Bavandar (2000)

reviewed by
Steve Rhodes


SANDSTORM
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2001 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****):  *** 1/2

Writer/director Jagmohan's SANDSTORM (BAWANDAR) is an engrossing and almost incredible true story of social injustice that follows a crime (gang rape) from incident to trial and a bit beyond.

Sanwari Devi is a low-caste potter in a remote village in the Indian desert. Caste, gender and politics turn out to be the most important aspects of the story. Sanwari is played with delicate power by the beautiful Nandita Das, last seen in the United States in the Indian films FIRE and EARTH.

As the movie begins, we are instantly in awe of the beauty of setting. The main mode of transportation in Sanwari's village is a camel-drawn cart. The women's colorful clothes of bright reds and golds are in sharp contrast to the rich brown sands. The story is told in flashback as Amy, a part Indian, part English writer, is there to research material for a book she is writing about Sanwari's plight.

Sanwari is a wife and mother who believes in the traditional values of her culture, which include the marriages of young children. One day, she is short-changed by her employer at her second job. Being bold enough to speak up gives her a reputation as a troublemaker. A high-caste woman in the women's movement arranges for the government to pay her a small stipend to lead local demonstrations against child marriages, which are illegal but ignored by the police.

In order to stop her protests, the old village chief, the priest and three others gang rape Sanwari and beat up her husband. This turns out to be merely the start of the degradation.

Since the perpetrators of the crime are all high-caste, the police ridicule Sanwari and do not even want to take the report of the incident. When forced to record it, they throw one roadblock after another in her way. She is told that it is her responsibility to obtain a rape certification from a certified medical examiner. Getting this entails rousting a magistrate from his home to get a court order, traveling on a bus to another city and enduring insults at the women's police department where she has to stay overnight. Eventually, the story works its way to trial, which plays like a Franz Kafka short story. Through it all, her husband stays by her side and fights along with her, while most other men will have nothing to do with her.

The movie does a masterful job of giving a feeling for the settings and the politics. The handling of the case is so ridiculous that it will make you want to know more. It is the sort of movie that stays with you and leaves you remarking, "My God!," as you leave the theater.

SANDSTORM runs a bit long at 2:05. The film is in Hindi with English subtitles and in English. It is not rated but would be an R for sexual situations. Everything is handled very discreetly by the filmmakers, which means the film would be acceptable for teenagers.

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