Product Description

Set in 1930s southern India against the backdrop of a growing nationalist movement, BEFORE THE RAINS is the English language debut from acclaimed director Santosh Sivan. An idealistic young man, Bose, 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 (Roache) and a local village woman.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7917 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-03-09
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 94 minutes

Synopsis
Forbidden romance, empire, and culture clash all lie at the heart of this drama. In 1930s India, Britain's reign is beginning to lose its hold on the region. In the midst of this turmoil, a British man (Linus Roache) embarks on an affair with an Indian woman (Nandita Das), while one of the men in the village (Rahul Bose) tries to quell his inner struggle. Santosh Sivan (ASOKA) directs this film that is presented by Merchant Ivory, the renowned force behind HOWARD'S END and THE REMAINS OF THE DAY.

Review
As beautifully shot as The Terrorist ... lovely --Evening Standard

Review
A simple but effective film ... beautifully photographed by Santosh Sivan --Mail on Sunday

Customer Reviews

Stunning Scenery! Deep and Thought Provoking
This must be one of the most beautiful films I have seen in ages and has become one of my top ten favourite films. The scenery is stunning and the story becomes a very visual journey almost intermingled with nature. It is set in the 1930's, when Britain is losing it's hold and popularity in India. British spice baron Henry Moores (Linus Roache) begins a passionate affair with his servant Sajani. When his wife and son arrive in India though, things become complicated. Don't want to spoil the story but there follows jealousy, death and atonement. The whole love affair and deception becomes intermingled with the resentment of the British in India, so it is quite thought provoking as regards the Raj and it's demise. Linus Roache gives a superb performance as a man who wants it all and doesn't foresee the consequences as everything spirals out of control and he stumbles from one disaster to another. Pacewise, it is similar to other Merchant Ivory films and is very like The Painted Veil another beautiful film. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but if you like a scenic film with a sprinkling of action and some depth to it, then you will enjoy this.

atoning for the innocence of anglo-indian love pangs
---atoning for the innocent pangs of forbidden love ------

SANTOSH SIVAN IS TODAY WHAT MIRA NAIR WAS A DECADE AGO-

HE IS INGENIOUS ,INFECTIOUSLY RISKY AND DELIGHTFULLY DEMURE IN HIS SUBTLE PARABLES ON INDIAN FABLES OF LOVE AND STRIFE PORTRAYED IN THE CONTEXT OF RACIAL AND SEXUAL INNUENDOES ,

ALL VERY SENSITIVE AND CONTROVERSIAL AS WELL AS CHALLENGING BUT IMMENSELY PROVOCATIVE AND ECSTATICALLY SATISFYING. .

whether it is srk in ashoka or the tamil terrorist in the ground breaking tamil movie -his protagonists have a passion for their beliefs and a penchant for life which is exuberant and semantic and reflect as metaphors for contemporary themes though they are as old as the planetary existence itself.

kerala in 1937 was a hornets nest with the independence thematic struggle immersed with interracial adultery and deception ,

love and guilt are replaced by lust and crime and racial bigotry is the ultimate metaphor for a cultural clash where marital disharmony is juxtaposed on adultery and surreal human behaviour emanating from egoistical desires which are primal yet controversial in the conservative perspective ,

nandita das and linus roache as the daring lovers, who break the taboo of interracial mingling by indulging their passion, are superb but it is rahul bose who steals the intelligent drama with his stoic ,languid but stupendous silence which can move mountains when the moment arrives as the private assistant of the anglo officer who wants to inhabit both the anglo-indian spheres .

they are all victims of circumstances but there are no martyrs or heroes here and the movie triumphs with portraying the human beings with their shame and flaws as we mortals were designed and that makes it immensely powerful and celebrated art .

kudos to santosh sivan and rahul bose for creating an intelligent movie in a year where a handful can be included in that rare category .

Bored Down With Rain
This film is dreadful, it's supposed to be a love story and one would assume a bit of a weepy. However the film is all style and poor in content, in the typical Merchant Ivory school of filmmaking it looks good there are some nice scenic shots with some stereo typed characters in for good measure. The film is boring and will not tug at any emotions a damp squid avoid.