This one’s more on the surface level
Probably the least impactful movie of the trilogy, which could be attributed due to lot of factors like, the gap between the movies (this being the longest between two movies in the trilogy), the actors or even due to the compulsion of completing a trilogy. This always happens when you want to make a package of impactful movies. One out of it drifts away from the purpose. Rather than counting as a three different stories, a blue print should have been created to understand what happens as part of this universe. Having said that, the film is still an important film. May be for the one who see this as a standalone film or see this as first film in the trilogy, it’ll hit you a lot harder.
The first thing which strikes about the movie is the clarity of visuals. The first couple of movies ‘Fire’ and ‘Earth’ didn’t have the clarity but rather had a certain bit of rawness to it. ‘Water’ had a vibe of foreign film, even though it was made in India by an Indian. Technically, not Bollywood. It gives a very award film flavor. Not that I complain but when that happens, we tend to distance ourselves from the movie. ‘Earth’ in spite of having a superstar like Aamir in the film, lures us in the film.
The opening act of a small girl being pushed into a widow house by undergoing a painstaking process would wrench any heart. Anyone watching the film would instantly fall in love with young Chuyia (Sarala Kariyawasam). It’s difficult to not empathize with her. Chuyia is a dream kid. Even though she undergoes such rigorous act of torture and being sent away from home, she hardly cries. She does complain and shows her attics and in the process makes us afraid whether she’d get caught by the chief of the house, Madhumati (Manorama), but luckily she doesn’t.
Kalyani (Lisa Ray) remains as the only woman with hair in the ashram because Madhumati uses her for prostitution so that the ashram would get enough money to run. Shakuntala (Seema Biswas) on the other hand is torn between two worlds. She does what she had to do but then she thinks whether what she’s pushed to, is fair. Together all them form a unique combo with Chuyia being a focus point.
I would have loved the movie if it had talked about Chuyia completely. Rather the main focus shifts around Kalyani (Lisa Ray) and Narayan (John Abraham), who was clueless in the movie. Of the three movies and the ‘n’ number of characters, only John Abraham’s character feels so foreign. He doesn’t gel with the movie at all. He looks like postcard rebel who doesn’t create any impact. The romance between the two and the twist in the end too doesn’t work. Generally each one of the Deepa Mehta’s movies have a great sex scene but in this movie, even that fails.
The only good aspect of the movie is, it doesn’t dramatize any of the sequence. It doesn’t see the movie by shock value. Whether the scene where Chuyia is taken to prostitution or Kalyani’s death. It could have been easily made horrific but Deepa Mehta chooses the other way around. I’ve to appreciate her for that. But Kalyani’s death in the water, felt so gimmicky. Just because it was titled this way, she goes into the water, it didn’t feel appropriate.
Of all the characters, if there was one stand out performance, it had to be Gulabi (Raghuvir Yadav), a hijira who acts as a pimp for Madhumathi. A combo which will surely bring chills to the viewers. Especially the scene where he takes Chuyia to a palace and walks on the way to room.
To see the people walk about their acts so nonchalantly as if it’s very common, makes us know how hardened they’re as individuals. A set of people who don’t even know what mistakes they are committing. It’s disheartening to see that such people had existed before. I can only imagine how difficult it would have been to make them understand the ideologies of what’s good and bad. Truly another shocker of a film.
constantscribbles 