White Rainbow (film)
White Rainbow or Shwet is a 2005 Hindi and English-language film directed by Dharan Mandrayar and starring Sonali Kulkarni, Amardeep Jha, Shameem Shaikh, and Amruta Subhash.[3][4][2] The film is about the widows of Vrindavan: women who lost their husbands and wear white waiting to return with them in the afterlife. Several of these women are forced out of their house since they rejected a second marriage.[5] The film was named white rainbow because Mandrayar felt that the widows still have lot of life in them.[6] The film began production after Water's film shooting was halted in 1999.[5][7] Mandrayar was inspired to make this film after he read about a 13-year-old widow who was forced to go to Vrindavan.[4][8] The film follows four different widows.[7]
White Rainbow | |
---|---|
Directed by | Dharan Mandrayar |
Written by | Dharan Mandrayar |
Produced by | Hannah Kirby Linda Mandrayar |
Starring |
|
Cinematography | B. Kannan |
Edited by | B. Lenin |
Music by | Score: Marc Bonilla Micheal Mason |
Production company | Dharlin Entertainment |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 92–94 minutes[Note 1] |
Countries | India United States |
Languages | Hindi English |
Cast
- Sonali Kulkarni as Priya
- Amardeep Jha as Roop
- Shameem Shaikh as Mala
- Amruta Subhash as Deepthi
- Gaurav Kapoor as Gaurav Kapoor[9]
- Virendra Saxena as Pramod Panda
- Amitabh Srivastava as Lal
- R. S. Shivaji as Peon
- Santhana Bharathi as Priest
- Mohan Raman as TV presenter
Reception
The Hindu wrote that "Making a film on the plight of widows in a part of our country calls for strong conviction. Creator Dharan Mandrayar and Prabhu Movies have it in plenty. Otherwise they couldn't have taken up the subject and laid bare the stigma, subjugation and disgrace the husbandless face in a so-called pious milieu".[10] Dennis Harvey of Variety opined that "But writer-helmer Dharan Mandrayar lets episodic pic flatline between excessively melodramatic peaks; fans of florid bad acting will find the ham cut thick here. Tech aspects are decent".[11] Bollywood Hungama opined that "On the whole, SHWET - WHITE RAINBOW is a poor fare. At the box-office, it's a loser all the way".[12]
Accolades
The film won Best Feature Film in Sedona, Arizona.[1]
References
- Trevenon, Stacy. "India's widows, philosophy mix in Coastside film night". Half Moon Bay Review.
- "Bonsall filmmakers tackle ostracism in India". San Diego Union-Tribune. May 29, 2005.
- Jarman, Francis (June 1, 2005). White Skin, Dark Skin, Power, Dream. Wildside Press LLC. ISBN 9780809511884.
- Fielding, Julien R. (September 26, 2008). Discovering World Religions at 24 Frames Per Second. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810862661.
- "Film highlights widows' plight". BBC. September 9, 2004.
- "'I could see anguish in their eyes'". Rediff.
- "Films on Widow Abuse Survive Their Own Ordeals". Women's eNews. May 14, 2006.
- "Film on widows brings Vrindavan to boil". Sify. 25 March 2004. Archived from the original on 7 May 2004.
- Rangajaran, Malathi (20 May 2005). "Moving ahead with zest". The Hindu.
- "Where white is thrust on them". The Hindu. July 7, 2006.
- Harvey, Dennis (11 October 2004). "White Rainbow". Variety.
- "Shwet – White Rainbow Review 1/5". Bollywood Hungama.
Notes
- While Half Moon Bay Review gave the runtime as 92 minutes,[1] the The San Diego Union-Tribune gave the runtime as 94 minutes.[2]