Albeit the controversies that hogged it and the media attention that it received, Deepa Mehta has still managed to come up with a winner. A touching movie dating back to 1938, 
the focus - Widow remarriage. It looks closely at the atrocities that the society inflicted on the widows. The little 7 yr old widow, the older Seema Biswas and Lisa Ray have each done justice to their roles.
The little girl, 7 yr old "Chuhiya" (fondly "little mouse) is married off at a young age, when she just attains puberty, to an older man, who is shown as passing away shortly. The parents then take her off to a Widows home (quite like an Old Age home), and she is left among other widows (age ranging from ~20s to late 80s). The castigation that follows is worse than death; a lonely life of self denial. The story turns around when Gandhi gets out of prison and is shown propagating "The Harijan Concept". Narayan (played byJohn Abraham), a nationalist, staunch believer of the Gandhian and Raja Mohan Roy philosophies, decides to marry a widow but is unable to since she commits suicide. Soon after the death of this young widow, Seema Biswas (shown as a more mature, compassionate older widow) decides to send Chuhiya off with Narayan to join the Gandhians.....just ensuring that she is safe from the evil clutches of the society which looks down at the widows with disdain.
When little Chuhiya enters the Widows home, her question about "where the male widows live" moves all.
A well made movie!
the focus - Widow remarriage. It looks closely at the atrocities that the society inflicted on the widows. The little 7 yr old widow, the older Seema Biswas and Lisa Ray have each done justice to their roles.The little girl, 7 yr old "Chuhiya" (fondly "little mouse) is married off at a young age, when she just attains puberty, to an older man, who is shown as passing away shortly. The parents then take her off to a Widows home (quite like an Old Age home), and she is left among other widows (age ranging from ~20s to late 80s). The castigation that follows is worse than death; a lonely life of self denial. The story turns around when Gandhi gets out of prison and is shown propagating "The Harijan Concept". Narayan (played byJohn Abraham), a nationalist, staunch believer of the Gandhian and Raja Mohan Roy philosophies, decides to marry a widow but is unable to since she commits suicide. Soon after the death of this young widow, Seema Biswas (shown as a more mature, compassionate older widow) decides to send Chuhiya off with Narayan to join the Gandhians.....just ensuring that she is safe from the evil clutches of the society which looks down at the widows with disdain.
When little Chuhiya enters the Widows home, her question about "where the male widows live" moves all.
A well made movie!
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