Nagesh Kukunoor 2014 India
Starring: Monali Thakur, Satish Kaushik, Shefali Shah, Fllora Saini, Nagesh Kukunoor, Gulfam Khan
Veteran director Nagesh Kukunoor's latest, Lakshmi, is unusual for the Hindi industry. Not only is it an independent production largely devoid of conventional melodrama and histrionics (a repeated dream is a blemish but can be forgiven given its basis in the character trying to block out her suffering) but it also takes on a terrifying reality, human trafficking and sexual slavery, a subject far bleaker than normal Bollywood fair. To his credit Kukunoor remains unflinching in his presentation of fact and rarely attempts to make his film into a piece of audience-friendly, life affirming entertainment. Likewise the general atmosphere is bleak, just as it should be, and the full horror of the central ordeal is under no circumstances swept under the carpet. That's not to say it's gratuitous or exploitative, Kukunoor's approach is much more restrained, mostly keeping the brutal acts off-screen and even framing his camera work so as to block the act itself when its appearance is unavoidable. On only a couple of occasions does he break his self-imposed rule, a method that only makes those flashs all the more distressing. One, involving torture with lit cigarettes, however is ruined by an issue totally out of his hands, namely the unfortunate need of the Central Board of Film Certification to insert a subtitle stating that smoking causes cancer (the phrase "Smoking is injurious to your health" being used during the attack could be read as an attempt to lampoon the decision). As such what should be a deeply disturbing instance of violence is drained of any power, suspension of disbelief having been entirely defenestrated. Oddly they'd didn't raise any objections to a later scene featuring someone holding a severed body part though. That seems to be the law in Indian film, you can have alcoholism, rape and bloodsoaked disembowelling but light up for even a second and there'll be warning notices aplenty, spoiling the flow as they see fit. A bigger predicament lays within an early sequence in which the 14 year old title character is taught about make up and how to best attract johns by an older captive. In an unsettling move Kukunoor adds upbeat music and almost turns it into a montage that could easily be seen as glamourizing, glorifying or even okaying the desperate lives of the women. If that is the case it's deeply troubling to say the least but, knowing Kukunoor's history, it seems possible that he has implanted a satire (albeit an unsuccessful one) of Bollywood's habit of sanitising and homogenising any and every topic into his narrative, mocking them for their perceived lack of courage. The ambiguity in Lakshmi smilingly applying lipstick prior to addressing the media in the final minutes (a joyous moment of feminist freedom, removing the connotations of it in her enforced past, or a learnt trait that she can't quite escape, the implications of which she's too young to understand) works much better. Thankfully the cast are remarkable with Monali Thakur quietly devastating in her first lead role, expertly expressing every emotion through childlike eyes, and Kukunoor himself appearing as a believably reprehensible villain. Fllora Saini and Satish Kaushik (who also produced) impress too, Saini in particular is superb portraying a different view of the victim's plight to Lakshmi. More than any of its flaws though the most important thing is that performers and production staff are now able and brave enough to bring the stark truth of such situations (the film was based on a landmark true case, the first to see the perpetrators imprisoned) to screen, addressing the world that has let this happen. What's more the film is repeatedly so haunting that it's difficult to watch even as you find yourself unable to tear yourself away. The word harrowing is inadequate.
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