Shakuntala
Devi premiered on Amazon prime, a day after her daughter, Ms. Anupama,
officially received the Guinness record certification for her mother's record
in 1980. Even this inordinate delay is not as flawed as the daughter's
relationship with her mother in my opinion. Women are taken for granted even by
their own daughters - And this movie shows how.
Anu Menon, the
director, said she wanted to showcase mother-daughter relationship which has
never received as much attention as mother-son and father-daughter
relationships. This answers people’s concern on why they had just went about in
a touch-and-go manner about Devi’s genius.
If not for the
disclaimer that the movie is based on what Anupama shared, the storyline
shall be brushed off as yet another insensitivity, to appease the
‘masala’-craving audience. But, this comes straight from the woman who shared
that specific bond and post-release, she expressed gladness over whatever was
shown in the movie.
If
this is her stand, me nit-picking her insensitive relationship with her mother
is justified. In a dramatic scene, Devi wants to sign a single cheque
transferring all the money to her daughter. In reality, Devi made a single will
acceding most of her property to a trust, and her daughter sat through a
court settlement to claim a part of it for
her.
An unapologetic woman
Shakuntala
Devi is understandably a story of an unapologetic woman. There is no reason to
expect anything involving her to fit into conventionalism. So was her
relationship with her daughter. I respect that. She was not that stereotypical
mother to advise her daughter to settle down, instead wants her to explore the
world. And interact with people across the world than go to an uncreative
regular school. There are some old school thinking as well. No denying.
But, the daughter seemed to be a carbon copy of
many toxic kids dealing with their parents. There were cutesy scenes and songs
to introduce to us their relationship. Then comes a few minor fights to imply
how the mother had kept her daughter from proper schooling and her father, etc.
But, still there are no major disagreements yet and the story progresses. Next
comes the boyfriend. The daughter wants her family to behave 'normal' to not
scare her would-be in-laws. This is the first of the many face-palming moments
that followed. However, they all act along and we proceed to the marriage
preparation stage.
But, Devi is far from normal. She gets to know
that her son-in-law intends to be with Anupama in Bangalore, not, London, where
she was settled till now. When he says that is normal, she promptly confronts
him as to why the son's parents expecting daughter-in-law to be with them is
normal, but, not the other way around. To which he tells her to ask her
daughter itself what she wants. By this, I understand the daughter never cared
to tell her mother, her decision about moving to Bangalore yet. But, without
wasting a second she revolts with her mother for showing him, her C-section
stitches and storms out of the house.
Irrational daughter?
Rationality
seems to never touch the surface. Any daughter would try to get back to her
mother once the storm settles. But, she goes on to adamantly ignore her so much
so that Devi doesn’t even get to know her daughter’s delivery.
Also, they tell that the daughter is not as
competitive as her mother, which is fine. But what is not ok is the irritation
she displays at the drop of a hat, whenever someone mentions her mother in a
good sense. I understand it would grate anyone's nerves to be asked by everyone
to do a math problem to prove her lineage with Devi, but, how is her mother
supposed to be responsible for others behaviour?
She receives big fat checks from the same
‘intelligent’ mother to develop her business, but, could not stand people
praising her mom before her. Seriously?
Another problematic issue is the way they
blatantly made Shakuntala a liar. Her daughter unabashedly went on to say that
her mother fabricated about her father being gay, just to sell her book. We do
not know the authenticity of this claim. But, is it fair to make such
accusations now when she is dead, but, not when she had all that sweet time
with her alive? How convenient!
To
the end, when they reconcile, we are made to sit through to hear from Devi,
that her son-in-law is indeed a good person. Ultimately, that seems to be the
message Anupama wanted to deliver. That her mother was wrong in judging him and
finally understood how noble of a human her marvellous husband is.
Come to think of it, Had Devi not sent a legal
notice and made an emotional drama out of it, there would have been no such
magnanimous realisation from the daughter's part.
A proving marathon
The
daughter did sneakily sell her version of the story under the pretense of a
biopic, which was supposed to carry forward the maths prodigy’s legacy. This
movie is more of an egoistic affair of the daughter to go on a proving-spree.
My father is not gay - check
My husband is awesome - check
My quarrels with my mother are justified - Check
We have reconciled and I'm qualified to receive
all her accolades now - Check
But, Shakuntala never bothered to prove anyone
any damn thing except her answers to a math puzzle.
Link to this article featured in womens web
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do you think? Let me know in the comment box.
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