User Reviews

Technically nine out of ten may not be justified in comparison to all the world movies, but with respect to current Indian cinema, it deserved that.

The camera-work is beautiful, and everybody acted superbly, especially the children - which reminds one of Satyajit Ray's expertise in extracting the best performance from kids. Soumitra Chattopadhyay and Irfan Khan were brilliant as usual. And I was delighted to see somebody caring to maintain the accents. Irfan Khan, Prashant Narayanan spoke Bengali with a non-bengali accent, which perfectly fitted the characters. This kind of subtle detail is murdered in most movies these days.

There were a few minor anachronisms, like red-and yellow minibuses (which were introduced to calcutta much later than the time of the story), it would have been better if they could arrange some double-deckers.

The story was really good, a great relief from the Hollywood/Bollywood formula movies, where there must be a 'happily ever after' ending.

Yet it was the story that was the weakest part of this movie. While the start in jutemill child-labourer's camp was unusual, it soon turned out to be a childhood love story. From Ravi buying freedom for Masha till his arriving at the temple was all formula stuff and I was scared that this movie will be another disappointment. But the plot returned from the edge of the cliff as Masha ran away from Ravi due to a misunderstanding. Rest of it reminds of Sharatchandra and O Henry (yes, I cannot consider this as original in any way, only bits and pieces from here and there cemented with good imagination). Another point where I was a little worried was when Ravi meets Masha and their grand daughter at the factory. Why should somebody start talking of her 'long story' to another person right after introduction! I was ready to give her the license of senility, but as it turned out it was justified by the beautiful finishing touch.

When the movie started I thought this is gone be number 166 movie from Bollywood . But I have to admit the moment it began it grabbed me .It is made wit sympathy . It is made with respect for the country and it is made with respect for the people from India.Also the camera work looks great .It is hard to believe that someone from Germany has made it , I'am not saying this of disrespect but actually of in a point view of respect. This because the move is made with understanding of India.This movie is brilliant, the film is made with love and passion. Perhaps it is my best love movie made with intellect.I can recommend this movie to every one who has love and Passion for movie.

Excellent storytelling. Excellent Cinematography. Excellent Art Direction. Excellent Editing. Excellent Acting, specially the child actors. Excellent portrayal of emotions. Excellent Music.

Not so excellent ENDING OF THE STORY.

Let's see why..

Near the ending we see that Ravi finds Masha and THEIR son in the brothel and gives them money. Masha was initially JUSTIFIABLY very much angry with Ravi due to several reasons . Ravi too, got initially angry with Masha when She refused him.

ITS ABSOLUTELY OKAY. JUSTIFIED.

But in the next scene we see that Ravi is going away in a boat, HE IS IN TEARS. Masha is running behind him and after missing the boat, standing helplessly in the jetty, SHE IS ALSO IN TEARS.

Now,you see, BOTH OF THEM ARE IN TEARS, Which means that THE INITIAL ANGER HAS DISSOLVED ON BOTH SIDES, AND THEY ARE NO LONGER ANGRY WITH EACH OTHER.

Now, as a matter of fact, Masha very well knows where Ravi lives.They both are in the same city.

Ravi very well knows where Masha lives,with his son, which is the product of their long standing love.

Now, being SO SENSIBLE a person,as we see him since childhood, how can he NOT meet his lady love and their son for the REST OF HIS LIFE? His son died also , he didn't even care!

And Masha, how can She NOT come to Ravi's house , AT LEAST ONCE in her life, to APOLOGIZE for her Misbehavior on that day?

It is here, where I think the Rationality lacks a bit.

Some might say, that Ravi left his wife for Masha, and when Masha refused him, he left for an unknown destination.

FINE.

But in practice, what we have seen in the film,that THEIR INITIAL ANGER WAS DISSOLVING IMMEDIATELY as they were departed, and they have an EXTREME PASSION FOR EACH OTHER , So much so, that an aged Ravi visits the Factory in hope to see Masha, and a blind old Masha identifies Ravi by his body fragrance and changed voice.

SO, it was just a matter of Time, that a LONELY Ravi will come back to Masha again.

Again at the end when they meet at an old age, Ravi doesn't disclose his identity!

Why did he come then? Only to see her for once?

Okay, but doesn't he have the minimum responsibility to say that he has come to see her? Come on! A blinded Masha is waiting for you Man! She may die any day!! This might be your LAST MEET before you both die!

I think here again, the rationality lacks severely.

Why still I call it a Masterpiece then? Mmmm...I don't know, just MY HEART SAYS IT !

I'm sorry to say this movie is just ridiculous. I started out not expecting anything either way, good or bad. When the movie started it looked very good, namely the whole visual look and feel (photography, sets, colours, costumes, etc.) and the tone of realism in the denouements -- as opposed to feel-good or happy outcomes at every available opportunity -- seemed to promise a lot. That was until both kids grew up. Then the nonsense started.

The simple test that this movie/story fails is: If a boy and a girl were to start out in the time and place where this movie starts i.e. in pre-Independence Bengal, over the next 60 years, how many of the events+people are likely to have evolved as portrayed in the movie? Having lived in India nearly all my life and seeing poor people all around, and having read at least some of the history of India and being aware of the social realities and their evolution in different parts of the country, I am compelled to say that this movie has got it horribly wrong. To illustrate, 1) The 2 lead actors seem grossly miscast for the roles they play. For a child labourer who slaved at manual labour, and for a girl who was initiated into prostitution before she was 10 years old and spent over a decade there, both the actors come across as very very educated. Not only do they never get under the skin of those characters, I felt that it was never expected of them, that they were never meant/expected to do so. The boy goes on to speak flawless English (simple, but flawless), and the girl metamorphoses into a polished middle-class housewife after spending 10 years in a brothel. And mind you, all this is happening in the '60s in Bengal. 2) The single biggest departure from reality is the ease and the nature of the girl's departure from the brothel: the Madam who handles her marries her off to an eligible bachelor, telling her that he is a "dream husband". It doesn't need much knowledge of how prostitution operates in India and in the world in general (read newspapers esp. the crime reports and the occasional news analysis article, & reports by NGOs, & books by social workers, & watch documentaries such as "Born into brothels") to know that this is next to impossible. Also, while a prostitute may have choice, she hardly gets to act like a diva, and a paying customer wouldn't court her like he would a lady in his social circle. Once again, do not we're talking about '60s Bengal.

Some might rebut by saying that the focus is on the love story and how the female protagonist is hard done by; all the other details are irrelevant. But if two individuals couldn't possibly have gone through those times and places to emerge as portrayed, then everything rings hollow, demanding a suspension of disbelief similar to what stereotypical Bollywood fare demands. Some might argue that the emotions and their dynamics are universal, so time and place don;t really matter. But if a Customs officer would never marry a prostitute, and a brothel madam would not let her breadwinner leave, then where is the room for the dynamics to play out?

I have to agree with the reviewer who said that this movie has nothing to do with India. I'd go some distance further and say that this story was actually a perfect fit for a European or US social environment, and was lazily transplanted to India. It could still have been acceptable were it set in post-liberalisation India, but to set THIS story in pre-Independence India is simply moronic. And also, what initially struck me as realism is, in the end, perhaps better described as "third-world pathos" (hat-tip to comeau for his review). For a better portrayal of similar time+place and the problems therein, one is better off watching movies by Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani (Ankur, Nishant, Manthan, Ardh Satya, Aakrosh, etc.)

Calcutta before the independence: a young boy, Ravi, helps a girl, Masha, to escape from a carpet factory and therefore it's pedophile owner but isn't able to flee himself. Years later he has earned enough money to ransom himself and finds work at a small carpet dealer in Calcutta. Masha, who ended up in a brothel after her escape but has waited for Ravi all the years, finds her hopes destroyed when she sees Ravi with the salesman's daughter, believing she is his wife and marries a customs officer, who proposed to her. Ravi, unable to find Masha, marries the salesman's daughter after her father dies. After some months Masha and Ravi meet because Ravi and Masha's husband do business together. Masha and Ravi begin carry on an affair but are parted again when Mashas husband moves to Kerala with her. Years later, Ravi has two children now, Masha's husband visits Ravi and tells him he left Masha because he found out that her child wasn't from him, but from Ravi. Ravi and Masha meet again in the brothel whereto she returned after her husband has left her. Again eons later they meet where everything has begun: Ravi visits the now abandoned carpet factory and finds the now blind Masha living there but he is unable or unwilling to tell her that he is Ravi.

I as a German and a fan of Indian- and Bollywoodcinema was really looking forward seeing this film, made by a German director set in India. Sad thing to say that I was disappointed in almost every possible way. This was one of the very few movies which really made me aggressive. After thinking a lot about how that could happen I found out that it is because Ravi is living an unhappy life only because he is too coward to make one brave decision and be true to his love. He has the change more than five times in the movie and I really hated him for being so stupid. I felt he really didn't deserve to be happy with Masha if he lets her down all the time. I know that life isn't easy, but I think concerning these essential questions a movie should give us at least a little hint how to manage life. And not just show how you to do it wrong all your life like this movie does.

What disappointed me as well is that the film is placed in India but has nothing to do with it. I know love is an universal thing, so true love stories would be the same worldwide but when a German goes to India to make a movie, I think he should include some of the problems lovers have in that specific country. That is what I like about the movies of Mani Ratnam, like DIL SE or BOMBAY which are beautiful love stories but also deal with the problems of his country, like terrorism, religious conflicts etc. SHADOWS OF TIME features none of these topics and therefore it could also be placed in 19th century Great Britain or America for example. Sad thing is that this fact makes the beautiful setting just decor.

So this movie gets one point for the decor and a half for the score (which is nice but one of the typical one-musical-tune-in-a-thousand-variations-soundtracks) but it also gets at least five hundred negative points for the worst story in months.

I really would like to say something different but if you are planning in investigating in this movie (buying a DVD or a ticket), spend it on one of the real great Indian movies, besides of the one's I mentioned above I recommend KAMA SUTRA – A TALE OF LOVE and FIRE.

I watched this movie twice before writing this review, because I felt like I was missing some aspect of the movie, the first time I watched it. At first the movie appeared quite good, especially because it was different from the typical Indian cinema of the modern times. But soon it became clear that amidst the brilliant camera work, the movie is not essentially Indian at its core.

I was ignorant of the fact that it was directed by a German director, and after knowing that, I can only say that this movie could have been a European story rather than an Indian one. I feel that Romance and fatalism should not be mixed without attention to the detail, especially the social& cultural aspects of the story. Barring that, it is a definitely new experience for typical audience of Indian cinema, but as this movie was made for Germany, it doesn't quite reach the standards.