Hari-Bhari: Fertility

it's OK

Note: Presented in Hindi with English Subtitles.'Hari-Bhari' features two of my favorite Indian actresses, Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das, in what I like to refer to as the Hindi version of an American film about a group of Chinese women titled 'The Joy Luck Club'. In the case of 'Hari-Bhari' the storyline deals with a familial group of five grown woman living together in an extended family situation. A Mother, her daughters and daughter-in-law not only have to deal daily with the demands of their husbands and children but also learn to live in harmony with the other women.Each woman has her own cross to bear, her own past to deal with and her own future to ultimately determine. Utilizing the same format as 'The Joy Luck Club' the film explores important past events in each woman's life revealing the pain and hardship that has brought them to their present condition and making them the person they have become. The usual themes found in Hindu films about women are present; the strict, traditional obligations of the wife, the pressure to produce a male heir, the lack of educational and occupational opportunities outside the home and the spiritual bonds that serve to reinforce all the above.Hari-Bhari is a first class film in every respect, especially the acting. The women are all exceptional, exuding an atmosphere of unstated hopelessness that naws away at the family unit and is only sporatically displayed by occassional emotional outbursts. This is a film filled with meaning and substance, so if you're looking for a more contempoaray light-hearted song and dance film ala Bollywood this is not the film for you. However if you're looking for cinema with teeth try 'Hari-Bhari.