DRAMA; 1hr 41min
STARRING: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik
Trouble and strife: Kaushik and Chatterjee
Banished to London and an arranged Muslim marriage, Nazneen (Chatterjee) dreams of her native Bangladesh and tolerates her lordly, big-talking husband Chanu (Kaushik). Nazneen is beautiful, compliant and as unhappy as only an outcast can be. The drab flat in which she, Chanu and their two sparky daughters are cramped together is no compensation for the jewel-box glories of home. Then Nazneen has an affair with a hot-headed Muslim idealist (Christopher Simpson) and the Twin Towers are decimated. Caught between two realities, she needs a new moral compass.
Director Sarah Gavron’s solemn take on Monica Ali’s much-praised 2003 novel is poetic and reflective enough, but Nazneen never really comes alive. It’s Chanu who is the sly and beguiling star of her self-absorbed show. A pompous ass with a pure heart, there is more spark in his chubby little finger than in his wife’s entire languid body.
