Though the plot pivots on an abusive arranged marriage, this film
shows how families can arrange themselves around problems in a way that
facilitates catastrophe. Because he’s the cherished son working many
jobs to support a multi-generational household, no one challenges or
sanctions Rocky Dhillon (Vansh Bhardwaj) when he unleashes violence on
his new bride, Chand (Preity Zinta). Rocky’s mother worships him. His
sister excuses him. Everyone else in the home fears him. Chand came
from northern India to join this other Punjabi family in Brampton, a
suburb of Toronto.
As director, Mehta sets most scenes in a plain house with sparse
yards, crowded kitchen and fighting children. The lighting is drab,
unlike so much of her work. She uses simple but symbolic
black-and-white sequences to transition into Chand’s interior, where
she draws on mythology (a story she was told by her mother), to figure
out what she can and will do to save herself. Her decision, and action,
at the end of the film will cause debate and disagreement. Mehta does
this well. She confronts viewers with an uncomfortable question: Is
Rocky, by nature, bad or evil, or is he an angry,
immature young man heaped with too much responsibility, who needs to be
disarmed and helped?
This article appears in May 7-13, 2009.