Before the Rains

It started out good, and i was into the beginning.However,a little further through the movie,i found myself disappointed once she took her life.I thought it was a love story where both would of made huge sacrifices to be with each other.But instead,she found love in a man that could never be with her. What i truly could not understand,why was it meant for the viewer to believe that he was in love with her? Yet, he did not have enough affection to admit this,or sabotage his own family.She was a secret basically,her British lover was her lifeline.I did not like that one word of him not acknowledging his love for her, made her lose complete hope,then she took her own life.I thought this part completely ridiculous,but i guess she felt dead with her own husband.It seemed like being married to her own husband was like that of a job or slave, and feelings of being unappreciated.But her life was already in danger being from a culture and people that did not accept infidelity.What a sad life,but like many human beings,we want what we sometimes cannot have, or things that are off limits. Regardless, this British man did her wrong,also his assistant,and his wife as well.Truly, he wanted his cake and eat it too,in my opinion.This poor woman made sacrifices which jeopardized her life,as well as the assistant. Somehow,i was hoping it would not end tragically.When i watch the preview and trailer, it was easy to imagine that she would either be with his assistant, or perhaps the assistant would be jealous of the bond. I wish that was the case, but there was more injustice to these two people that were loyal to this British man.The assistant was wrongly accused and still tried to stay or remain loyal even in the face of death and accusation.But him,just like her, felt indifferent to tradition,and was much of an outcast.Not a film for the romantic at heart...

When you watch a Merchant Ivory production you can expect lush camera views, solid acting and a good story. This is true of Before the Rains. A well performed movie that places remote rural India on lovely and romantic display.The problem is that we have seen and read this story before. From Rudyard Kipling's The Man who Would be King on throughA Passage to IndiaJewel in the CrownPillow Book,Even Merchant Ivory's movies like Heat and Dust orthe otherwise humorous Outsourced,all come down to the same warning. East meets West, man meets woman and; to borrow from another movie: "Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running and screaming." If you add in a pistol, make sure someone has life insurance. Chekov's gun principle rules in the theater of the British Raj.There is a fair wrinkle in this variation of the Raj the love triangle (is it a polygon if the lovers are both also married to others?). The weight of the impending tragedy will fall on NK Neeland the Indian brains behind the Imperial British Heel, sorry this time he is just a planter. NK lives bestride the two cultures. He also has to deal with the rising Indian Independence movement. Ultimately he has to handle all of the details of his boss's love affair then handle all of its implications for the planter and for his own village.Before the Rains is not a bad movie. If you come to this movie before most of those listed above, and have not read the dozens of variations by Kipling or WS Maugham and perhaps a dozen others, you should be able to enjoy this movie. It is performed with heart and shot in a beautiful country. If you have not seen the storyline too many times before; this can be a good entertainment.

Racial and sexual tensions run high in this tragic story of illicit love between a British planter and a village woman in 1937 India. Linus Roache is the planter who hopes to build a road before the Monsoon comes. Kandita Das is Sejani, the lovely servant woman in his house. She is married to a brutal man much older than she. He is married too - with a wife (Jennifer Ehle of Pride and Prejudice), and a young son who are visiting from England. The lovers drive into the jungle (the sacred grove) to make love. It's only a matter of time before Sejani is seen there with a man and her husband finds out.Events start to tumble out of control as the villagers spike up their protests against British rule, which brings work on the new road to a stop. The native manservant, aware of the affair between the two lovers, becomes torn between two worlds - his own heritage and concern for Sejani - and the promise of greater prosperity in partnership with the British.The photography is stunning in its scope and beauty of the wild, untamed jungles of Southern India and its intermittant sculpted tea plantations. An absolutely gripping tale, beautifully told!

Like so many of the films shot in India, the atmospheric photography is absolutely mezmorizing. The main characters are introduced and their relationship is obvious, at least to everyone except perhaps, his wife.A magnificent British Colonial plantation is the main setting, but it's during a rough period of time because of the Indian Government nationalizing foreigh-owned businesses and property.Personally, I would do anything (and I do mean anything) that Linus Roache wanted me to do, so even though the girlfriend really wasn't the goodie-goodie she seemed to be, I still would have made a deal with El Diablo to have been in her position(s) <TIC>The intensity of all the Actors with individual agendas made this film a raging excitement from minute one (1) till the end credits rolling.Good work Folks!!!

This is a good "movie" to watch. It does however repeat the same theme as do so many others of this genre. It is understood that colonists took full advantage of the locals over which they enjoyed playing master. The women were in particular poorly treated by their white male overlords considering the British well understood Indian women be doubly punished in their own society (for falling in love, or rather, believing their white overlords loved them). Nonetheless, a well crafted movie albeit a repeated theme.

Different religions, beliefs, totally different cultures, different expectations. Or you could use the oldfashioned expression 'east is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet' But they do. There always has been an amazing fascination and this fascination has been the source of so many stories. This film is set in the year 1937 we are told and was filmed totally on location in Kerala. How beautiful is the scenery, red earth bright green tea plantations rolling hills a lovely waterfall well designed buildings. An absolutely beautiful setting for this desperately sad story. Linus Roache is an English man whose wife and son return to England leaving him living alone in the very attractive bungalow being looked after by a'native' servant. Nandita Das - an exceptionally beautiful woman and excellent actress. The inevitable happens. The liason is discovered - something which would have been of minor importance in English society but is totally disastrous in rural India. The consequences - the desperate importance and necessary actions needed to avenge what is a complete tragedy are acted out brilliantly. Superb acting, camera work - all in all everything worked beautifully creating an extremely memorable moving film.

Like some of the other reviewers, I hadn't seen this film before I bought it and bought it on the back of the reviews I read here.This is a stunning film - both visually and story wise. It centres itself around the story of a young woman who has an affair with her boss, until it all goes sour. While this is the main focus, the story also draws on the political upheavals in India at that time in history. The story is desperately sad and there is nothing particularly redemptive about it - in other words, unlike most of these mass produced Hollywood movies that seem to have a 'fairytale' ending, there isn't a happy or neatly tied up ending. This is a realistic drama that doesn't spare your feelings and leave you satisfied that it's all OK in the end. Having said that, there is some satisfaction gained from the courage shown by the main male character TK.Highly recommended.

Poor lighting and sound reproduction spoiled what could have been a good account of life for folks starting a new and adventurous life.

A tragic love story set in Colonial India, in the lush landscapes of the South.The main actress, Nandita Das, is the daughter of an old family friend from India, and i remember meeting her once as a young teenager and being struck by her beauty and charisma. She has consistently tried to work in high-quality and original productions, and Before The Rains is a really beautifully made film.

Apart from the minor bit of information about this movie, I decided to take a chance and buy it. I am glad I did because I thoroughly enjoyed it. The star of the movie, actress NANDITA DAS, swayed me so much with her role, that I am now in the process of ordering another three of her movies. If they are as good as this one, I will be elated. It is all in English, so it's perfectly understandable. Buy it, you'll be glad you did.