The subject was magnificent and informative making us aware of our past genre.
There wasn’t much FIRE in WATER to bake the EARTH.
Rating **1/2 for the subject
Rating Chart:
*- Whatever
**- Please just let it be
***- Hmmmmm
****- Wow, That’s simply fantastic
*****- Is this for real or what!!!!
Oscar fever was over on Star Movies and so were awards ceremony with celebrating the immensely talented cinema. But, for India the fever has just began. Last week, we saw release of Water Oscar nominated film for Best Foreign Film based in India and nominated from Canada. Irony isn’t it?? But then the movie is also based on ironical subject. Deepa Mehta set out to make her last of trilogy some years ago in Varanasi, where the film was based on. But, then some bunch of double standard scared of exposure, burn the set threatened to chop the crew up. Upset and defoliated Deepa had to shelve the project and went into transgression, till a day she realized she had to complete her dream. Shot in SriLanka and produced in Canada, her hard work paid off with an Oscar nomination and film released in India. The film was worth watching for her hard work if not for her reputation of previous films or controversy or Oscar nomination. So, undisputedly I sat through these 150 min. movie and here’s a quick synopsis of it.
The 1938 era of movie in a town on banks of Ganga , shows us an widow ashram where Gandhi is an unknown, unheard entity. Entry of new child widow Chuhiya (Sarla) changes the whole ambience of the brothel where widows were fed to demons of hell. A 7 yyear old Chuhiya cannot place herself in old hags who pass their time in chanting some mantras and believe every pleasure in a world is door to hell from heaven. Solitude and torture assures them of heaven and to serve the caretaker Madhumati (Manorama). Once a child widow in same ashram now Madhumati runs the ashram now by snorting cocaine, bossing others and selling young ashram girls to Braham seths for money to run the ashram. Her acquaintance and partner in crime is a eunuch played perfectly by Raghuvur Yadav, who also supplies cocaine and news of outside world. In the ashram of hell, there also is mentor of Chuhiya , Shakuntala Didi (Seema Biswas) who works her heart out, prays, cooks and protects Chuhiya as her daughter and takes care of the old and bed ridden. She believes in God and serves Him selflessly, studies Vedas and also sees smooth running of ashram. Chuhiya finds a friend and playmate in twenty something Kalyani (Lisa Ray) who is allowed to keep long hair for sex business, Keeps pet pup and is forced to stay separately and eat separately in fear her presence would corrupt the whole breed of widows. Chuhiya runs into John Abraham one day, Brahaman recently graduated as lawyer and die hard Gandhian. He falls in head over heels for Kalyani sighting her fair affluent smooth skin, dark blue tinged deep eyes and wild cat looks with innocent body language. The proposal for marrying a widow faces a lot of criticism outside and inside ashram as well. Manorama threatened of losing a good pimp to marriage locks her up and tells the widows it’s unholy for widow to marry and she will bring curse upon. Even Shakuntala does believe her till a day a learned man acknowledges her with new law of widow marriage. She helps Kalyani for uniting with Narayana. Off she sprints with him with a hope of marriage only to learn that she has slept with her would be father in law. Confident that marriage wont takes place, she returns to ashram and is denied the entry. Dejected she commits suicide and her death awakens Shakutala didi to reality. Manorma of greed even sells Chuhiya for a night to a Brahmin seth. Shakuntala on realizing truth wants to free Chuhiya and triumphs in doing that with a bizarre rendezvous with Gandhiji.
The film though has and excellent script and message, it lacks in many aspects. Oscar was a hype given too poorly written film. Even ace director like Deepa Mehta couldn’t survive a bad screenplay. Dialogues are feeble and cinematography is not convincing. As for roles Sarla was boon in shelving of film in India. This discovery in Sri Lanka is astonishing and appraising. Seema Biswas has brilliantly mastered her role one of best performance. John and Lisa are expressionless and were forced to act. Manoraa was brilliant and Raghuvir Yadav showed his extra talent in gender bias role. Even the Oscar nomination cannot justify this badly sewn movie. The subject was magnificent and informative making us aware of our past genre.
There wasn’t much FIRE in WATER to bake the EARTH.
Rating **1/2 for the subject
Rating Chart:
*- Whatever
**- Please just let it be
***- Hmmmmm
****- Wow, That’s simply fantastic
*****- Is this for real or what!!!!
My 
3 comments:
I thought water was quite good, I'd give it a 7/10.
Hm..Thts a nice review..Ur reviews are 2 good..Unbiased :)
awesome .
i liked ur ending, rather the
parthian Shot. good
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