Rajkumar Santoshi should be lauded for the subject he takes on, and deserves praise for not being faint-hearted about it. He is not afraid to show, literally, what happens to women in India. That being said, Santhoshi suffers a bit from his 'evangelism': like anyone who has found a true and important message, he tends to over-scream himself a bit: we hear dramatic strings suggesting dire traumas even when manisha in the beginning suffers just minor mishaps compared to the very real trauma we see later on. This overdoing it especially hinders the beginning of the film. The ending of the film is also completely unbelievable: why would Manisha return to Jackie Shroff? Why would Shroff have changed his views of womanhood? I guess its a Bollywood thing to give movies a happy ending, even though I know plenty of them that don't end happily. Then again, a realistic ending would probably have been too much - and in that sense, Santoshi should be excused somewhat for his mishaps, since any medium could not portray the real-live horrors he wants us to see.
That said, I think praise should be given to Anil Kapoor and Ajay Devgan for really doing their job really well: they are true supporting actors, and they provide a sparkle of light and hope in a world which is for the rest completely dark. These two characters help Santoshi to make clear that not ALL men are bad, but he also gives these men sufficient lack of depth and somewhat above human proportions to make clear that us men still have some way to go before we are up to a normal, civilized standards. he makes them heroes somewhat, and intendedly so, since I guess he wants to inspire little Indian boys to be like them.
The best acting however is done by the ladies. There's not much I can add to what has been said already: Mahima Chaudhary is able to keep it up, Manisha starts off a bit awkward but ends up very impressive - but the most impressive acting is done by Madhuri and Rekha: I can't decide whose performance I found better, but thankfully, I don't have to choose.
Madhuri was good since she..well, dear god, she's always good! Completely natural, completely in character, and bringing that unique fire and spirit that is hers to every role. From the moment where she interrupts the Ramayana (and to be sure for western viewers, the revolt of the crowd thereafter isn't so unbelievable!) to speak her mind until she gets trampled by the angry crowd, she's just....goddess-like. And mind the little details she puts in her role: when Manisha wants to pick her up after she's been battered, Madhuri at first is also scared of Manisha: I actually felt the mortal fear she portrayed at that moment.
And Rekha...wow! Let me rephrase that: WOW!!!! The moment she finds out her son was dating a higher caste girl, who happens to be the daughter of the village bad guy, she bursts out so...WOW!!!! It had my blood curdling, definitely. And then the rape-and-death scene. What made it so strong is that Rekha was actually able to portray how even the closest of friends suddenly become strange beasts: rapists and murderers. She pleas for mercy whilst at the same time she just literally bleeds mortal fear - true mortal fear. Her rendering of Ramdulari is truly, honestly of epic proportions - and I am talking Greek tragedy, Euripides-play epic proportions. Add to that the fact that this scene is based on true events - and you understand that after this scene, the movie has basically ended.
But it didn't end: Santoshi made place for one more speech by Manisha (good call) and some weird scenes (bad call). But the attempt at a happy ending and the crappy job Santoshi does at it, does give you time to recover from what you've just witnessed. The sheer idiocy in it allows you to just barely smile at the friends you've watched it with again and be able to talk about what you just witnessed. And when you do, realize: what you've just witnessed is everyday reality still.
That said, I think praise should be given to Anil Kapoor and Ajay Devgan for really doing their job really well: they are true supporting actors, and they provide a sparkle of light and hope in a world which is for the rest completely dark. These two characters help Santoshi to make clear that not ALL men are bad, but he also gives these men sufficient lack of depth and somewhat above human proportions to make clear that us men still have some way to go before we are up to a normal, civilized standards. he makes them heroes somewhat, and intendedly so, since I guess he wants to inspire little Indian boys to be like them.
The best acting however is done by the ladies. There's not much I can add to what has been said already: Mahima Chaudhary is able to keep it up, Manisha starts off a bit awkward but ends up very impressive - but the most impressive acting is done by Madhuri and Rekha: I can't decide whose performance I found better, but thankfully, I don't have to choose.
Madhuri was good since she..well, dear god, she's always good! Completely natural, completely in character, and bringing that unique fire and spirit that is hers to every role. From the moment where she interrupts the Ramayana (and to be sure for western viewers, the revolt of the crowd thereafter isn't so unbelievable!) to speak her mind until she gets trampled by the angry crowd, she's just....goddess-like. And mind the little details she puts in her role: when Manisha wants to pick her up after she's been battered, Madhuri at first is also scared of Manisha: I actually felt the mortal fear she portrayed at that moment.
And Rekha...wow! Let me rephrase that: WOW!!!! The moment she finds out her son was dating a higher caste girl, who happens to be the daughter of the village bad guy, she bursts out so...WOW!!!! It had my blood curdling, definitely. And then the rape-and-death scene. What made it so strong is that Rekha was actually able to portray how even the closest of friends suddenly become strange beasts: rapists and murderers. She pleas for mercy whilst at the same time she just literally bleeds mortal fear - true mortal fear. Her rendering of Ramdulari is truly, honestly of epic proportions - and I am talking Greek tragedy, Euripides-play epic proportions. Add to that the fact that this scene is based on true events - and you understand that after this scene, the movie has basically ended.
But it didn't end: Santoshi made place for one more speech by Manisha (good call) and some weird scenes (bad call). But the attempt at a happy ending and the crappy job Santoshi does at it, does give you time to recover from what you've just witnessed. The sheer idiocy in it allows you to just barely smile at the friends you've watched it with again and be able to talk about what you just witnessed. And when you do, realize: what you've just witnessed is everyday reality still.