Before the Rains (2007) Reviews

• Moving and poetic story of doomed love.

  flicker10002008-05-11

  This gentle yet dramatic story of an ill-fated love affair between a colonial Brit (Linus Roach) and his beautiful Indian servant (Nandita Dass) reminds me of films of another era, perhaps Michael Powell's masterful Black Narcissus, where the mystical allure of India is powerfully dramatized. This simple yet effective story of longing, love, and sensuality, corrupted by jealously and betrayal, equally offers the viewer a canvas of raw color, dripping textures, and curious mysteries concealed within light and shadow. Films don't look like this any more, it is vivid and alive, and often reminds me of David Lean or John Ford. If the modern film world is harsh and uncompromising, this film's world is subtle and timeless... like India. The cast is superb, and I love the quiet torment and emotions of Rahul Bose, the man-servant with big trouble on his hands, and difficult choices to be made. Go see it for a movie experience long absent at the multiplex. Don't wait for the DVD - you won't be disappointed!

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• A must see film

  ashoktrex2008-05-20

  Stunning, superb film. Completely deserving of having won "Best Picture" at the Worldfest film festival. This romantic drama/tragedy, set in the Colonial India of the 1930's is compelling, and is even more poignant when put in context of the emerging Independence movement in India at that time. The powerful subtext is the end of Colonialism. The performances by the actors are outstanding - particularly Linus Roache (of Law and Order fame), Rahul Bose, Nandita Das and Jennifer Ehle. Energizing the story are four magnificent performances. Linus Roache as the English planter Henry Moores is trapped by a slowly debilitating moral choice, and his gradual moral deterioration is a symbol for every good Englishman whose moral shortcomings were tested in the era of empire. Nandita Das's wonderful portrayal as Henry's mistress Sajani is remarkably sensitive and very poignant. She is head-strongly in love, yet naive as to the ramifications of her reckless love affair. Her natural empathy for her character turns a potential victim into an emblem of feminine struggle. Jennifer Ehle as Herny's wife is probably the scene stealer of the movie. A marvelous performance is delivered by Rahul Bose, as the man caught in the middle - T.K. Neelam, the planter's trusted foreman and friend, who is caught in the middle as his two worlds collide. A Western educated man but with strong roots in his tribal village, TK has to choose whether is it right to betray a friend or one's own people? T.K. final choice forms the climax of the film when he forsakes both worlds for the Gandhian Independence movement. Santosh Sivan demonstrates his genius behind the lens, with breathtaking Cinematography, and Mark Killian outdoes his score from the Oscar winning film - Tsotsi. A MUST SEE FILM.

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• Stunning story and superb acting

  jkbonner12008-05-12

  I give this film a 10 that I hope will counteract the 7.7 rating at the IMDb. This film is a gem that is rarely seen today at the theaters. It takes place in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala in what appears to be the 1930s. From its very beginning we understand that the British plantation owner, Henry Moores (played by Linus Roache) is having an affair with his beautiful Indian maid servant, Sajani (played by Nandita Das). Both are married. He to a beautiful English woman who at the start of the film is away in London with their son visiting her father; Sajani to a local villager. Given these personal circumstances and the times and place, a tradition-bound village and vocal demonstrations against the British Raj, we also understand as clearly as the sun traverses the midday sky that their fate is sealed. It is inevitable from the moment they first embraced each other. But rather than experiencing ennui from this foreknowledge, it heightens our involvement as we are drawn into the characters and the drama of their lives. I must also point out the splendid acting of Jennifer Ehle, who plays Moores's wife after she returns with their son to their plantation home. Ehle captures perfectly the duped wife whose female intuitions lead her to the dark truth of her husband. On a larger scope, this film can be seen in a more complex light as well. Moores symbolizes the hubris and individualism of Western man hell-bent on bending the world to his will through his know-how and his technology. He has seduced Sajani, who perceives him as a liberator, freeing her from her brutal, tradition-bound husband whom she was forced to marry. Moores's know-how is manifested in the film by the building of a road impregnable to the monsoon rains, and his technology symbolized by his pistol, which Moores bestows on his Indian steward, T.K., for T.K.'s complicity in Moores's affair with Sajani. T.K. is played with summit precision and perfection by Rahul Bose, who vacillates between the ancient traditions and codes of his village and the new ways of his boss, Moores, whom T.K. also sees as a liberator from the ancient village traditions. In the end it is T.K. who holds power over Moores. This individualism had pervaded Western culture for five hundred years and along with the Western scientific/technological dynamo generating a new world is its most pervasive and recognizable hallmark. It has enabled Western man to shuck off the accumulation of thousands of years of cultural accretions and to construct a different world from one bound by traditions and customs. I say here "a different world", not necessarily "a better world". For technology is a double-edged sword. As it liberates us, it also erases our links with the past. And once bereft of the past, humans are left rudderless in the great stream of time. It is still a very moot point whether the individualism of the modern world will ultimately lead to the Great Debacle. Whether this conclusion to the story of humanity will be as implacable as the fate of Sajani and Moores remains to be seen, but many disturbing events in the world suggest that it may happen. If it does, then humanity will again be flung back to its tribes and its villages, and the heights scaled by its vaunting technology will evoke only vague and distant memories in those tribes-people and in those villagers.

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• Visual feast

  AvinashPatalay2009-06-08

  When DOP holds the directorial reigns one can expect a visual feast nothing short of excellence. And precisely that what you are in for "Before the Rains". Every scene seems to hand-picked and aesthetically delivered. Brillaince perhaps would be an understatement for the visual poetry. The plot weaves a story of love, passion, friendship, loyalty and greed amidst the struggle for freedom from the British Raj neatly showcasing the customs and traditions of Gods own country, Kerala. Santosh Sivan gets down to business straight away and while the visuals keeps the audience glued, the same cannot be said about the plot/ narrative which seems to give away. Perhaps screenplay needed further cementing. Performances:: Ψ Rahul Bose:: Needs no intro, he is might in his own right. Manages to pull off the various layers of the role effectively. His character seems to be inspired from Karna in Mahabharata. Ψ Nandita Das:: Her role was smaller than expected and needed more screen time to establish the character. Ψ Linus:: He was good, though has immense scope to make a dent. Ψ Jennifer:: Now literally stealing the thunder would be the apt idiom to compliment her performance and her character backs it up nicely. Ψ The other stalwarts from Malayalam cinema were confined to character roles and perhaps minuscule.

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• It is all about the conscience

  shashikrishna2009-09-06

  IT WAS DURING MY SEARCH for other works by Nandita Das that I came across 'Before the rains'. Ordinarily I probably would have given it a go-by but considering it had Rahul Bose in it too and was directed by the talented Santosh Sivan, it seemed worth giving a chance. In the first few frames itself the movie had me wrapped. The breathtaking locales of an enchantingly wooded Kerala make for a perfect backdrop to this tale of epic proportions. When Sivan's roving eye breezes past serene looking tea plantations and gorgeous gorge's carved out of nature's immaculate knife, one can easily see why he is considered one of the finest cinematographers in the country. Add to this the mix of warm locals buzzing around making small talk in Malayalam while keeping the prim houses of the English sahibs clean and you have an interesting concoction of stories ready to spill over. 'Before the rains' starts off by exposing us to the core plot right away. That of the illicit affair between British spice baron Henry Moores (Linus Roache) and his housekeeper Sajani (Nandita). They nuzzle into each other's arms under the very roof that feeds her while collecting fresh honey from friendly beehives in the woods. Their seemingly hush-hush cozy little venture, though, has a silent confidant – T.K. Neelan (Bose), a handyman who works with the Englishman. He shares Henry's vision of cutting through the mountains to make that much awaited road that will transform the tea plantation into a full blown spice manufacturing unit rich with cardamom and pepper. Of course, this has to happen before the monsoon rains so that the road can sustain it. TK does not completely condone what Henry and Sajani share but he understands what love is. Given his adherence of friendship and loyalty to Henry he doesn't find it relevant to keep this a secret from Sajani's husband Rajat and her brother Manas. People he grew up with playing in the very forest that Sajani now spends her awake time enjoying Henry's indulgent kisses and hugs. Rajat is a tough guy who has no patience for Sajani's lies and deceit. Despite the lack of any concrete evidence against her, he knows something is amiss and suspects TK of being the guilty one. With things looking like this in walks Henry's wife and son one day. Much to Sajani's disappointment and frustration, her way out of her abusive husband's life seems to be by bridging the cultural divide that separates her and Henry. Things don't necessarily pan out this way when Sajani is beaten senseless one night and is forced to escape from her husband's heavy handed clutches. She runs to Henry's house (where TK also lives in an outhouse) and confesses her need to never have to face her husband again. Henry panics. This is a situation that he had not expected given the highest level of secrecy (and possible bottom line triviality) he had given the case thus far. It is then, on being rejected from Henry at such an important juncture, that Sajani, using TK's gun, shoots herself dead right in front of their bewildered eyes. 'Before the rains' picks up momentum after this incident. The question of what is the right thing to do and who, more importantly, will do this becomes the focus. Will TK be the scapegoat for a murder that was inspired by Henry's lack of character? Or will TK go out of his way to tell everyone that it was Henry who was the cause of Sajani's untimely demise? What will be his true calling at such an hour – his ethics or his loyalty? Will Henry own up to his mistake and risk his spice project, and needless to mention his family's respect, altogether? Will the gora sahib pull his strings to come off unscathed in a time when it is so easy to do so? These are questions that the movie addresses as the frames pass by. Sivan's understanding of local sensitivity in a place like Kerala (pre- Independence) is obvious in every frame. Right from the attire the people wear to the 'Bharat Chodo' slogans that ring out across the quiet town in tropical Kerala is straight out of history's dusty pages. His bold showcasing of the flawed English colonialism sits bare as the one tragic incident stands to threaten an entire community. The subtle yet prominent mention of the price passion has to pay despite the odds being against a culturally diverse couple is very well showcased. Performances belong to almost everyone in the movie. Right from Bose, who plays the silent yet defiant Malayali foreman of the English sahib to Das, who plays the victimized and misdirected mistress whose fate eventually does her in. Each character in the movie does justice to a plot that, despite its simplistic way of handling the most complicated of situations, exposes the shocking hues with which the Raj worked in colonial India. At a time when most of the movies coming out of India lack that much needed strand of human emotion, 'Before the rains' stands out like a breathe of fresh air that underlines only one basic human emotion – conscience.

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