Vinod Rawat gives us an unconventional film that exhibits the ways in which the mother and daughter carve out a sanctuary for themselves.
MAD review: Captivating film that fuses craft with sensitivity
Cinestaan Rating
Release Date: 14 Oct 2017
Sukhpreet Kahlon
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New Delhi, 16 Oct 2020 11:30 IST
Updated: 06 Jun 2021 12:07 IST
The title of the short film MAD by Vinod Rawat stands for Mother And Daughter. The two parts to the story, one titled Mother and the other Daughter, present the same scenario but with a difference in focus. In both parts, the women have something to say to each other but hesitate on how to broach the subject.
Anu (Rita Heer) comes home late to her mother (Sonal Jha), who has arrived from Patna. She is upset at having missed her father’s death anniversary and the two start to reminisce about the kind of man he was. This leads to a conversation where Anu begins thinking about the men in her life and her fraught relationships, and begins to tell her mother the cause of her anxiety. In the second part, it is the mother who wishes to tell the daughter something that she is afraid to even comprehend.
With just two characters, the director creates an intimate world of the women and their relationship. Both come from different milieus. The mother is based in Patna while the daughter lives in Mumbai. However, both women are lonely and feel trapped by patriarchy and societal expectations in different ways.
MAD is an unconventional film, one that captures the inner life of the characters, their turmoil and anxiety, through the performances of Jha and Heer, who convey much with small gestures. The film captures minute details which draw us in. The fact that the mother sits on the floor as she feels deeply guilty about what she has done while the daughter tells her mother to leave the ‘mothering’ behind tonight allows us a glimpse into the characters.
This is a rare film that exhibits the ways in which the two women carve out a sanctuary for themselves, exercising their choices and finding refuge in each other.
MAD has won several awards and was the #Perfect10 winner at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in 2017.