 "Radhika Apte’s Sister Midnight movie review")
Director: Karan Kandhari
Language: Hindi
Cast: Radhika Apte, Ashok Pathak, Chhaya Kadam, Smita Tambe, Subhash Chandra
The story is about Uma (Radhika Apte), a newly wedded bride who comes to live with her husband Gopal (Ashok Pathak) in a dingy slum in Mumbai. Sister Midnight through its different visuals shows that life isn’t easy and how there is a huge disparity between the rich and poor like the way you have the huge high rises, you too have the shabby, stinking slums. Like there is a saying, when in Mumbai always look up, don’t look down.
Going back to the story of Sister Midnight , the protagonist Uma (Radhika Apte) is a ‘weirdo’. She finds it difficult to adjust in the city. She doesn’t know how to take care of her house or her husband. She has been married once before getting married to Gopal. Gopal and Uma were childhood friends, but when Uma was just eight years old they lost touch with each other. She has no manners. She snores loudly like a man, completely oblivious about how to run a house. She rarely eats regular food and when she does, she eats like an animal and is unable to digest dal-chawal. And there is a reason behind it. She loves to suck on the blood of animals and birds and bandages and hides bodies of the animals and birds she kills in the house.
Nobody likes Uma in her locality, not because they know that she kills, but because of her weird ways. She just doesn’t have a domestic bone in her body and that’s what makes the neighbours in her slum suspicious. The only person who kind of loves and supports her is her neighbour played by Chhaya Kadam . While making love with her husband, he dies and keeps the corpse of her husband in the house and when the body starts rotting and another neighbour who starts suspecting her, she kills that woman too.
While watching the film, there are times you may feel as to what’s going on? But it’s worth the wait. And I must say Radhika Apte with her brilliant craftsmanship has nailed the role of Uma. There aren’t many dialogues in the film and Karan Kandhari has relied more on visuals. The story of the film is weirdly different, but it wouldn’t have shone with the brilliant performances by Radhika Apte, Ashok Pathak and Chhaya Kadam.
Rating: 3 and half out of 5
WATCH the trailer of Radhika Apte, Chhaya Kadam’s Sister Midnight movie here:
Lachmi Deb Roy is the Entertainment Editor of Firstpost, Network18. She reviews films and series with a gender lens. She is a 'Rotten Tomatoes' certified critic. Her interviews are called 'Not Just Bollywood' because she takes a huge interest in world cinema. She has been the winner of the prestigious Laadli Media and Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity for two consecutive years, 2020 and 2021. OTT over theatrical releases is her preference unless and until it's a King Khan film. She takes interest in fashion, food and art reviews too.