Videsh begins promisingly. Till interval it’s quite an affecting and poignant film and then dips inexorably to downright mediocre. Deepa Mehta kicks off with a ladies sangeet in smalltown Punjab with the radiant and guileless Chand Grewal (Preity Zinta) as the bride-to-be. She then quickly cuts to a short mother-daughter interaction the next morning before Chand flies off to her new home. Mehta’s storytelling is low-key and has an authentic, rooted feel unlike the rather artificial and stilted Water.
The story unfolds in a quiet and unfussy way. Mehta establishes contexts with economy and the film’s rhythm remains slow. There’s something charming in the way the camera lingers on Preity’s face, as she excitedly puts talcum powder in the airplane toilet, eager for a life ahead in Canada, with a man and family she doesn’t know. Or the detailed, unhurried play of the wedding at the gurudwara. Chand’s first meeting with the clan is suitably staccato, as is the first glimpse of abnormality in the presumably "normal" family, when the mother-in-law orders the just-arrived bride to fetch beer for the men.
The domestic violence angle is brutal but not hysterical as in Provoked. The characters—be it the possessive ma-in-law who follows the son to his honeymoon and fans the violent streak in him, the spineless pa, the perennially adjusting sis-in-law who takes all problems in her stride, her good for nothing husband—are all suitably real with effective performances. The equation, or the lack of it, between the brand new couple is worked out in a believable manner. She wants to talk about her hobbies, he wants her to take off her clothes. She wants a photo at Niagara, he thinks it’s touristy. Preity is rightly tremulous and pained and newcomer Vansh Bhardwaj fairly competent as the simmering, frustrated, jobless husband.
What undoes the film is the snake mythology that gets introduced in a bid to resolve the domestic violence theme. The alternate reality she builds, the nagpariksha to prove her innocence and find a route out of the hell become laughable. Such surreal elements worked in a play like Nagamandala. Here it’s a sloppily handled device.
High Fives
Bollywood
1. Ek
2. Aa Dekhen Zara
3. Aloo Chaat
4. Videsh
5. Gulaal
Hollywood
1. Monsters Vs. Aliens
2. The Haunting in Connecticut
3. Knowing
4. I Love You, Man
5. Duplicity
Music Video
1. Live at Last (Stevie Wonder)
2. A New Hallelujah (Michael W. Smith)
3. At the Coliseum (II Divo)
4. Live at the Sturgis 2006 (Nickelback)
5. Reunion Vol I (Gaither Vocal Band)
Courtesy: Film Information
