Santosh Sivan’s incinerating tale of the clash between coloniser and colonised, finds no catharsis in the rain.
When you pack cinematographer-turned-auteur Santosh Sivan, the leading figures of Indian art house cinema—Rahul Bose and Nandita Das—and the universal story of the clash of cultures, you expect nothing less than sublimely executed, incinerating drama on screen.
Sivan’s English language directorial debut, Before the Rains, is set in pre-independence Kerala. An ambitious young Indian, TK Neelan (Rahul Bose), is torn between the promise of prosperity, offered by his boss, British spice baron, Henry Moores (Linus Roache), and loyalty to his own people at a time when the Indian nationalist movement is gathering momentum.
While the film is about an individual caught in the clash between the coloniser and the colonised, it could just as easily be about the questions of identity that we constantly face as immigrants to a new country.
When you pack cinematographer-turned-auteur Santosh Sivan, the leading figures of Indian art house cinema—Rahul Bose and Nandita Das—and the universal story of the clash of cultures, you expect nothing less than sublimely executed, incinerating drama on screen.
Sivan’s English language directorial debut, Before the Rains, is set in pre-independence Kerala. An ambitious young Indian, TK Neelan (Rahul Bose), is torn between the promise of prosperity, offered by his boss, British spice baron, Henry Moores (Linus Roache), and loyalty to his own people at a time when the Indian nationalist movement is gathering momentum.
While the film is about an individual caught in the clash between the coloniser and the colonised, it could just as easily be about the questions of identity that we constantly face as immigrants to a new country.
When TK’s father reprimands him for his “modern ideas” TK refutes, “It was you sent me to the English school.” TK is constantly rebuked for his dream of collaboration with the British rulers. When TK offers, “With mutual co-operation comes mutual prosperity.” his teacher responds, “Partnership requires equals Mr. Neelan, remember that,” as he tries to convince TK to join the nationalist protest movement.When times are good, Moores treats TK almost as an equal, even offering to name the road they are building after him. Yet, when Moores’ illicit affair with his beautiful, Indian housemaid, Sajani (Nandita Das) leads to dangerous consequences, TK is forced to deal with the situation. The moment of epiphany for him seems to come when Moores does not stand up to take responsibility for a crime that TK is now being tried for.
Yet, the moment passes without any tension—cinematically there is no moment of epiphany in this film. In his notes, Sivan talks of “exploring grey shades of people”, yet his characters remain half-baked: Moores seems like nothing more than a spineless adulterer, Sajani’s fascination with British culture (she learns English songs) as well as her passion for her English lover, are only partially developed. TK’s turmoil built up gradually, and enacted with superb restraint by Bose, comes to sudden fruition, reaching no crescendo. TK finds his identity and independence, and the rain that pours down—the often-used Indian metaphor—is an inept catharsis for the audience.
Yet, the moment passes without any tension—cinematically there is no moment of epiphany in this film. In his notes, Sivan talks of “exploring grey shades of people”, yet his characters remain half-baked: Moores seems like nothing more than a spineless adulterer, Sajani’s fascination with British culture (she learns English songs) as well as her passion for her English lover, are only partially developed. TK’s turmoil built up gradually, and enacted with superb restraint by Bose, comes to sudden fruition, reaching no crescendo. TK finds his identity and independence, and the rain that pours down—the often-used Indian metaphor—is an inept catharsis for the audience.
However, to Sivan’s credit, the film is sincerely directed, and ravishingly beautiful in photography. He cinematically builds the metaphors of the film, like the road that Moores and TK struggle and hope to build together. Sivan says in his notes, “the road… depicts the act of violence on nature as the story unfolds. I illustrated this by shooting the film in a style reminiscent of pre-Raphaelite paintings in which the earth itself carries sentiment and is full of symbolism and meaning.”Though, exploring themes of cultural clashes, the film production itself is a celebration of cultural diversity. Shot in the remote region of Munnar, Kerala—hours up winding mountain roads from any city—the production brought together crews from Mumbai, Chennai and Munnar, actors from UK and producers from US. Local craftspeople hand-made an entire village as the set for the film. The story itself is adapted from an Israeli short film, Red Roofs, about an Israeli farmer who has an illicit affair with his housemaid and forces his assistant to deal with the consequences. It isn’t really surprising how seamlessly the action shifts to 1937 Kerala.
Linus Roache too has his own Indian links—way before his recent slew of projects in India, including this film, Mira Nair’s The Namesake and Broken Thread. His mother, Anna Cropper, who was in Jewel in the Crown, brought him out of boarding school to join her in Kashmir when he was 17. “It was quite a culture shock. I ended up smoking bidi cigarettes in the back of a taxi, thinking I was smoking dope, which I wasn’t!” he told Sydney Morning Herald. Thankfully, he did learn much more about India on the many latter trips he made to the country for his spiritual interests.
All photos: Alphonse Roy
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