Deham

Deham (The Body) is a 2001 film directed by Govind Nihalani based on playwright Manjula Padmanabhan's play Harvest. It has Kitu Gidwani, Joy Sengupta, Alyy Khan, Surekha Sikri and Julie Ames in lead roles.[1][2] One of the few English language films made in India, it is a futuristic story depicting the organ sale from relatively poorer countries to the rich.[3] Nihalani himself called it a "serious social sci-fi film".[4] Deham won the prestigious Netpac (Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema) award for the Best Asian Film at the 25th Goteborg Film Festival, 2002, in Sweden.[5]

Deham
Directed byGovind Nihalani
Written byGovind Nihalani (screenplay)
Manjula Padmanabhan (play)
StarringKitu Gidwani, Joy Sengupta, Alyy Khan, Surekha Sikri and Julie Ames
Music byRoy Venkatraman
CinematographyGovind Nihalani
Edited byDeepa Bhatia
Release date
2001
Running time
120 min
CountryIndia
LanguageEnglish

Plot

It's 2022. Om Prakash, a jobless young man lives with his wife Jaya, mother and younger brother Jeetu in a one-room tenement in Mumbai. He falls for a multinational company's offer to provide his family a life of luxury for the rest of their lives in exchange for body organs for wealthy foreign clients. The family's life changes as he signs the contract. They lose their privacy as the company watches their every move. As part of the contract, Om has to pose as a bachelor and Jaya, his wife, is forced to call herself his sister. But Jeetu, who works as a gigolo, refuses to permit himself to be controlled and walks out of home. After few months as Om, Jaya and his mother, are growing accustomed to their new life, Jeetu comes back, battered and beaten. As Jaya nurses him the time for the organ transplants comes. The company officials come and take away Jeetu instead of Om for the transplants. Jaya, who has been putting up with it all for long, finally, refuses to become a party to the contract and chooses freedom instead.[6][7]

Reception

Govind Nihalani's strong credentials as one of the finest directors of Indian cinema apart, the reviews were mostly unfavourable. "Unforgivably bludgeoning Manjula Padmanabhan's cleverly-crafted play with poor FX and miserly production values, Nihalani stumbles," Pramila N. Phatarphekar wrote in Outlook calling the film's vision "impaired".[8]

"..you cannot help but feel sorry for a plot that has been mutilated carelessly," wrote Priya Ganapati, reviewing the film for Rediff, adding, "What makes it an utter disaster is its combination of a terrible screenplay, stilted acting, poor dialogues and more important, an inability to infuse soul or imagination to a plot that in its very premise demands an abundance of it."[7]

Cast
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References
  1. "Deham". IMDB. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  2. "Govind Nihalani-Deham". Chaosmag. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  3. "Twenty Years After Ardh Satya". The Hindu. 29 April 2002. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  4. "Sci-fi with a human face". India Today. 6 May 2002. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  5. "Deham gets Best Asian Film award". Times of India. 9 February 2002. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  6. "Deham". Sify. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  7. "An out of body experience". Rediff. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  8. "Deham - Showtime". Outlook. 13 May 2002. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
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