Monsieur

Sir takes its time to unravel and when it does it is hard to not fall in love with it. Not with the characters per se or the actors who play them so magically you want to rush up to them and give a hug, but with the delightful, delicate way director Rohena Gera carves her feature film directorial debut about the invisible relationship between a maid (Tilotama Shome) hailing from a remote Maharashtra village and her employer (Vivek Gomber) who lives and works in the upper-class South Bombay. The subtlety of what unfolds in front of you is the charming factor of Sir, a film that aspires to restructure that relationship, especially the one that is often seen from an exploitative eye. With a swooning romantic layer that is effervescent in almost all scenes - majority of which are between the two lead - there are pleasure bulbs throughout the film like a tree with ripe fruits ready for you to pluck and enjoy albeit from a distance. I can only imagine the depth of writing that must have gone behind the making as there is hardly any scene that looks out of flow or essence with Gera pushing the story lightly letting her characters live and her viewers take it all in like the way you would slow-eat a piece of cake you love so much, giving it time. But the characters are not stereotypical here, especially the one played by Shome, who here has a dream and has been characterized as an idiosyncratic person, something that I feel is a true depiction of a character in a film that talks about class. What, perhaps more than the writing, works here are the performances. It is easy to say I don't see anyone else playing the role of the maid than Shome who has been pleasing ever since her Monsoon Wedding (2001) days but for Sir I mean it or someone who is more quaint and decent and soft-talker-like than Gomber, both of whom grace the screen, turn a wand, and spew magic. Even Geetanjali Kulkarni shines as the film refuses to budge in its attempt to convince your eye glands to fire a tear, a tear that's only the product of delight, pleasure, happiness, and hope all flowing like cool breeze on your face. Goosebumps are expected. The ambiguity is more than a fad here. To borrow a line from a fellow film lover at the film's premiere at Cinepolis, Mumbai, Sir the film sneaks up on you. TN.

(Watched and reviewed at its India premiere at the 10th Jagran Film Festival (JFF) in Mumbai.)

"Sir" is a film unlike any other Indian film I have seen. While not all Indian films feature singing and dancing, not having it is unusual. But what's really different is that the story involves ordinary people...people who don't look like Bollywood stars. And, the story is interesting because it's rather mundane compared to most of the Indian films we get in the USA....and I mean this as a compliment.

The story is a very leisurely paced tale about a maid who works for a man in Mumbai. She is a widow and is an excellent maid, but Ratna (Tillotama Shome) is plain and from a lower socioeconomic group than the man she works for, Ash (Vivek Gomber). Ash has recently gone through a painful breakup with his fiancee, as she cheated on him and over time it becomes apparent to Ash that the only woman he truly trusts is Ratna...and over time he comes to love her. But such a relationship cannot be in India....and would be tough anywhere. And, more importantly, Ratna cannot allow this as she knows the predicament it would place them both in...and her feelings simply aren't a deciding factor.

This film is a nice bit of insight into real people and real problems in India. While I love more traditional Indian films, I enjoyed this because unlike the usual Bollywood offering, this one seems to have a bit more depth and was about real people...which I really appreciate. Well made and interesting....and available streaming through Netflix here in the States.

At each point in the film, you feel society as a transparent, near invisible force between the two characters. THe way spatial distance has been used, dealt with, mirroring society's classification of people, is gorgeous. The performances of both Tillotama Shome and vivek Gomber are fab. Great casting here. From the moment the real collision happens and a spatial barrier of sorts is severed is where the mettle of the writer and so also the film is tested. And it's actually from this moment that the film soars way beyond what one had expected. It coolly and deftly averts every cliche and possible corniness that a story like this could have moved into and instead surprises you with such a rise that few films are able to. Gorgeous debut. Tough to believe it's her first film. Tillotama and Vivek stayed with me as their characters way after the film was over. Congratulations Rohena.

Sir is one of the most beautiful and breathtaking films I've seen off late. It is a quiet, optimistic and profound account of the relationship between Aashwin, a recently separated young and welathy man from Mumbai, and Ratna, his live-in housemaid. The film is mostly set within Aashwin's luxurious apartment, and their personal stories are kept most of the time pretty much in the background, as we follow their bond. We soon learn of the problems both of them are facing. He has recently called off his marriage with his adulterous girlfriend whom he never loved, his brother has died, and he gives up a better future in New York to help with the family business. She comes from a very primitive village down south, supports her family financially and pays for her sister's education; she was once married in her teens and widowed after several months. This job is a dream job for her as it pays well and provides her with housing and a kind boss who always treats her well and never throws tantrums the kind of which some of her other maid friends have to bear with their employers. Aashwin, despite being terribly immersed in his current state, never takes it out on Ratna. She, on her end, leads an independent life and dreams of becoming a designer.

It's an interesting paradox (and maybe it's not a paradox at all) to see how Aashwin, supposedly the more privileged among the two, who has money and social status and a host of friends and relatives around him and always supporting him, finds more difficulty in struggling with his daily realities and can't find satisfaction (at least during the course of the film, which is a specific point in time, to be fair). Ratna, on the other hand, whose existence is much more challenging--a hard-working woman who has lost her husband and has nothing going for her really except for her simple, modest dreams--is totally optimistic, never gives up and always holds hope for a better day. If that is not enough, she fends for her family and for her younger sister's education, and has so much carried on her slim shoulders, and yet dreams of becoming a designer and improving her life. The concept of happiness as a state of exploring, fighting for something and walking towards a goal rather than merely achieving it, gets perfect meaning through her character. Ratna even manages to encourage and instill faith in Aashwin, briefly sharing with him her life story and teaching him the simplest lesson it has taught her, "life is never over", in one of the film's best scenes.

This is just the beginning of a change. The relationship between Aashwin and Ratna is beautifully portrayed and even more beautifully developed. It is real, believable and never feels artificial. Rohena Gera, the film's writer and director, does a great job on both accounts. The script is very carefully written, and the direction more than does justice to it. In the initial stages, their interactions are random and very matter of fact with not a single hint at a possible romantic spark, but there's a gradual growth of affection and affinity, which culminates in romantic and sexual tension, though not in the sleazy way. Much is said about Ratna, but Aashwin is a greatly endearing character. He is presented as a true gentleman throughout the story, who doesn't employ the perverted ways of people of his social strata. For him, Ratna is as equal as one of his distinguished guests on a night party, he treats her with utmost kindness and respect, and his worldly understanding that nothing makes one human better than another other than their personality and moral stand, is impressive.

Incredibly realistic, subtle and engaging, Sir addresses themes of social class, race, urban loneliness, and the fragility of human relationships. It offers a strong commentary on the distorted moral values of the so-called elite, and even more critically so on the regressive, condescending and prejudiced worldview among some educated members of the upper class, often masked under the guise of nothing but preachy nonsense. "You can't date your maid", says one of the characters in the film, and he's a good guy, so is it really his fault? Well, the film is less critical of the characters, it's critical of the social norms that dictate what is reckoned as good, bad, or just totally unacceptable. And our heroine herself does not believe she could ever have any sort of relationship with her employer. She is too afraid of what it might evoke and how her surroundings would react. The audience will find it very easy to connect with both Aaswin and Ratna's stories. More than anything, it's amazing how a film situated within this restricted setting for the most part, manages to be constantly fascinating and do so much with so little.

Without much further ado, I should pronounce right away the great magic of this film other than the terrific writing, and it is the extraordinary Tillotama Shome. Her Ratna is a true portrait of strength, power and resillience. Shome's gestures, dialogue delivery and overall presence in the role of a rustic housemaid is amazingly believable and always rings true. In Shome's interpretation, Ratna may lack some of the western sophistication that most people in her new setting seem to have, but her inner world is so much richer and not for a single moment does she lose her sense of dignity. The other half of this beautiful story is Vivek Gomber, around whose character the film is based (Sir is the form of address Ratna uses with him). He is not as good as Shome, and his English delivery is poor, but he is still quite competent as the kind and radiant Aashwin, often doing enough with his presence and successfully registering the growth in his character, his process of healing and gradual enamourment with Ratna. These two really make this film the gem that it is. Sir is an inspiring, profound, and deeply involving piece of storytelling. It is a moving human story which I'm sure many would relate to and hopefully learn from.

It is really a film worth watching, the story and characters stay on with you in a fine, beautifully quiet manner even when the film is over! A wonderfully subtle but very definitely thought provoking film with a realistic story line!