Subhash K. Jha

"I don't want to know. But I can't help it," says this gnawing film's protagonist Kaju after the scorching skeletons of her past come tumbling into her present to create an upheaval that she could do without.

Really, it's far more convenient and comfortable to sweep history out of reach. Let sleeping dogs lie...Because the truth is too painful.

In her remarkable debut film, journalist-activist Shonali Bose shows us the pitfalls of forgetting the lessons of our past. The domino effect dominates the psyche of "Amu". You can't get away from looking at the truth straight in the eye as Kaju, freshly returned from Los Angeles armed with her trademark mineral bottle, sets off to discover the "real" India.

Through the character of Kaju's cynical friend (played by newcomer Ankur Khanna), Bose takes perky pot shots at dispossessed people who return to their roots with stars in their eyes and video cameras in their hands.

That entire episode about Kaju's touristy tryst with an awestruck low-income family in a Delhi tenement is funny at one level but also exasperating at another.

You want Bose to get to the point. The build-up takes a bit of doing. Bose takes us into Kaju's warm adopted Bengali joint family.

Enter the gloriously beautiful Brinda Karat as Kaju's mother. Then begins Kaju's confrontation with her adoptive past... "Amu" isn't the first mother-daughter film to take its protagonist through a journey into her troubled past. Tanuja Chandra's "Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar" and Khalid Mohamed's "Fiza" adopted the same fascinating format where the female protagonist journeyed into her past.

What sets "Amu" apart is its historical astuteness and its creator's unblinking regard for the past, no matter how brutal. Providentially, writer-director Bose uses fresh faces - Brinda Karat, of course bringing into this trenchantly conscientious film her real-life commitments as a social activist.

The fluency of the troubled narrative can easily be mistaken for understatement. What Bose does it to create a lightweight framework of foreboding within an environment of 'normalcy' that's ruptured when the past creeps up on the protagonist to splinter her self-worth.

You wish Bose had avoided the cliché of a male companion for Kaju. The little romantic diversion adds nothing to the plot, especially since the young actor Ankur Khanna playing the part is gawky way beyond the requirement of the script.

Those hesitant moments in the script that add substance to the reverberant sorrow of historicity are amply extended into the narrative. The debutante director uses her naturalistic cast to accentuate the breaches and fissures that underline everyday life.

Once Kaju discovers the truth about her troubled past, the screen lights up with sparing images of carnage and barbarism.

Some of it, for example, the sequence on the train in the flashback where Sikh lives are protected from irate mobsters by co-passengers do not have a direct bearing on the plot. What they do is to supplant the essential plot with a credible and persuasive backdrop.

We never really know why individuals become casualties of historical processes. "Amu" reaches a hand in the dark unfathomable void of history to nod awake those fearful whispers that we sweep away to preserve a socio-political equilibrium.

The 1984 riots against the Sikhs left many disturbing questions unanswered. Bose makes a profound attempt to scratch the surface.

There're floating bits of dialogues, which tell us that politicians and cops were directly involved in the carnage against the Sikhs.

At the end we see Kaju and her companion move away from a TV screen announcing riots in Gujarat.

We can afford to move away from the past at the cost of our future. "Amu" serves up that lesson in a language that's gentle and yet rebuking. Bose gets authentic performances from her cast.

Karat and Konkona as mother and daughter share a lacerated warmth. Yashpal Sharma leaves a lasting impact in his one major sequence where he breaks down recalling the riots.

Recollections run across this small-big film like little feet scampering over a riot-torn area. "Amu" finally reaches a point of safe deliverance.

It's interesting to note that this is the fourth important film on communal savagery from a woman director after Pamela Rooks' "A Train To Pakistan", Deepa Mehta's "1947-Earth" and Aparna Sen's "Mr & Mrs Iyer". In fact there's a rather amusing reference to Sen's film when a couple on a train announces itself as "Mr & Mrs Iyer" to rioters.

Sometimes a smile is the best healing touch one can provide. "Amu" provides moments of joy even as it relives the nightmarish sorrow of one of our most shameful and brutal chapters in history.

I have heard about this movie, and hunted everywhere in Toronto for a copy without success. With the high population of Sikhs in Toronto, that was surprising.

If you know where I can get a copy to watch it, please let me know.

Thanks

Thank you very much. I will let you know my feedback after I watch it.

Hi Petal,

the link only shows a 1 minute trailer -Am I missing something?

I am assuming you are from Tdot with your post above..have you checked Little India aka Gerrard Square and nothing??

quote:

Originally posted by Cher:
I am assuming you are from Tdot with your post above..have you checked Little India aka Gerrard Square and nothing??

Not recently, but I asked the stores for it last fall. Any particular store you can suggest?

quote:

Originally posted by Venkat:
Hi Petal,

the link only shows a 1 minute trailer -Am I missing something?

I think you have to sign up and at the top right there's an option to download it.

Cher may be right, check again. I gave away my only copy yesterday or else I could have passed it on to Amral to send to you.

Thank you very much, Petal. I don't usually like to sign up for peer-to-peer file-share sites because of the load on my bandwidth. I will ask around again in T.O. to find a good copy and watch it on TV.

quote:

Originally posted by Venkat:
Thank you very much, Petal. I don't usually like to sign up for peer-to-peer file-share sites because of the load on my bandwidth. I will ask around again in T.O. to find a good copy and watch it on TV.

The only place that comes to mind that would have that or can get you it and no they don't sell burned copies (Petal would be proud )...is Ansar at www.wiconline.com ..tell him Cher sent you

Thanks, Cher. I will check it out. Do they have a retail outlet, or is it online sales only?

They have a store in the flea market...address listed on the website but you can always called first to make sure he has it once again # provided on website as well He is pretty cool and will take care of you.

I saw Amu last summer at the ImagineAsian in Manhattan. The director and her husband were there. I believe some comments were made on an earlier thread.

Beautiful movie. Konkona, who never visited the US was very believable as someone from California. Poignant story against the backdrop of the riots in the nineties where atrocities were committed against each group, powered by fanatics.

Legal action still continues from those times.

I bought Amu yesterday at B4U in Scar..for $5.
will try to watch it over the wknd.

quote:

Originally posted by Venkat:
I have heard about this movie, and hunted everywhere in Toronto for a copy without success. With the high population of Sikhs in Toronto, that was surprising.

If you know where I can get a copy to watch it, please let me know.

Thanks

Venkat, try B4U in Scarborough, they have it there for just $5.00 good clean copy too.

thanks a lot, Seema. Where is B4U? Markham / Lawrence?

quote:

Originally posted by Venkat:
thanks a lot, Seema. Where is B4U? Markham / Lawrence?

Yup...in soonlee plaza. while ur there go to india town(next door..same plaza) and get some Rasmelai too......yummmy!!

Thanks, Seema.

The best Rasmalai used to be at Rasoee at Birchmt / ellesmere, but that has changed hands, and I don't know if it is the same

Hmmm rasmallai…the best is homemade which I’ll be getting soon

Hope you both enjoy(ed) the movie.

Don't think I've ever had that.

Speaking of Rasmalai I had some really good one at Moti Mahal at Gerrard Street today. That was soooo good. I had some jelebi too. Yum!

This weekend my sister brought me a huge bag of Gulab Jumon ..man I love that thing!! I am in heaven!!

Cher, I went to tandoori flame in miss. a few wks..love their gulab jamoon. it is so soft and deliciousooo sweet... it melts on the tongue.

Amu has become a Gulab Jamun thread !

Royal India Sweets on Kennedy in Brampton near Kennedy Supermarket is the place for it.