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White Rainbow (film)

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White Rainbow
Official poster
Directed byDharan Mandrayar
Written byDharan Mandrayar
Produced byHannah Kirby
Linda Mandrayar
Starring
CinematographyB. Kannan
Edited byB. Lenin
Music byScore:
Marc Bonilla
Micheal Mason
Production
company
Dharlin Entertainment
Release dates
  • 6 October 2004 (2004-10-06)
(Mill Valley Film Festival)
  • 5 August 2005 (2005-08-05)
(India)
  • 7 April 2006 (2006-04-07)
(United States)
Running time
92–94 minutes[Note 1]
CountriesIndia
United States
LanguagesHindi
English

White Rainbow (also known as Shwet) is a 2005 Indian Hindi and English-language film directed by Dharan Mandrayar and starring Sonali Kulkarni, Amardeep Jha, Shameem Shaikh, and Amruta Subhash.[3][4][2] The film is about the widows of Vrindavan: women who are married off at a young age, lost their husbands due to illness and wear white waiting to return with them in the afterlife. Several of these women are forced out of their house since they rejected a second marriage.[5] The film follows four different widows.[6]

In 2013, Linda Mandrayar founded The White Rainbow Project that helps the widows of Vrindavan make handcrafted clothing and accessories from recycled saris.[7]

Plot

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Cast

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Production

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Linda Mandrayar first learned about the widows of Vrindavan from her son's reading assignment Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan and her husband Dharan Mandrayar decided to make a film about them.[9]

The film was named White Rainbow because Dharan Mandrayar felt that the widows still have lot of life in them.[10] The film began production after Water's (a film also about the Vrindavan widows) shooting was halted in 1999.[5][6] Mandrayar was inspired to make this film after he read about a 13-year-old widow who was forced to go to Vrindavan.[4][11]

Reception

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A critic from The Hindu wrote that "Making a film on the plight of widows in a part of our country calls for strong conviction. Creator Dharan Mandrayar and Prabhu Movies have it in plenty. Otherwise they couldn't have taken up the subject and laid bare the stigma, subjugation and disgrace the husbandless face in a so-called pious milieu".[12] Dennis Harvey of Variety opined that "But writer-helmer Dharan Mandrayar lets episodic pic flatline between excessively melodramatic peaks; fans of florid bad acting will find the ham cut thick here. Tech aspects are decent".[13] A critic from Bollywood Hungama opined that "On the whole, SHWET - WHITE RAINBOW is a poor fare. At the box-office, it's a loser all the way".[14]

A critic from the Deccan Chronicle rated the film four out of five stars and wrote that "The writer/director Dharan Mandrayar should be commended for taking up such a controversial subject and portraying it effectively on screen".[15] A critic from The Economic Times wrote that "The film effectively attempts to highlight the plight of the widows in our society. Director Dharan Mandrayar, nephew of late Sivaji Ganesan should be applauded for the brave and sincere efforts".[16]

Accolades

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The film won Best Feature Film at the Sedona International Film Festival.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Trevenon, Stacy (23 May 2007). "India's widows, philosophy mix in Coastside film night". Half Moon Bay Review. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Bonsall filmmakers tackle ostracism in India". San Diego Union-Tribune. 29 May 2005. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  3. ^ Jarman, Francis (1 June 2005). White Skin, Dark Skin, Power, Dream. Wildside Press LLC. ISBN 9780809511884. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  4. ^ a b Fielding, Julien R. (26 September 2008). Discovering World Religions at 24 Frames Per Second. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810862661. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Film highlights widows' plight". BBC. 9 September 2004. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Films on Widow Abuse Survive Their Own Ordeals". Women's eNews. 14 May 2006. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  7. ^ "Dream in drape to empower women through fashion". DT Next. 20 March 2016.
  8. ^ Rangajaran, Malathi (20 May 2005). "Moving ahead with zest". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  9. ^ Joseph, Raveena (28 April 2015). "A colourful cause". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022.
  10. ^ "'I could see anguish in their eyes'". Rediff. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Film on widows brings Vrindavan to boil". Sify. 25 March 2004. Archived from the original on 7 May 2004.
  12. ^ "Where white is thrust on them". The Hindu. 7 July 2006. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  13. ^ Harvey, Dennis (11 October 2004). "White Rainbow". Variety. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  14. ^ "Shwet – White Rainbow Review 1/5". Bollywood Hungama. 5 August 2005. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  15. ^ "Powerful portrayals mark this film". Deccan Chronicle. 16 July 2006.
  16. ^ "Serious attempt to portray the plight of widows". The Economic Times. 22 July 2006.

Notes

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  1. ^ While Half Moon Bay Review gave the runtime as 92 minutes,[1] The San Diego Union-Tribune gave the runtime as 94 minutes.[2]
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