Maati Maay (2006) Online

Chitra Palekar's very well-narrated story-within-a-story-within-a-story leaves you feeling for the protagonist Chandi played superbly by Nandita Das.

Considering that except for the two lead actors, the others have never appeared on film before, they've done a superb job.

The movie's in the Indian Language Marathi, and the sub-titles don't do it justice, so most people who don't speak the language wouldn't get a lot of the nuances in the story.

For a person knowledgeable about the social contexts of rural life in India, this movie serves to stir many questions.

Time and Money Well spent!

Right through the movie there was something very eerie. You know right from the time that you see people running from the "ghoul" that it's just a sad woman with a tragic tale, etc etc., but there's still something that makes you feel really uncomfortable.

What really worked out well in the movie was how gripping it was. There really wasn't any point when I lost interest.

But in the end it seemed wasted because the way the movie ended was a bit too convenient. There was nothing much that could happen to Chandi, in any case. She couldn't possibly return to a normal state, even if her son tried making her better. She wouldn't be left alone and depressed right till the end, because then there would be no movement in the story. So kill her. Have her die in a heroic attempt to save a train full of people. She gets a bravery award posthumously and is finally recognised as a good woman. Her son announces in front of the whole village that she was his mother, and the movie ends. Finished.

But anyway, the movie was very sad and very disturbing... No convenient ending can take away from that. We all live so comfortably with our regular jobs in our regular lives; the worst job we can even imagine is cleaning public toilets. And still there are people who have to bury little dead babies, and look after their graves. It was a job forced onto them by society because no one else wanted to do it, and because being an "untouchable" makes it (or 'made' it, at least)easy to be picked on. Easy targets. They were guilt-tripped into remaining in their jobs by being constantly reminded that it was the work "God told them to do". So how could they possibly escape? About the acting: good. Not great. Atul Kulkarni and Nandita Das were both good, but there was a little over-acting happening. If it had been toned down by HALF a notch it would have been fine. The others were amateur theatre actors and extras, and I suppose not much can be expected from them on their own. But they're not on their own. They have a director. That director (Chitra Palekar) should have removed the forced overacting and worked hard on replacing it with natural conversation, and natural reactions and behaviour. It was a little difficult to over-look. Right through the movie you're reminded "They're acting, they're acting" and rarely "they're happy" or "they're shocked". Even with the young boy who plays the protagonist. The expressions in his eyes were moving,and luckily those were focused on well, but beyond that his acting was unconvincing.

The film started off well, but left me disappointed.

Let's start at the surface. At first look 'Maati Maay' seems to be a simple story. A village is horrified by a cannibalistic ghoul (Nandita Das). The villagers do all in their power to keep their children away from her. Isolated, the ghoul finds no company, no sympathy. Until one day she bumps into Bhagirath (Kshitij Gavande), a sharp school kid innocently strolling around the village. Bhagirath fortunately is accompanied by his father, Narsu (Atul Kulkarni), who shields him from her evil hexes. Narsu shoos the evil lady away. Intrigued, Bhagirath asks his father how the woman got herself into such a predicament. Narsu's answer unfolds as a dark and dreamlike journey that reveals his connection with this ghoul.

The story telling (at least for the first part of the movie) is fast and crisp. Chilling, yet at places touching. It's only after we're well into the movie that things start to lose pace. The imagery is strictly OK, although the use of reflections in some places is faulty.

It is uncertain whether this film was intended to be more of realistic cinema or dramatic or probably maintain a balance of both. There are scenes that scare you and others that just keep dragging on. The background chorus meant to enhance the emotion works only for some moments before it becomes a revealer. The score gets sour too.

Towards the end one questions the characters. Especially Chandi. For when she lost her ancestral occupation the defeat of pride is devoted just a few minutes, the film rather delves into casteism, superstition, post pregnancy pains (although necessary for the story) and there's a slight, and totally unnecessary, mention of corrupt bureaucracy. The transition of our leading lady's from the clever, modern minded village woman to an outcaste is rather uncomfortably short.

Finally one leaves the cinema wondering if the whole story was just a metaphor taken too seriously. And even wishing that it was.