ANGRY INDIAN GODDESSES (India 2015) ***
Directed by Pan Nalin

Review by Gilbert Seah

The first thing that comes to mind when one hears of the film ANGRY INDIAN GODDESSES is the reason the film is called that. The reason becomes apparent midway during the film when all the characters imitate the Angry Goddess Kali, the Goddess who destroys all evil with her anger. Each character do their best to imitate the Goddess as they pose (their tongues sticking out far as possible) for a group picture. Kali is a Hindu Goddess, the Divine Mother or Mother of the Universe and a destroyer of evil forces.

The film’s characters are not Goddesses in any sense of the word. They are more victims than anything else, but they try to live with their problems with the help of the group. This is the premise behind the new film by Pan Nalin (2001’s SAMSARA) that is billed as India’s first female buddy film. The film was first screened at the Toronto International Film Festival where it was runner-up for the People’s Choice Award. It was also screened at other festivals including Toronto’s Inside Out LGBT Film Festival.

The film is set in Goa, the west Indian state of India known for its beaches. For those unfamiliar, Goa is a popular as a seaside resort, which is an excuse for some pretty beautiful beach/sea scenery, Indian style, a welcome change.

The main character is Frieda (Sarah Jane Dias), a strong-willed and celebrated photographer. Frieda gathers her closest friends on the eve of her wedding. The diverse (and often hilarious) group, a snapshot of modern Indian society includes Su (Sandhya Mridul), a businesswoman and mother; the engaging Nargis (Tannishtha Chatterjee); Jo (Amrit Maghera), an aspiring Bollywood actress; Pammy (Pavleen Gujral), a housewife; Mad (Anushka Manchanda), a singer-songwriter; and the house servant, Lakshmi (Rajshri Deshpande). Everything’s set for a night of celebration. There is only one issue: Frieda will not say who her betrothed is. But as the film has been screened at the Inside Out Festival, it is an easy guess that her betrothed is a woman, who turns out to be Nargis.

Nalin aims his film to be a crowd pleaser. His film moves fast as evident when the film opens when he introduces the audience to 5 of the characters as well as their problems. Jo is asked to do many takes and to show off her body before she storms off the set; Lakshmi is abused for her songs and so on. The film contains too many characters and too many female issues to be effective, though Nalin tries quite hard. It takes a while before the audience can differentiate one character from the next. Too many issues tackled include arranged marriage, gay marriage, gang rape, wife abuse, activism among others. All the actresses try very hard with the result of most scenes ending on a high note.

But the male roles are mostly underwritten with the males present to forward the purpose of the female course. One group of males appear on bikes just to mock and sexually abuse verbally the girls. One shirtless hunk (Anuj Choudhry) is present or the 6 girls to ogle as a sex object. Frieda’s absentee father is another character not progressive enough to accept a same-sex marriage. Nothing is mentioned about Freida’s mother.
Despite the film’s flaws, Nalin’s film is a light and easy watch for the most part, succeeding more as entertainment than a message film. The ending turns too preachy.