Angry Indian Goddesses

Angry Indian Goddesses
Film poster
Directed by	Pan Nalin
Produced by	Gaurav Dhingra Pan Nalin
Written by	Pan Nalin, Subhadra Mahajan, Arsala Qureishi
Screenplay by	Pan Nalin
Story by	Pan Nalin
Starring	Sandhya Mridul Tannishtha Chatterjee Sarah-Jane Dias Anushka Manchanda Amrit Maghera Rajshri Deshpande
Cinematography	Swapnil Suhas Sonawane
Edited by	Shreyas Beltangdy
Release date	18 September 2015 (2015-09-18) (TIFF) 27 November 2015 (2015-11-27) (India)
Running time	115 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Angry Indian Goddesses is a 2015 Indian Hindi drama film, directed by Pan Nalin and produced under the banner 'Jungle Book Entertainment' presentation. It stars Sandhya Mridul, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Sarah-Jane Dias, Anushka Manchanda, Amrit Maghera, Rajshri Deshpande, and Pavleen Gujral with Adil Hussain. It was screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, where it finished second for the People's Choice Award.^[1][2] Described as "India's first buddy female pic", the film highlights and showcases numerous issues faced by residents of the country such as gender inequality, women as objectified sex objects, gay-straight friendships, big business vs. tribal rights, rape problem, caste differences, skin-color prejudice and lax justice. The film was released worldwide on November 27, 2015, to a mixed critical reception. ^[3]

Plot

Freida (Sarah-Jane Dias) is a fashion photographer who invites a group of friends to her family's home to announce that she is getting married. The group consists of Madhurita or Mad (Anushka Manchanda), a Bollywood singer, Pamela Jaswal or Pammy (Pavleen Gujral), a trophy wife, Suranjana or Su (Sandhya Mridul), a businesswoman, Nargis (Tannishtha Chatterjee), an activist and Joanna or Jo (Amrit Maghera), an aspiring actress. The announcement sets off a chain of reactions, letting out hidden secrets. After the announcement, the wild bunch of girls from all over India descends upon Goa. Thus begins an impromptu bachelorette party, and a riotous roller-coaster ride of girl-bonding. Amidst the fun and frenzy, the girls are oblivious of the impending doom and go on living life like there is no tomorrow.

Everything's set for a night of celebration. There's only one issue: Frieda won't say who her betrothed is. As they banter their way through celebration, their conversation, derived entirely from improvisations among the actors, covers everything from sex to street harassment to the buff (and often shirtless) next-door neighbour. During the trip, the women are harassed and they react boldly. Their harassers are enraged and they are shaken. As the holiday progresses, we become acquainted with the women's dreams, desires, fears and, above all, their unwavering bond with one another -a bond that eventually takes them to extreme lengths. Later, the ladies come to know that Freida is getting married to Nargis (which was illegal under the IPC section 377 until 6th September 2018). A night before the marriage, the group decides to party . At the party, a heated argument between Jo and the ladies regarding her accent leads Jo to walk out, but the party continues till late in the night. When they decide to go home, they look about for Jo . She is found dead on the beach, apparently raped. The doctor, who arrives in the ambulance, refuses to remove her before the police come as she is already dead. The police reach shortly and the police officer in charge (Adil Hussain) conducts his preliminary inquiries in a manner that shames the women, reiterating their lack of faith in a patriarchal society that treats women shabbily. They go home, distraught and frustrated. Su's daughter Maya had followed Jo when she left the party and took photos of her subsequently. The pictures reveal that it is the group of men who had harassed the friends earlier that raped Jo. One of the women, Su, heads back to the beach with a gun. The rest of the group chases after her. Su shoots 3 of the rapists before Nargis stops her, Mad takes the gun and kills the other two. At Jo's funeral, the group makes a series of sentimental speeches, Nargis' speech summarizing the worth of a woman and hopes that in the next lives of women, they would be able to write their own stories. The police officer interrupts the ceremony, asking for a confession of guilt from the women and wanting them to stand up. The story has an open-ended conclusion with the entire congregation in the church standing up in solidarity with the women.

Cast

• Sarah-Jane Dias as Freida De Silva - She is a fashion photographer by profession who doesn't hesitate to express her opinions. The binding agent of the group which adores her. She gets emotional at the mention of her dad who isn't attending her wedding.
• Tannishtha Chatterjee as Nargis Nasreen - The revolutionary. She is the one fighting the big corporates for the tribals and the poor. She has had her run - ins with Su.
• Anushka Manchanda as Madhurita aka 'Mad' - She is a singer in Bollywood. She is Freida's oldest friend and lives in Mumbai. Travels the country for shows and concerts but deep down inside still is hanging on to a 12-song album she wants to bring out for the world to hear because she believe that is her best work. She feels that her career is going down-hill. Zain is her boyfriend who cares about Mad a lot.
• Sandhya Mridul as Suranjana aka 'Su' - Businesswoman who is heading a multimillion-dollar project. Arrives in Goa with her 6 year old kid Maya in tow. Is always on the cell phone or working away on her laptop even when she is on a vacation. Is less of a mother but more of a guardian of her own kid, but her life turns around when she sees her daughter's talent in photography and gets a reality bite. She has a past with Nargis.
• Amrit Maghera as Joanna Mendes aka 'Jo' - The half-British, 25 year old chirpy aspiring actress and cousin of Freida. Focused on improving her Hindi so that she can be a part of the Hindi film industry. Hates it completely when the Hindi film industry typecasts women. Jo is the key link in the scheme of things in the film. She is the one who encourages Lakshmi to let go of her anger. She is the one who brings Su closer to her daughter Maya. She is the reason why Mad smiles and sings a song that goes viral.
• Rajshri Deshpande as Lakshmi - Freida's maid, who is less of a maid but more of a family member to Freida and Jo. She is the affable soul who is hurting from within as the system has failed her. Her life's mission is to seek revenge from the one who has wronged her. Tony, the bar-owner had shot her brother dead before her eyes and managed to get bail. The court case is lingering since the last 8 years as she is the sole witness to the murder. She has damaged his bar and threatened to kill him.
• Pavleen Gujral as Pamela Jaiswal aka 'Pammy' - The gold medalist turned trophy housewife. She is the one who gave up on her dreams to accommodate her parents' wish. Though from the outside her marriage seems intact, that is not the case. She is child-less and her mother-in-law blames her for that. Pammy feels that divorce is now the only way out to save herself.
• Arjun Mathur as Zain -in a special appearance as Madhurita's boy-friend, who drives down to Goa from Mumbai searching for Mad, who did not bother to contact him after reaching Goa.
• Adil Hussain as in a special appearance as Police Superintendent, Goa Police.
• Jeffrey Goldberg as Chris
• Vikram Kochhar as agent
• Anuj Choudhary in a special appearance as the neighbour.
• Rajesh Karekar as Tony
• Dr. Swapnil Salkar as doctor

Soundtrack

The film's music was composed by Cyril Morin and produced by Super Cassettes Industries Limited. Song lyrics were written by Raman Negi, Anushka Manchanda, and Dr. Swapnil Salkar.

Title Sequence

The film's opening title sequence was designed by Mumbai-based VFX & Animation studio, Plexus. The title sequence was featured by Artofthetitle.com, the definitive online resource for title sequence design, as one of the top ten title sequences of 2015.^[4] The studio's founders and motion graphics artists Vijesh Rajan and Yashoda Parthasarthy were also interviewed by the Artofthetitle.com staff about their process for designing the title sequence.^[5] Despite receiving these international accolades, the title sequence was asked to be censored and blurred in its entirety by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for its Indian release. ^[6][7]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Angry Indian Goddesses.

• Angry Indian Goddesses on IMDb
• Official website