Naalu Pennungal

Four shorts centered on women from the lower castes in rural Kerala that highlight their sorry plight. Each character fills a “traditional” role forced upon woman like that of house wife, prostitute and spinster. Sadly, little has changed today with what has been portrayed in film. Kerala is still rife with hypocrisy and double standards in all strata of society. But as a package the film does not meet the usual high standards of Adoor Gopalakrishna.

Rating: * *

Before the Rains

Henry (Linus Roache) oversees a tea estate in South Kerala in the late 1930s with the help of his able manservant, T. K. Neelam (Rahul Bose), who is influential with the workers from the nearby village. He hopes to expand into spices and build a road to help transport the crop before the monsoon rains. Life is looking good for Henry and the icing on the cake is Sajani (Nandita Das), a sultry maid servant with whom he is having a clandestine affair. But his dream like existence is ruptured when his wife returns from England. To make matters worse Sajani is seen by a couple of village children in the throes of her passion. Slowly but surely Henry's dream turns in to a nightmare.

Santosh Sivan does a masterful job behind the lenses but his directorial skill is a work in progress. His casting choices are mysterious. Casting Thilakan and Lakshmi Krishnamurthy (who happened to be my class teacher in 3rd standard) as TK's parents are masterful but then gives them a miniscule role in the plot. So we are left watching a wooden Rahul Bose who can never play a convincing Keralite in this lifetime. Plus the use of English among the villagers is grating. So in the end Sivan throws away a decent script and storyline for reasons only he knows.

Rating: * +

Earth : 1947

More than 8 years after seeing the movie the first time around, watched it again and would still consider it as the best Indian movie that has gone to the Oscars in recent years. Far superior than Lagaan - a bit ironical, that the latter was an Aamir Khan produced movie - while Earth sees Aamir Khan in one of the most powerful roles he has put out.

Its set at the time of the 1947 Partition that ripped apart India in more ways than one. Aamir Khan plays a muslim ice candy man who is interested in a pretty hindu girl (Nandita Das), a maid at a Parsee household in Lahore. But he has to fight many other potential suitors and is single-minded in his approach. As the social fabric around him deteriorates and with his love interest seemingly destined to fail, the integrity of the ice candy man is tested.

The film captures very well how things can change so quickly in times of such social unrest - and in a way explains how violence is an integral part of society. To think otherwise, is foolish.

I would rate the closing scene as one of the better crafted scenes in recent Indian cinema - credit to Deepa Mehta. The soundtrack to this movie created by A R Rehman is also top notch.

Rating : * * * +

Ek Din 24 Ghante

Nandita Das and Rahul Bose play lovers in this shoddily directed and acted film. Don't bother unless you want to see long shots of Nandita Das running aimlessly.

Rating: *