FILM PREVIEW: MATRUBHOOMI (2005)

Presenters: Boney Kapoor and Sri Devi Kapoor
Producers: Punkej Kharbanda, Patrick Sobelman and Nicholas Blanc
Director: Manish Jha
Cast: Tulip Joshi, Sushant Singh and Sudhir Pandey
Music: Salim-Sulaiman

Radio Sargam Predicted Rating: 5/10

Quoted as “one of the year’s top ten films in the world” by Time Magazine, ‘Matrubhoomi – A Nation Without Woman’ is an Indo-French project presented by Boney Kapoor and Sri Devi and produced by Punkej Kharbanda, Patrick Sobelman & Nicholas Blanc.

The film is being released in six different regional Indian languages in June this year. Since it has been receiving some promising reviews at various film festivals around the globe, the makers have decided to dub the film in Bengali, Bhojpuri, Gujrati, Tamil and Telgu besides the original Hindi version.

Matrubhoomi pours light on the issue of gender discrimination in India and concentrates on the issue of female infanticide. Directed by Manish Jha, Matrubhoomi is theoretically set in the rural areas of northern India, where because of the mass female infanticide the society is bereft of women and its eventual consequences. The film highlights the impact of this resultant in equilibrium on the physical, emotional and psychological well being of humans.

Matrubhoomi talks of a lonely woman’s struggle in a society sans other women. This lonely woman is Kalki (Tulip Joshi) who is married off to a family consisting of five brothers. What follows next is her long and chaotic journey, as she starts off her efforts for survival.

Matrubhoomi features Tulip Joshi in a leading role for the very first time in her career alongside Sushant Singh and Sudhir Pandey. The famous composers Salim-Sulaiman, who are currently enjoying huge success with Karan Johar’s ‘Kaal’, have scored the music for this movie. Shirish Kunder has edited the film and Resul Pookutty is the sound designer.

Matrubhoomi is slated for release all over India on 3rd June 2005.

Written by Goher Iqbal Punn (Bollywood Analyst)