Matrubhoomi Movie (2003) Details :
Matrubhoomi A Nation Without Women is a 2003 Indian film writter & directer Manish Jha. The film examines the impact of female foeticide and female infanticide on the gender balance and consequently the stability and attitudes of society. Its storyline bears some resemblance to real-life instances of gender imbalance and economics resulting in fraternal polyandry and bride buying in some parts of India.It depicts a future dystopia in an Indian village populated exclusively by males due to female infanticide over the years.
- Directer : Manish Jha
- Producer : Patrick Sobelman, Punkej Kharbanda
- Writter : Manish Jha
- Starring : Tulip Joshi, Sudhir Pandey, Piyush Mishra, Sushant Singh, Aditya Srivastava
- Music : Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant
- Cinematography : Venu Gopal
- Edited : Ashmith Kunder, Shirish Kunder
- Casting : Jogi Mallang
- Art Direction : Wasiq Khan
- Costume Design : Isha Ahluwalia,Darshan Jalan
- Makeup Department : Dhananjay Prajapati,Suresh Sharma
- Stunts : Gurbachan Singh
- Production Company : Diaphana Films,Ex Nihilo,Gimages,SMG Productions
- Distributor : Diaphana Films,Svensk Filmindustri
- Genres : Drama
- Release date : 17 December 2003
- Running time : 93 minutes
- Country : India
- Language : Hindi
Matrubhoomi Movie Trailer :
Story of The Film :
A woman, attended by two midwives, is giving birth in a small village in India. When the child’s cry rings, the father bangs on a steel plate to attract the attention of all the villagers, who assemble, eager to hear the good news. But when the midwife announces that the child is a daughter, the banging stops, followed by a stunned silence. Shortly thereafter the father takes the baby and drowns it in a Calderon of milk. This practice continues on and as a result, many years later there are men and boys everywhere and no women. A widowed man, Ramsharan, ponders his plight and that of his two grown son, who he is unable to get married. No marriage has taken in this village for 15 years, save for one, which was annulled as the young 14-year old bride turned out to be a 14 year old boy. But there is hope when a friend informs Ramsharan that he has located a bride for his eldest, a beautiful young woman named Kalki, who lives nearby, sheltered by her father. Ramsharan pays a substantial dowry for Kalki and gets her married to his eldest – or so he hopes – for every male in the village, including his younger son, Sooraj, and he himself wants a piece of Kalki – for himself – and are willing to do anything to satiate their non-existent sex-life.
Star Cast of The Film :
- Tulip Joshi … Kalki
- Sudhir Pandey … Ramsharan
- Sushant Singh … Sooraj
- Pankaj Jha … Rakesh
- Piyush Mishra … Jagannath
- Vinamra Pancharia … Raghu
- Mukesh Bhatt … Kachra
- Deepak Kumar Bandhu… Shailesh
- Sanjay Kumar … Brijesh
- Srivas Naidu … Lokesh (as Shrivas Nydu)
- Amin Gazi … Sukha
- Chittaranjan Giri … Pappu
- Farooq Sarkari … Gajendra
- Rajesh Jais … Princess Pinky
- Latesh Chaudhary … Pappu’s Bride (as Latesh Choudhari)
- Gyan Prakash … Bride’s Father
- Neeraj Sood … Gopal
- Sanjeev Kumar … Mohan
- Mrityunjay Panchal … Police Inspector
- Prakash Jais … Announcer of Princess Pinky
- Umashankar Pancharia… Niranjan (Bald Guy)
- Satyajit Mahanti … Porno Operator (as S. Mahanti)
- Imran … Gay guy
- Rohitash Gaud … Pratab (as Rohitashv Gour)
- Aditya Srivastav … Raghu’s Uncle
Development and production :
Director Manish Jha’s debut short film, A Very Very Silent Film (2001), had previously won the Jury Prize for the Best Short Film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002.[8] He got the idea of Matrubhoomi upon reading, in a news magazine, about a village in Gujarat without women. Subsequently, while surfing the web, he read an article mentioning the fact that over the years, millions of girl children had fallen victims to gender discrimination in India. The film’s French producer Patrick Sobelman asked Jha to produce a script outline on the subject, and he put out a two-page synopsis. Within a week he wrote a 200-page script, which he cut back to 70 pages. The project received a green light when its Indian producer Pankej Kharabanda came on board.
Having grown up in Bihar, he said he was aware of the practice of female infanticide and wanted to write a script about a future village if the practice continued. As women became extinct, the film allowed him to bring to light issues like polyandry, bride buying and rape.
Matrubhoomi’s lead actress Tulip Joshi had refused the film after the first reading, but eventually decided to take it up. As she added, “But I’m glad I took it up finally, even though there was a point when I felt disgusted.”
The film was shot on a tight budget of Rs. 2 crore, in Renai, a remote village in Harda district of Madhya Pradesh in 29 days.The cast included actors from Delhi theatre circuit, Sushant Singh, Aditya Shrivastav, Piyush Mishra and Deepak Bandhu.
Themes :
As per director, Manish Jha, “I wanted to examine the emotional and psychological impact of a society without women,” … “It is a very extreme situation … a whole nation without women.”
The central character Kalki being married to five brothers is analogous to Queen Draupadi being married to the Pandava brothers in Mahabharata. Kalki references to the forecast of Vishnu’s tenth incarnation, Kalki, who would end the Kaliyuga.
Release :
After running through the festival circuit, including the 2003 Venice Film Festival, 2003 Toronto International Film Festival, Matrubhoomi was commercially released two years later on 8 July 2005, with 150 prints. It was dubbed into six languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Bengali, and French, on a budget of Rs. 3 crore, to reach a wider audience.
Awards :
- FIPRESCI Award in Parallel Section at the Venice Film Festival 2003
- Audience Award for Best Film at the Kozlin Film Festival 2003, Poland
- Audience Award for Best Foreign Film at Thessaloniki Film Festival, 2003
- Nominated for Golden Alexander (Best Film) at Thessaloniki Film Festival, 2003
- Audience Award for Best Film at River to River. Florence Indian Film Festival, 2003
Matrubhoomi Movie Review :
This film review are Mostly Positive from Critics, IMDB Public Reviewing site give 7.7 Star Out Of 10 Star with Reviewers are 1966.
Manish has definitely brought about a revolution in Story telling in India. With Matrubhoomi not only has he challenged the very fabric of Indian Movie making but also the residing fear in Indians to accept and admit their own apathy towards their own wisdom and creed.
Indian cinema has long been manifested, rather infected with a megalomania of movie making thus fooling the audience into illusions of happiness and so called feel-good-factor. On the contrary, here is a movie that is brilliantly directed to not only present the an imagination perfectly, but also telling the story absolutely pertinent to fathomable future.
Truly this cinema not only shows the harsh realities of female infanticide but also displays a sublime love and purity of womanhood to her kind. It also blends the cruelty of men responsible for female infanticide with a sympathy that veneers their characters due to lack of adulthood.
Critics Rating by Taran Adarsh, from Bollywood Hungama give 2 star out of 5 Star.
Matrubhoomi Movie Box Office Collection :
INDIA
| Schedule | Amount (Rs.) |
|---|---|
| Opening Day | 3,00,000 Rs. |
| End of Opening Weekend | 9,75,000 Rs. |
| End of Week 1 | 14,25,000 Rs. |
| India box office Nett | 17,75,000 Rs. |
| India box office Gross | 26,75,000 Rs. |
| Overseas Gross | $— |
| Worldwide collections Gross | 26,75,000 Rs. |
| Budget | 2,25,00,000 Rs. |
| Verdict | DISASTER |
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