Almost 20 years after his student film, “Bye Bye Miss Goodnight” (2005), Karan Kandhari makes another comedy-drama. “Sister Midnight” gathered 8 nominations in total, at such events as the British Independent Film Awards and the 77th Cannes Film Festival.
Sister Midnight is screening at Black Movie
Set in Mumbai, one of the most congested urban areas of India, the narrative follows Uma (Radhika Apte) and her attempts to find herself in a new reality, as she just moved in with her new husband, Gopal (Ashok Pathak), after an arranged marriage. They stay in a tiny one-room house, but Gopal, preferring to drink with friends after work, is rarely there. Her sole companion is the neighbour, Sheetal (Chhaya Kadam). Bored and disregarded, Uma becomes more and more frustrated. However, out of this frustration comes determination to change her situation.
At the beginning, due to a lot of exposition with very sparse dialogue, the movie does not offer much information. Through numerous scenes of everyday life activities spiced up by the heroine’s crass humour, the viewer sees how the protagonist learns the basics of running a household, or at least she tries. Starting as a call for a feminist rebellion of sorts, the story takes a sharp turn in the middle and gives in to the bestial, thriller-like plot. Although there is a noticeable change of pace, the film appears to continue to concentrate on the fight of the individual against societal customs.
At the beginning, the main character, remarkably portrayed by Radhika Apte, is confused and suffocated. As she slowly learns how to be a housewife, she begins to notice disturbing symptoms. At first, she suspects it’s some kind of sickness, but it’s something much more difficult to control – her instincts. The award-winning Indian actress proves to be a gifted comedian, perfect for the film’s vulgar and situational humour.
Full of strong contrasts and static shots, the cinematography by Sverre Sørdal is nicely complemented by hard-cut editing by Napoleon Stratogiannakis. Sudden changes in the setting leave the viewer as confused as the heroine herself. The soundtrack by Paul Banks, best known for being a member of the American rock band Interpol, largely consists of songs reminiscent of American Westerns, which in the end, feels like an inadequate choice as they don’t fit the atmosphere of India. However, the picture is nicely rounded off in an unusual way – with stop-motion animation.
Touching on the subject of social expectations, nonconformism and female friendship, “Sister Midnight” provides the viewer with content for analysis and reflection. Especially considering the fact that arranged marriages are still very popular in India. Although quite Westernised, around 90% of people are leaning towards an arranged marriage option. What’s more, in contrast to what the movie seems to suggest, polls indicate that most of these marriages are happy ones. Despite these qualities, the film seems to take on more than it can handle and the themes it raises are not fully explored, leaving the audience unsatisfied.
