Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain - Martin Sheen, Kal Penn, Mischa Barton, Rajpal Yadav, Tannishta Chatterjee

Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain Song Lyrics :

Abr E Karam 
Sun Zara 






Directors: Ravi Kumar
Producer: Seemanto Roy, Ravi Walia
Star Cast: Martin Sheen, Kal Penn, Mischa Barton, Rajpal Yadav, Tannishta Chatterjee
Release Date: 05 December 2014 (India)
Genre: Drama
Writers: Ravi Kuma, David Brooks
Rating : 3.3/5



Story: The film revisits the Bhopal gas tragedy of December 1984 that left around 3700 people dead and countless others, incapacitated for life.

Review: Ravi Kumar and his co-writer David Brooks(seen in the film as Shane), who worked on the script for nearly five years, manage to touch a raw nerve with this film. This grim tale that recounts the story of the biggest human tragedy caused because of the lethal methyl isocyanate(MIC) leak from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal is compelling.

At the centre of the story is a rickshaw-puller, Dilip (Rajpal) who becomes a Carbider to save his family from starving. Naive to the callousness of the Yankees, who equate India to a third world country and for whom Indian lives are cheap, Dilip is happy to wear their uniform, shake their hand and do a job he is not qualified for. His immediate concerns are getting his younger sister married and pampering his wife Leela (Tannishta). And the actual perils of living surrounding by 40-tonne barrels of the poisonous MIC doesn't strike him or any of his impoverished factory co-workers till death comes calling.

However, Dilip's close friend Motwani (Kal Penn), a journalist with Gandhian values, starts a scathing attack on the American corporation through his newspaper, Voice Of Bhopal. He warns the locals about sleeping with the enemy. Joining the nattily-dressed Motwani(white trousers, colourful shirts) in his conscientious endeavour is American lifestyle journalist Ava (Mischa Barton), who confronts the goras with her searing questions.

Told for a part in the Julia Roberts' Erin Brockovich (2000) and Matt Damon's Promised Land (2012) style, the film lacks gloss but it still works as an eye-opener. It also depicts how even back then India had morally corrupt politicians who barely spared a thought for the plight of the common man! Somethings don't change. In spite of depicting a film based on true incidents, the film is not a documentary and manages to connect emotionally.

SUMMARY

Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain is based on the Bhopal gas disaster that had occurred in India on December 2-3, 1984. 


The film shows events that led to the killing of nearly 3777 people when a poisonous gas leak happened right in the midst of civilisation. Poor farmers who were already suffering from a drought had to bear the brunt of yet another tragedy because some of them found work in this killer factory of the Union Carbide. A rickshaw-puller called Dilip(Rajpal Yadav) is the protagonist. Since he has to get his 17-year-old sister married, Dilip accepts a job in the Carbide factory and he realises his life is in danger when colleagues who are working around MIC(the lethal gas) start falling ill. Some of them get debilitating diseases. Dilip's journalist friend Motwani(Kal Penn) warns him to be careful. But he doesn't pay heed. On the night of his sister's wedding, the gas leaks into the city and the locals are asked to flee. However many perish before they can leave their homes. What is meant to be a night of celebration for Dilip turns into his worst nightmare. Thirty years after the tragedy, Bhopal still shudders with the memory of this calamity that has wreaked their lives forever.

Posted from Times of India