Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain

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")

"BHOPAL : A Prayer for Rain" is a heart-rending revisit to the most horrific industrial catastrophe in our country that claimed over 10000 lives in December 1984.It forms a precursor to the massive tragedy in the form of connected events that transpired around the infamous Union Carbide plant which spew the lethal MIC gas wiping off almost an entire civilization. Such was the impact that even today, people are born with deformities.

Unfolding like a docu-drama providing glimpses of the social milieu,the narrative breathes life with the insertion of certain fictitious and dramatic elements, in the form of a rickshaw puller , Deepak ( Rajpal Yadav)who forms the lifeline of the film.An illiterate who can hardly afford a square meal to his family with an unmarried sister, he finds the new ray of hope in the Carbide plant when he substitutes his friend, a worker out there , after he falls prey into an accidental factory mishap. The plant is a dormant volcano waiting to erupt, a hibernating monster because of the highly risky pesticide production under loose and overlooked safety conditions.Yet many of the workers fail to raise their voice as they have to feed their families at the end of the day.There is a wave of crusade through vigilant journalism by a hard-nosed news reporter, Motwani(Kal Penn) who even seeks the help of another American journo(Mischa Barton) to expose the diplomatic CEO of Carbide,Warren Anderson(Martin Sheen) but all in vain.

Ravi Kumar tries to portray the corporate chicanery adopted by Anderson who looked at India as a cheaper proposition, with utmost sincerity.The unflinching look at the bureaucracy and the callousness of our political leaders also flashes at the level of corruption that was rotting our society three decades back.There is a deafening silence towards the finale in the screams of the dying people and the haplessness in the eyes of the local doctor(Manoj Joshi).There are moments of poignancy that leave you numb, but had there been a more solid and polished execution , it would have lingered in our psyche.The film falters with a hurried approach in the ending reels by juxtaposing the tragedy with a wedding proceeding and also for some over- dramatic treatment like the one between Barton and Anderson inside his car.

All said and done, Bhopal is a praise-worthy attempt by director Ravi Kumar,also credited fir the film's story, for bringing this tragic incident onto celluloid after almost 5 years of research.The narrative forges a strong emotional connect with its rooted characters,specially Rajpal Yadav and Tannistha Chatterjee who render genuinely moving performances.Yadav blends his innocence, warmth and talent uniformly to bring out the predicament of the impoverished Deepak.Kal Penn, with his outlandish attire,is a character with an arc but doesn't do complete justice to his mixed accent.It is Marteen Sheen who fits into the role of Anderson perfectly,and bringing out the humanistic nuances effectively.

Films like Bhopal are a rarity in today's age of massy entertainers.They are highly insightful but do not hold a strong commercial proposition.It is as ironical as the fact that Carbide is not proved fully guilty of the causing this disaster.This one is highly recommended for those with inclination to real-life, meaningful cinema.

Rating 3/5

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.

I know better than to wholly trust what I see in a film. But Ravi Kumar's honest and haunting story of what really happened on December 1984 at the heart of India makes my view on the topic clear. The figures may never be accurately exacted, but the magnitude of the tragedy is explicit. Who's to be blamed? The film says what we want to hear.

Union Carbide is seen adopting poor working conditions from the beginning even when they were alerted of the disastrous effects of MIC (Methyl Isocyanate), the chemical the plant produced, in 1982. Giving the story a dramatic addition of a family, the film takes you on a gradual fact-finding trip as "pure negligence" is termed as the single, great cause of the whole tragedy. Negligence by everyone involved: the government, the UCC, and partially even the employees. Also, structural changes were made to the plant, and as the Carbide called it Indianization, which triggered the leak. The fact that journalism acted without effect puts us in a state of confusion: whether to believe it or not. Had journalism been paid heed like we do now in 2014, Bhopal Gas Tragedy COULD have easily been averted. Many things together caused the tragedy and the only way to right this wrong was to strictly regulate industrial operations, which is still a debatable topic. The compensation was like a honorarium.

The performances by Rajpal Yadav, Martin Sheen & Kal Penn is what drives the film into a suspense thriller. The only sadness we have as an audience is that we can't go back in time and try to delete the incident. A pre-credit montage of the aftermath is the silver lining of the film. It says that Union Carbide never apologized, which is even graver a fact.

BOTTOM LINE: One of the many pleasures while watching this historical drama is that Warren Anderson is dead as a dodo. Recommended!

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

One of the best films I have ever watched. Bhopal wasn't just an industrial disaster; it was a human one. It reflects the failure of design, implementation, and a neglect for the inherent humanity found in all of us. These actors brought this story to life and made it human. Rajpal Yadav shows us as the protagonist the difficult position community members were placed in- likely unaware of the extraordinary risk they were taking in working for Union Carbide. Mischa Barton and Kal Penn reflect what more journalists must stand for - pursuit of the truth. These three actors brought characters to life that show the good in people- and what we are all fighting for. In doing so, they have created an emotionally charged film that forces us all to reflect on what kind of world we want to live in. Bhpoal: A Prayer for Rain is a must watch.