Angry Indian Goddesses

What starts off as a fairly predictable chick-flick with way too much screeching and wailing becomes - thankfully - something so surprising...your jaw will literally drop to the floor.

This is a film that turns on a knife edge...with the utterance of one very simple line. At first you think it's a man being a bureaucratic man...and then, the reality of the situation whacks you across the face with such a mighty force...there was an audible, sharp in-take of breath in the cinema. Utterly masterful.

Yes, it's obvious...when a bride-to-be refuses to name her groom, you just know that the groom ain't gonna be a groom - in the traditional sense of the word...and, the whole 'coming out of the closet' scene is a bit too twee - especially with the dullard not understanding the whole 'gay' thing...a pedestrian and unnecessary stab at humour.

These are disparate women from the educated and monied castes/classes...they can afford to be daring, they can afford to dress provocatively...and, dare we say, they can afford to be Western. Their treatment of the lower caste/class housemaid is - quite frankly - as reproachful as it is worrying...

To a greater extent...as is the treatment of women by men in the Indian patriarchal society...rest assured, this film is not a man-hating extravaganza (although, it does have its moments)...for sure, this is a biting indictment...on a society, fractured by traditional, religion and, colonialism.

Angry Indian Goddesses heralds a new dawn in the Indian film industry...this is the antithesis of Bollywood gunk...this is a statement. Not a pleasant one...a factual one.

Despite its initial weaknesses, even...the obligatory acoustic lesbian guitar scene (admittedly, not performed by a lesbian)...this is a mighty powerful film that should be seen by each and all.

The final sequence...humanity at its best.

Trailer...