460. Daana Paani; movie review

DAANA PAANI
Cert PG
105 mins

BBFC advice: Contains infrequent mild violence

Are Indian film-makers and audiences blind towards age?
The whole premise of Daana Paani is that the key characters of Basant Kaur and Mehtaab Singh were married when they were children and were reunited as adults.
By that time Basant is late teens or early 20s and Mehtaab is of similar age or at most about two or three years older.
But hold on... Simi Chahal is a young-looking 26 so could happily fulfil the role but Jimmy Shergill is 48.
To be fair he is a fit and handsome fella but he looks and is old enough to be her dad.
This poses the question of whether there no young Punjabi actors who could have been the lead or whether the studios are just tempted by what they see as a safe bet.

Anyway, neither Chahal nor Shergill are in the first part of the movie during which a child bride is married off after her father dies suddenly.
She remains with her family until her groom becomes of age and, after a few years, learns that he has gone off to the Indo-China war.
Thus, the two stories which comprise Tarnvir Singh Jagpal's film run in parallel from a rural Indian village and the frontline.
Both are engaging in their own ways but it is only when they overlap that Daana Paani grips most firmly.
Daana Paani provokes thought about several planks of Indian culture.
It poses questions about arranged marriage, particularly of children, and hits hard at the preservation of honour rather than widows re-marrying.
It also touches on the futility of war.
However, while its points are laudable, I was left wondering whether Jagpal had spread his film too thinly.

Reasons to watch: A intriguing tale of bad luck, love and duty
Reasons to avoid: Low on action

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6.5/10

The big question - Will traditional honour ever fully disappear among Indian families?

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