Videsh

It begins with the slow, casual rhythms of everyday life. A wedding, noise, colour and sounds. Mostly silences, enigmatic and a bit baffling. The mysteries are soon cleared, though, when the violence begins. A violence that is in complete contrast to the normalcies of daily living.

Deepa Mehta’s ‘Videsh’ is a powerful story of an expatriate Punjabi family in Canada. It is the average family that sets out with dreams that soon turn to ashes. Rocky, the sole breadwinner of a possessive and demanding family, and a very jealous mother, lets loose his frustrations on his newly married wife, Chand. The family does not stand by her, and the mother even supports and encourages him. Chand finds a ‘love’ root to mix with his drink, and brings to life a cobra, symbolic of the strength of her imagination and desires. It imbues her with the confidence to confront her own desires, and ultimately, the courage to leave her husband and begin life on her own.

The story is told through a series of chronological incidents, each of which is searing and intense. Deepa Mehta has certainly evolved from the days of ‘Fire’, when she used obvious and simplistic Indian symbols, such as the Taj Mahal, and the Ramayana. In ‘Videsh’, the myth of the root and the cobra is interwoven skillfully with the main narrative, and helps the protagonist to transform from a traditional, oppressed wife to a brave woman.

Apart from Preity Zinta’s powerhouse performance, Vansh Bhardwaj is impactful as the frustrated husband, though he falls short as the loving snake-avatar. The rest of the cast is very complementary and credible. The cenematography aptly recreates the ambience of the average Punjabi family.

Definitely a must-see.