Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain

Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain is a biopic about the Bhopal gas tragedy that occurred on December 2nd, 1984. The movie covers the events leading up to the gas tragedy & the actual tragedy itself. A journalist named Motwani(Kal Penn), wants to expose Union Carbide Corporation for building a chemical industrial plant right in the middle of Bhopal. He takes the help of American journalist Eva Gascon(Mischa Barton), to bring down Union Carbide & its CEO, Warren Anderson(Martin Sheen), before it's too late. The movie also revolves around Dilip(Rajpal Yadav), who works for Union Carbide.

Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain is a brilliant film! The first half of the movie is a little dragging. However, the second half of the movie more than makes up for it. The scenes of the film involving the gas leak & its effects are gut wrenching & heart breaking at the same time. I'm glad that director Ravi Kumar did not shy away from showing us what exactly happened on that fateful night. The performances are the highlight of the film. Kal Penn is spectacular as Motwani. Martin Sheen is outstanding as Warren Anderson. Mischa Barton is impressive as Eva Gascon. However, the standout performer of the film is without a doubt, Rajpal Yadav as Dilip. Yadav's character is the heart & soul of the film & can make us experience a whirlwind of emotions. Tannishtha Chatterjee is good as Leela. The supporting characters are great as well. Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain is a must watch.

Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain is a historical drama film directed by Indian filmmaker Ravi Kumar. Co-written by David Brooks and Kumar himself, the movie presents a highly dramatized version of the events that led to the Bhopal disaster, often referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy, on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, the capital of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The disaster was caused by the accidental leakage of methyl isocyanate gas and other toxic chemicals which spread around the shanty towns located near the plant, threatening lives of lakhs and killing thousands. The movie stars Martin Sheen, Mischa Barton, Kal Penn, Rajpal Yadav, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Manoj Joshi and Joy Sengupta in the major roles. The movie is produced by Sahara Movie Studios and Rising Star Entertainment and distributed by Revolver Entertainment. The movie is slotted to release on 5 December 2014 in theatres across India.

Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain succeeds in capturing brilliantly, through its motley of interesting characters, the chaos that became associated with one of the greatest tragedies in modern history. The movie serves as a powerful social commentary that poignantly depicts the plight of the poor in Third World countries like India during the latter part of the 20th century. These countries generally suffered from lack of industrialization, extremely low per capita incomes, low literacy rates, high population growth, poor health and sanitation facilities, weak transport infrastructure, and overdependence on agriculture and allied activities. "Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain". The movie also launches a scathing attack on crony capitalism—a notorious brand of capitalism prevalent in Asian countries wherein success in business depends on the nexus between opportunistic businessmen and corrupt government officials.

Despite going down in the annals of history as one of the major disasters of the 20th century, Bhopal gas tragedy strangely enough hadn't hitherto managed to become the subject of any major motion picture. And, that's precisely what inspired Ravi Kumar to make a movie on the seemingly forbidden subject. Kumar explains: "To my surprise there was little interest from Bollywood or even UK film industry to make a dramatic thriller about a subject with tremendous potential about corporate greed, environment disaster and the spicy mix of politics and multinational giant's profit driven agenda." Kumar got the idea for the movie from Mr. Sanjoy Hazarika's book "Bhopal - Lessons Of A Gas Tragedy," which he had read in 2005. After reading the book, Kumar was bowled over by the thought of a making a major motion picture on the subject. Kumar asserts: "The reason for making this film is not to play the blame game, but learn from history so another tragedy can be avoided. We wanted to make an international feature film with major stars for the world audience who do not know about the tragedy."

Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain has come as a great respite at a time when the element of realism is on the wane in Indian cinema at large. The movie serves as a great example of how the power of cinema can be leveraged upon to bring important historical events back to life for the older generations to relive them and for the coming generations to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors. History as a genre is still quite new to the India cinema and a lot needs to be done before it starts getting treated like some of the more conventional genres. The movie is far from being a perfect adaptation of the Bhopal gas tragedy. While the movie captures the essence of the tragedy really well, the narrative, at times, seems to suffer from certain structural flaws. In the act of dramatizing the events so as to make the end product appear more palatable to the masala audiences, the movie, more often than not, appears to be digressing a bit from its central theme.

Overall, Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain can best be described as a brutal but honest attempt on the part of its makers to capture on the celluloid the chaos associated with the Bhopal gas tragedy. It's not great cinema but it's definitely thought-provoking. Despite commercial obligations, and, to its credit, the movie doesn't deviate much from propagating the hard facts pertaining to the mishap. As a social commentary on India of the 1980s, the movie packs a powerful punch. On the technical front, there isn't much to complain about: be it cinematography, sound, or editing. The acting is solid all around, thanks to the presence of an international ensemble cast led by the veteran American actor Martin Sheen and renowned Indian actor Rajpal Yadav. Both Sheen and Yadav are excellent in their respective roles, as are Mischa Barton, Kal Penn, and Tannishtha Chatterjee. The movie features some highly graphic sequences towards the end which may repulse the faint-hearted viewers. The movie is meant for serious filmgoers only; the casual viewers are advised to stay away from it. A must watch for those who admire realism in cinema!

(This review was originally published in my film blog "A Potpourri of Vestiges")

This documentary drama is about something everyone should know about and make sure the human race should not repeat. What happened 30 years ago should have never happened and it is truly sad this film is based on this true story. Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain is not only a reminder of what happened, but a story we must remember, so we do not repeat it.

This film is a documentary, but is also a story and a drama. There is no comedic relief. There is strong messages and lessons to be learned.

The story begins when a multinational company, Union Carbide India opens a chemical factory which contains the number one most dangerous chemical to humans in the world. The company responsible for the factory is sadly not making much money and, as a result, they cut their safety regulations. This does not end up as a good idea for, in 1984, the factory had a major leak and the deadly chemical called MIC quickly shot into the air, and into the surrounding air which covered a major town called Bhopal. Thousands die while hundreds of thousands are injured and even today, 30 years later, are still ill.

This film truly shows this event well and shows how many people were effected by it and what the company who caused it did to help the victims. Nothing. Warren Anderson (Martin Sheen) not only doesn't help them, but the India court accuses him of mass murder and the "corporate shield" protects him so he is not affected whatsoever. Martin Sheen plays this role with true conviction.

This film is an incredibly sad story, I cannot choose a favorite scene. My least favorite is when the accident comes to the attention to Warren for the first time. Anyone would expect that he would be in shock or cry or just try to help them. What he does is blame the workers because he gave them an opportunity and they "ruined it." Then, he flees the country when he sees all the dead bodies and is accused of mass murder. I do not like this scene for I believe he should have at the least go to jail for the rest of his life.

This film is very mature so I recommend it for ages 13 to 18. I also give it 5 out of 5 stars for they did a wonderful job retelling this horrid event. This film is playing in select theaters now and is available for digital downloads and streaming.

Reviewed by Gerry O., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic. For more reviews by youth, go to kidsfirst dot org.

How many of you know about Bhopal gas tragedy (a gas leak incident which is considered to be the world's worst industrial disaster) that took place on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Over 500,000 people were exposed to methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other chemicals & killing as many as 10,000 people in one night. The toxic substance made its way in and around the shanty towns located near the plant. Many of us know & many still don't know what happened. Though there are many articles which lay the event on the whole tragedy.

"Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain" is a historical-drama movie from Sahara Movie Studios and Rising Star Entertainment which tells the real story of the same gas tragedy. The movie showcases the real shocking events revolving around the Union Carbide India Limited, its employees & the people residing around. It begins with the perspective of a young rickshaw driver who gets a job at Union Carbide which is a risky & tough job which required long working hours. It was noticed that the managers at the plant used to ignore the safety protocol always and still people who knew about it were holding on to their jobs as it was their only source of income. How this negligence took a disastrous turn which lead to post effect of the tragedy & how the political scene was pre & post tragedy, is the plot of the movie.

The casting, screenplay & the treatment given to the movie is honest, genuine. The cast has given their best & the sincerity is reflected on-screen. As the events progresses, it really makes you sad to see so many human lives were affected after the leak. It also showcases the good work of the Doctors which tried every bit to save the affected even though they faced the difficulties. Its the first movie made on this tragedy & by this, now every person will know what went wrong, what were the post effects & whats going on with the case. As being the Citizen of India, you want to know about the whole tragedy, then this is not to be missed.

Director: Ravi Kumar Cast: Martin Sheen, Mischa Barton, Kal Penn, Fagun Thakrar, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Rajpal Yadav, Vineet Kumar, Lisa Dwan, Manoj Joshi Rating: 4.5/5

Watched Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain

Before watching I was knowing very little about Bhopal gas tragedy but while watching this movie I felt that my heart was chocked up… And even after reading facts about the World's largest industrial disaster I felt very angry one our government and US Government. Really very touching movie and disturbing movie… Acting of everyone was simply superb, Specially of Rajpal Yadav. After long time I found him in life long character. Direction was splendid and the hidden meaning behind many scenes was superb. Some of my favorites: 1. In starting child were shown catching flying bug and in ending blind person was trying to catch flying bug. It shows the dangerous effect of gas leak. 2. In Starting and end, Horse was shown running without any rider which means that there is nothing left in Bhopal's life. Even those who were not dead their life is also blank. And many more… Every Indian even every person should watch this one.