So if our parents lived in communal areas, used the common kitchen and bathroom, then they are brothers and sisters to each other? Before writing a review for the film, I want to make an explanation of some of the terms that will be encountered in the review. India is a country of huge contrasts. Not only in terms of the abundance of different segments of the population, but also in how these segments see the world. In large cities and in the artistic stratum, multicaste marriages or marriages between representatives of two different religions are not so rare and almost the norm. In rural areas, to this day (21st century in the yard) only some 50 km from Delhi, for marriage without the consent of parents or for marriage between representatives of two different social strata can kill. And your own family. Once loving brothers on the orders of once loving mom and dad. Only blood can wash away the shame of the family. Fortunately, not in all of India, but mostly in the northern part of the country. This is a terrible phenomenon, but in its subcortex - the desire to follow the rules, where each cricket knows its pole, because if you break the rules - chaos will begin. According to such guardians of order and zealous guardians of ancient traditions, in a huge overpopulated country where 700 million people out of 1.2 billion live, to put it mildly, not rich, a system of internal self-regulation like caste is necessary. But sometimes it goes beyond humanity. But if everyone, including the ignorant slave masses, is taught that everyone is equal, people will begin to understand it in their own way. This is guaranteed to lead to pogroms, looting, those who are “equal” and really start chaos. And often caste + love = murder.
And here there are such concepts as Gothra (this is a kind of sub-caste or clan in which several families use the same barn, take water from the same well, etc.). And according to ancient traditions, men and women from the same Gothra do not have the right to marry each other, because they are considered siblings to each other. Even if they belong to different families and are not blood relatives. Clan is a community consisting of 4-5 such gotras. And in one clan, marriages between representatives of these Gothras are also prohibited. But there is a larger community called Khap. Khap is a group of 40 villages run by a council of elders. And all 40 villages, is 10,000 (!) people must obey established rules and traditions. All young lovers in these 40 villages who break these traditions face imminent death. For this is considered a disgrace to the whole khap, and can only be washed away with blood.
It is a classic example of honor killing and reflects a long tradition of constant oppression against women. The Indian government believes that the illegal decisions of the Khap Panchayats should be suppressed by the authorities and the state should review the criminal law to strengthen the accountability of members of such caste councils. However, the Khapov elders believe they are the law itself. They are ridiculing the Indian Constitution. Marriages in India are traditionally committed by conspiracy between parents who choose their child a spouse of the appropriate caste. And breaking traditions, when young Indians want to decide their own fate, often ends in bloody stories. Of course, traditions are good, but as long as they do not contradict the law. India is a democratic country with a constitution that gives everyone the right to choose.
I will not write about the fact that Kush and Riya met on the Internet, it is all written in the abstract. But they found themselves in the village where everything is ruled by her grandfather Riya, about whom she knew nothing until she was 16. The father of Ria, Mathur (Mohnish Behl), the son of the head of the panchayat, 16 years ago simply fled the village with his wife and daughter, who had just been born, unable to withstand the violence and oppression of the panchayat. They lived quietly in Delhi, over the years did not communicate with his father and Mathur worked on the Human Rights Committee. And one day, Mathur and his colleagues go to their village to investigate the murder of several couples of young people who “suddenly committed suicide” on their wedding day.
At this time in Delhi, the relationship Riya and Kushah is developing and they are going to get married. Parents Kusha live in Africa, they are scientists and study some phenomena there (I do not remember the phenomenon of what), but in our modern age they are constantly connected via the Internet via Skype. Thus, they negotiate the wedding of children with parents Riya. It remains only to obtain the consent of the father Riya. In general, they go to that village, and accidentally Riya learns that the elder of the Panchayat is her own grandfather. This creates a lot of problems for young people, but in the end their wedding took place. And the next day, the grandmother of one of the heads of the council of elders came, she is also the keeper of all records about who is by whom. Upon learning the name of her father, she made such a noise that the whole village ran away. It turned out that the father Kusha is the fifth cousin of the second cousin of Rama Singh, grandfather (emphasis on the word grandfather!) of which at one time was in Gothra, the head of which was the father-in-law of the fifth daughter of the grandnephew of the panchayat head of that time. And although Riya and Kush belong to different Gothras and even to different clans, they belong to the same khap, which means they are brother and sister, and they are forbidden to marry, because marriage between brother and sister is a terrible sin that leads to incest and extinction of the whole kind. Oh, how! I can barely remember those entanglements. In general, the panchayat decided to breed a young couple, Riya should tie Kusha Rakha and call him a brother, Kusha to send back to the city, and Riya to marry a guy from another hap, otherwise they will die "according to the law of honor."
In general, these are the problems that arise in young lovers. What was better to watch for yourself, you can not describe everything. I really liked the young actors, I do not know them, but they played with dignity, I was very worried about them. Om Puri as the head of the panchayat is simply gorgeous, such roles give him incredibly no flaws in his work. Mohnish Behl is also very good, in a positive role. I had never seen him as a father before, always as a son, brother or villain. And he was very suitable for this role of the father of an adult 16-year-old daughter. And the other actors were very convincing in their images. The film is a good one, on a social topic. It is interesting to watch, there is something to think about and to worry about.
10 out of 10