Henry Moores (Linus Roache), a British spice baron based in the lush environs of southern India, has no shortage of ambition. If he can build a road to the jungle before monsoon season, exporting his goods will be a breeze. And in T.K. Neelan (Rahul Bose), who hails from the same village as the field workers, he has an invaluable right-hand man.
Moores has become involved with his servant Sajani (Nandita Das), who believes him when he says he’s in love with her. But Moores keeps the relationship a secret from his wife, Laura (Jennifer Ehle), and son, Peter (Leopold Benedict).
Before the Rains
‘Rains’ pours down emotion
Tom Long / Detroit News Film Critic
There’s an exquisite pain to “Before the Rains,” an anguish that feels real on so many levels – social, personal, political, romantic – it’s both overwhelming and somehow cleansing.
The film is a romantic tragedy that takes place in 1930s India. Aspiring spice merchant Henry Moores (Linus Roache) has set up a home in a remote area and is hoping to build a road that will survive the annual monsoons and guarantee his wares passage to England.
Plotting the route is the English-educated T.K. (Rahul Bose), as much friend as assistant to Moores, and a man thoroughly excited about the prospects of the modern world.
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Trouble is brewing though, as Moores is having an affair with his servant, Sajani (Nandita Das), a married woman from the nearby village, while his own wife and child are away.
T.K. senses the affair, and knows the village will rise up against Moores if it’s discovered. When Moores’ wife (Jennifer Ehle) returns home, the anxiety in the air becomes dangerously electric. And when Sajani is beaten bloody by her jealous husband, the film begins making tragic turn after turn.
All this plays out against a backdrop of India in motion, struggling to emerge free from British rule while still leaning on the ambitions of Westerners. And torn from every side is T.K.
Director Santosh Sivan loves his camera and the lush landscape of remote India, focusing in time and again on the natural beauty that transcends the human foibles being acted out in their midst.
But he and screenwriters Cathy Rabin and Dan Verete also breathe real life into their conflicted characters. The result is a deep, dark and rich brew of contrasts between cultures, time periods and loyalties.
Stirring and filled with sad beauty and grandeur, “Before the Rains” offers a tale of torn tradition and perverted progress wrapped around smothered love. It hurts to watch this film. It should.
1:37 PG-13 (for violent content and a scene of sexuality)
B-
Genre: Drama
Cast: Leopold Benedict, Rahul Bose, Nandita Das, Jennifer Ehle, Indrajit
Director: Santosh Sivan
Official Site
Set in 1930s southern India against the backdrop of a growing nationalist movement, “Before the Rains” is the English language debut of acclaimed Indian director Santosh Sivan. An idealistic young Indian man finds himself torn between his ambitions for the future and his loyalty to the past when people in his village learn of an affair between his British boss and a village woman.
As his paradise begins to disintegrate, Moores calls on T.K. for help. But some problems aren’t so easily solved.
Directed by Santosh Sivan (“The Terrorist”) from a screenplay by Cathy Rabin, “Before the Rains” — which was screened at the recent Tribeca Film Festival in New York — is a melodrama with political undertones. The film is set in 1937, a time of Indian resentment toward British rule. Clearly, the proceedings have a metaphorical dimension. But to the filmmakers’ credit, Moores is far too complex to be a mere caricature.
Unfortunately, the character is caught in an all-too-predictable scenario involving sex, lies and suicide, which Sivan serves up as if it’s fresher than spring rain.
Still, Roache — who starred with Helena Bonham Carter in “The Wings of the Dove” and recently joined the cast of “Law & Order” — turns in an intriguing performance as a man whose biggest struggle is with himself. Also impressive is Bose, who gracefully traces T.K.'s transition from wide-eyed naïf to world-weary survivor.