Maatr is also known as mother. It’s a powerful film looking into the judicial and societal system in India in response to sexual assault.
A mother and her daughter and friend are out driving by themselves after a school function late at night. From behind them, they see a car following. The car and its drivers ram the girl’s vehicle causing it to wreck. From this point, the guys that are in the car kidnap the girls. They gang-rape the mother and the girls. The mother survives the horrible ordeal but the daughter dies.
Mother takes it upon herself to track down those who raped and killed her daughter.
She seeks out help for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. She goes to the police, the judges, and other governmental organizations. She has nowhere to turn to. The offenders even threaten her and her family if she continues her fight for justice. Even, the husband doesn’t do much to defend his wife in the aftermath of the incident.
She remains steadfast in her cause and she begins to investigate other cases herself. She trains and prepares herself to be the one to bring these wrongdoers to justice. She, in essence, takes the law into her own hands. She tracks them down and executes the greatest punishments all without blinking an eye.
Ravenna Tandon gives a powerful performance as the mother of the slain girl. This is Tandon’s first film in a long while. So, audiences will be glad to see her on their screens one again.
You really can see the ranges of emotions that a mother would go through in this situation. Ranging from grief, shock, hopelessness, then to anger, and vengeance.
At times, especially during the sensitive scenes, the movie is hard and uncomfortable to watch. But, as these are real and true happenings it helps remind what is really going on the in the world. The movie even goes as far as proclaiming Dehli, India as the “rape” capital of India on the trailer. As the trailer states, “In India, a total of 34,651 rape cases were reported in 2015. Only 5-6% of rape cases are ever reported.” These a very shocking facts.
But, the filmmakers should be applauded for bringing this issue and undeniable facts to light.
This movie would definitely be categorized as a revenge saga movie and it follows that story line closely.
The film was shot in 2016 in Delhi and Haryana.
Music for the film is composed and arranged by the Sufi Pakistani band Fuzon.
Powerful film bringing not only an issue throughout India but the world to the forefront.
Film Details:
Genre: Bollywood, Hindi, Drama, Thriller
Cast: Ravenna Tandon, Madhur Mittal, Alisha Khan, Divya Jadgale, Anurag Arora, Rushad Rana, Saleem Khan and Shalee Goel
Director: Ashtar Sayed
Writer/Screenplay: Michael Pellico
Production Company: CBD Musical, Pugmark Films
Release Date: April 21st, 2017
Movie Runtime: 1 hour and 53 minutes
Official YouTube Trailer: