They
say
all
you
get
from
love
is
a
love
song.
Disasters,
man-made
or
otherwise,
too
can
face
a
similar
destiny.
All
we
really
get
from
disasters
are
disaster
movies.
Some
that
shake
and
stir.
Others
that
move
and
change
lives.
Ravi
Kumar's
melodramatic
recreation
of
the
Bhopal
gas
tragedy,
said
to
be
the
worst
industrial
disaster
in
the
history
of
civilization,
has
an
instant
and
lasting
chemical
reaction.
Cast:
Martin
Sheen,
Rajpal
Yadav,
Tannishtha
Chatterjee,
Mischa
Barton
and
Kal
Penn
Director:
Ravi
Kumar
Plot:
While
familiarising
new
generations
with
the
enormity
of
the
calamity
which
claimed
and
maimed
thousands
of
lives
during
one
December
night
in
1984,
the
short
and
slick
film
also
puts
forward
the
theory
of
arrogant
hegemony
practised
by
US
on
poor
countries.
There
are
portions
of
the
narrative
where
we
watch
the
proceedings
with
a
feeling
of
dread
and
stupefying
horror.
The
ironical
logistics
of
making
a
quaint
Indian
city
a
dumping
ground
for
the
American
Dream,
is
not
lost
on
us.
The
narrative
never
slackens.
Its
vice-like
grip
on
the
moral
dilemma
of
a
town
stricken
by
a
desperate
economic
recession.
The
director
laces
the
dialogues
between
Union
Carbide
personnel
(white
and
brown
skinned)
and
the
unsuspecting
naive
workers,
with
dollops
barbed
cynicism.
The
dialogues
are
strongly
redolent
of
the
stench
that
imperialistic
forces
spread
in
the
Third
World.
Yet
ironically,
this
film
depicts
the
small-city
India
that
the
Westerners
who
adored
Slumdog
Millionaire
love
to
gaze
at:
a
kindly
Chaplinesque
rickshaw-wallah
(Rajpal
Yadav)
and
his
doting
wife
(Tannishtha
Chatterjee),a
wedding
in
their
family
juxtaposed
with
the
disaster
striking
the
town
....a
slimy
journalist
(Kal
Penn,
in
excellent
form)
who
discovers
unplumbed
depths
of
integrity
during
the
crisis,
a
pretty
foreigner
journalist
(Mischa
Barton,
role
unfinished),
adorable
little
peasants
running
around
doing
errands
for
the
privileged
classes....It's
all
there,
packaged
in
a
glorious
display
of
wealth
stealth
and
exploitation.
Performances:
While
the
performances
are
uniformly
convincing,
with
true
actors
like
Rajpal,
Tannishtha,
Kal
Penn,
Fagun
Thakrer,
Joy
Sengupta
and
Vinit
Kumar
blending
fluently
into
the
bleeding
fabric,
it's
Martin
Sheen
who
towers
above
the
entire
cast.
He
brings
to
his
role
of
the
Carbide
killer
elements
of
motivational
integrity
that
make
the
monster
humane
yet
unpardonable.
The
film
is
at
times
deeply
engaging
in
its
exposition
on
nature
and
human
avarice.
The
characters
form
an
integral
part
of
the
narrative.
If
anything,
you
wish
they
would
get
more
space
to
grow
in
the
plot.
Director
Ravi
Kumar
hurls
forward
in
the
quest
of
a
closure
to
a
story
that
defies
all
culmination.
Verdict:
Bhopal:
A
Prayer
For
Rain
leaves
us
with
feeling
of
a
deep
longing
for
the
victims
of
the
Bhopal
gas
tragedy,
and
for
the
victims
of
imperialism
anywhere
at
any
time.
Come
to
think
of
it,
while
the
victims
of
the
tragedy
in
Bhopal
await
justice,
the
only
good
thing
to
come
out
of
the
tragedy
is
this
haunting
dramatic
film.
Not
to
be
missed.