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The promos of Deepa Mehta's VIDESH -
HEAVEN ON EARTH bring back memories of Jag Mundhra's
PROVOKED, which also spoke of domestic violence. Sure,
VIDESH - HEAVEN ON EARTH also looks at domestic
violence, it's also about a Punjabi woman who continues
to take the beatings silently on a foreign land, but the
similarities end there. There's a twist in the tale in
VIDESH - HEAVEN ON EARTH and that makes this film
different from films of its ilk.
 Partly
based on Girish Karnad's play NAAG MANDALA and perhaps
inspired by several true stories, Deepa tries to inject
myth into the main story and that's one of the prime
reasons why you don't take to the film completely.
Write your own movie review of Videsh - Heaven On Earth
VIDESH - HEAVEN ON EARTH is an unconventional subject,
but the moment a reptile slides into the story, it robs
the film of realism. Your heart breaks every time the
woman is subjected to physical abuse. You do relate to
the character since you've either heard or watched tales
of domestic abuse. But the sheshnaag part in the film is
difficult to digest.
Besides, there's a major flaw in the writing. The
husband continues to indulge in physical abuse, but it's
not clear why he comes across as a frustrated man. Not
once does the director spell out the reasons why the
husband behaves like a monster and keeps harming his
wife, right under the nose of his family members.
Yet, despite the hiccups, you can't deny the fact that
Deepa has handled the material with sensitivity. Even
the end -- you can predict the conclusion -- is well
executed.
 Chand
[Preity Zinta] is a young bride leaving her home in
Ludhiana, India, for the cavernous landscape of
Brampton, Ontario, where her husband Rocky [Vansh
Bhardwaj] and his very traditional family await her
arrival.
Everything is new to Chand, everything is unfamiliar
including the quiet and shy Rocky, who she meets for the
first time. Chand approaches her new life and her new
land with equanimity and grace. But soon optimism turns
to isolation as the family she has inherited struggles
beneath the weight of unspoken words, their collective
frustration becoming palpable.
Trapped in a world she cannot comprehend and unable to
please her husband, Chand is desperate. Hope comes in
the form of Rosa, a tough and savvy Jamaican woman who
works alongside Chand in a factory where immigrant women
from all over the world clean and press dirty hotel
laundry.
Rosa gives her a magical root advising her to put it in
the drink. The root is supposed to seduce the one who
takes it, making them fall hopelessly in love with the
person who gives it to them. Chand's attempts with the
magic root lead to surreal incidents.
 Deepa
gets it right till the snake transforms into her husband
and that makes the entire aspect so hard to believe. You
can't relate to it anymore. The cinematography is dark
at times. If the intention was to impart a gloomy and
depressing tint, it doesn't work. And why this need for
a B & W look at several places? Doesn't work!
Preity delivers her finest performance to date. She
displays the helplessness and pain that this character
demands with gusto. It's at par with any powerful act by
any international actor. Newcomer Vansh Bhardwaj is
striking. Very rarely do first-timers enact their parts
with such precision. Amongst supporting actors, Preity's
mother-in-law and sister-in-law are believable.
On the whole, VIDESH - HEAVEN ON EARTH works in parts,
but it's not enough. At the box-office, the Indian
market may not be too receptive to the film. It will
have to look internationally to recoup the investment.
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