| A still from the movie  | Cast: Girish Karnad, Om Puri, Sharmila Tagore, Soha Ali Khan Direction: Sangeeta Dutta Genre: Drama Duration: 1 hour 59 minutes |
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NRI family affair
Story: A supposedly happy Indian family in London suddenly comes face to face with the cross currents and fissures that had been kept at bay by the nurturing touch of Manju, (Sharmila Tagore) the archetypal wife/mother figure. After her untimely death, husband Girish Karnad, soulmate Om Puri and daughters, Dia (Soha Ali Khan), Tulika and Lolita are forced to re-establish the family equilibrium and re-define their roles in a world where values are changing and cultures are clashing.
Movie Review: King Lear comes alive in a Bengali-Brit household with Girish Karnad essaying the role of the beleaguered king who shares a different relationship with his three disparate daughters. In keeping with the contemporary setting, Karnad is a well-placed doctor and a spokesperson for the Bengali bhadralok in Britain. Naturally, he carries with him the onerous task of preserving the culture and traditions of an ethnic minority in this melting pot where identities are fast merging into an amorphous whole. But more pertinently, he carries the burden of history too: a tumultuous past where the scars of communal violence have created in-built prejudices.
All the prejudices come to the fore when the father learns of his youngest daughter's affair with a Muslim doctor. The veneer of a liberal secular mindset is washed away in an instant, specially since the doctor hasn't been able to exorcise the ghosts from a troubled past when his family lost everything during Partition. Will his overwhelming love for his youngest (Soha Ali Khan) help him overcome this legacy of hate which he has silently carried through the decades? Will a hardcore desi-at-heart be able to accept the changing morality in a multi-racial society? Will the lesbian daughter find graceful acceptance and stop being treated as the black sheep in the family fold? Will the anxious eldest daughter be able to save her troubled marriage? And will the shattered family learn to cope with their grief and hold on without the glue (Sharmila Tagore) that held them together?
Director Sangeeta Dutta does manage to sculpt a sensitive portrait of a family in flux and imbues her film with some deft strokes that capture loss and longing. The abundant use of Rabindrath Tagore's poetry coupled with the grace of Sharmila Tagore as the cultured, uber-feminine Bengali housewife transform the film into an artistic experience. There is a lilt in the narrative and a poise in depiction. But the film does tend to get sluggish in places and unfold with undue languor. It's the performances however which help you override the ennui that threatens to slip in, now and then. While Girish Karnad is a dignified modern avatar of King Lear, it is Om Puri's ambiguity as friend and rival-in-love that adds a tang to the drama. As for the three daughters, they make a motivated threesome, adding all the requisite spice to the family drama. Sadly, Sharmila remains somewhat of a silhouette, dabbling intermittently with her pots, plants and poetry. We would have definitely liked to see more of her and her enigmatic relationship with Om Puri.
Life Goes On isn't offbeat, but it is a different watch. Experience it.
Story: A supposedly happy Indian family in London suddenly comes face to face with the cross currents and fissures that had been kept at bay by the nurturing touch of Manju, (Sharmila Tagore) the archetypal wife/mother figure. After her untimely death, husband Girish Karnad, soulmate Om Puri and daughters, Dia (Soha Ali Khan), Tulika and Lolita are forced to re-establish the family equilibrium and re-define their roles in a world where values are changing and cultures are clashing.
Movie Review: King Lear comes alive in a Bengali-Brit household with Girish Karnad essaying the role of the beleaguered king who shares a different relationship with his three disparate daughters. In keeping with the contemporary setting, Karnad is a well-placed doctor and a spokesperson for the Bengali bhadralok in Britain. Naturally, he carries with him the onerous task of preserving the culture and traditions of an ethnic minority in this melting pot where identities are fast merging into an amorphous whole. But more pertinently, he carries the burden of history too: a tumultuous past where the scars of communal violence have created in-built prejudices.
All the prejudices come to the fore when the father learns of his youngest daughter's affair with a Muslim doctor. The veneer of a liberal secular mindset is washed away in an instant, specially since the doctor hasn't been able to exorcise the ghosts from a troubled past when his family lost everything during Partition. Will his overwhelming love for his youngest (Soha Ali Khan) help him overcome this legacy of hate which he has silently carried through the decades? Will a hardcore desi-at-heart be able to accept the changing morality in a multi-racial society? Will the lesbian daughter find graceful acceptance and stop being treated as the black sheep in the family fold? Will the anxious eldest daughter be able to save her troubled marriage? And will the shattered family learn to cope with their grief and hold on without the glue (Sharmila Tagore) that held them together?
Director Sangeeta Dutta does manage to sculpt a sensitive portrait of a family in flux and imbues her film with some deft strokes that capture loss and longing. The abundant use of Rabindrath Tagore's poetry coupled with the grace of Sharmila Tagore as the cultured, uber-feminine Bengali housewife transform the film into an artistic experience. There is a lilt in the narrative and a poise in depiction. But the film does tend to get sluggish in places and unfold with undue languor. It's the performances however which help you override the ennui that threatens to slip in, now and then. While Girish Karnad is a dignified modern avatar of King Lear, it is Om Puri's ambiguity as friend and rival-in-love that adds a tang to the drama. As for the three daughters, they make a motivated threesome, adding all the requisite spice to the family drama. Sadly, Sharmila remains somewhat of a silhouette, dabbling intermittently with her pots, plants and poetry. We would have definitely liked to see more of her and her enigmatic relationship with Om Puri.
Life Goes On isn't offbeat, but it is a different watch. Experience it.
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