Trishna

Trisha is a modern take on Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbevilles set in India and starring Riz Ahmed (Four Lions) and Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire). Trishna (Pinto) is the eldest daughter in a large rural family who has to work in order to help support her family. Jay (Ahmed) is the son of a rich businessman who was bought up in England and is on a tour of India with friends. At a chance meeting there is chemistry between the couple but their different backgrounds and social taboos make a romance impossible. After Trishna’s father is severely injured in an accident, Trishna is forced to take on more work and is offered a well paid job at Jay’s father’s hotel in Jaipur. After taking up the job a romance begins which is played out in Jiapur and Mumbai. The relationship is strained by Trishna’s feelings of being torn by her duty and traditions of her family and the opportunities her meeting with Jay has provided for her. Jay meanwhile increasingly exploits Trishna for his own gratification and their relationship is further strained with dramatic consequences.

The film’s setting is truly beautiful. This is the second film I’ve watched this week set in a Jiapur hotel (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) and I’d happily watch another two. The scenery and cityscape is that beautiful. The film also features beautiful music and dancing and in my mind the worlds most beautiful actress, Freida Pinto. The film successfully transports the social themes that are present in Hardy’s novel to modern day Rajasthan as many of the themes of class, sexual taboo, exploitation and a deep gap between rich and poor are still common place in 21^st Century India. The film has a good stab and at least looking at some of those themes and its two characters’ are well written to deal with them.

Riz Ahmed, perhaps most famous for his role in Four Lions but who I first discovered as a rapper (Video Here) is excellent. He is believable as the rich English-Indian in the first two acts but his gradual transformation to something more sinister is even more successful. He does it very subtly while the audience are still rooting for him. Freida Pinto is even better. This is definitely her film. She is thoroughly convincing as a poor Indian villager who is wowed by the trappings of Western riches and manages to maintain her shy victim like persona even when she isn’t. The hurt she shows towards the end of the film is felt by the whole audience and her last few scenes are shocking but she pulls it off well. Her only downfall unfortunately is her looks. When sat in a peasant house is rural Rajasthan she does stick out a bit, but you can’t really hold that against her.

Dang!

The film is a successful translation of a popular and frequently adapted literary source. Both actors are great and you feel like their relationship is real and not just on screen. The film looks beautiful and manages to get across both modern and traditional India’s successes and failures. I really enjoyed it.   

8/10