I had the pleasure of seeing "Janmadinam" ("Day of Birth") today in a university auditorium, introduced by the director and writer, Suma Josson, who stayed on afterwards to answer questions. It is a contemporary tale from Kerala, a state in the south of India known for its 100% (or close) literacy and sustainable economics. The English subtitles for this Malyalee film, Ms. Josson told us afterwards, were written by her, and she feels very adequately captures the dialogue.
"Janmadinam" describes a woman and her daughter in a hospital waiting for the daughter to give birth. But really there is no definite setting. Rather, time is non-linear, juxtaposed with scenes widely varying in time and place. The temporality works nicely with, for me, two or three "aha" points where a significant portion of the overall plot comes into perspective. Sounds, symbols, and leitmotifs help to make the story cohesive.
To unravel and simplify the plot, the daughter falls in love with a television filmmaker. They share a fateful time in Bombay (Mumbai) during the communal riots of 1993, but the daughter soon finds herself in an arranged marriage with another man. The history of the daughter and her mother and grandmother, and the implications of the two men in the daughter's life forms a scaffold around which the film iteratively builds.
Don't come to "Janmadinam" expecting a "Bollywood" contemporary Indian film, nor an avant garde "art film". On surface level, it's accessible and interesting. Its non-linearity of both time and place is very effective, and there's interesting symbolism on different levels worth pondering. The film narrowly focuses on the daughter and mother, leaving little character development to others. Others in the audience remarked about how the music helped to define the film; I too liked the music, but felt it was too loud as compared to the dialogue. I loved the lush green scenes of the Kerala forests.
I thought it could have been a bit shorter. Nevertheless, "Janmadinam" is a reasonably good, innovative, film worth watching and probably rewatching to catch the many subtle subplots and elements that bring unity to the discontinuities.
--Dilip Nov. 12, 2000
