Tora's Husband

Directed by Rima Das

Starrings: Abhijit Das, Tarali Kalita Das, Bhuman Bhargav Das, Purbanchali Das, Simanta Malakar, Nilima Das

Country: India

Year 2022

Review author: Roberto Matteucci

Click Here for Italian Version

“He is a compassionate man.”

With a population of 1.3 billion, India is the second-largest country in the world. COVID hit India hard: 44,707,525 diagnosed cases and 530,841 deaths. (1)

India fought the pandemic, as did other nations, with lockdown. Total lockdown, isolation at home, ban on gatherings and physical contact. However, the cure, both in India and in developing countries with problems of unemployment and poverty, was worse than the disease.

The lockdowns led to a collapse of Indian sales and industrial production, both abroad and in India:

“This created a great negative impact on the growth of the industry e.g. demand for vehicles sale in India was low last year particularly the motorcycle which is a very attractive mode of transportation in rural India. Tourism is one of the most powerful sectors worldwide and India is no different. India ranked 34th among the 140 economies over the world in 2019. In 2018–2019 more than 10 million foreign tourists visited India and contributed an enormous amount into the Indian economy.” (2)

An apocalyptic scenario, accentuated by a:

“... electricity demand reduced to 30%, traffic in port became 5% less, oil demand lessened by 70%, and Indian rail activity was below 36% compared to last year.” (2)

The effects were:

“The unemployment rate increased to 19% after a month of lockdown and overall unemployment was 26% across India by 24th April. Hence, the lockdown has a havoc impact on small, medium, and large enterprises of the country, which led to no job and economic downturn condition.” (2)

Small and medium-sized businesses have suffered severely. Poor people have deteriorated considerably:

“Likewise, India has an economy where a large section of people depends on the daily wages e.g. autorickshaw drivers, carpenters, delivery boys, domestic laborers, scrap or waste collectors, tea girls, vegetable vendors, and waiters.” (2)

These categories fall under desperation and hunger.

Indian health measures assumed almost comical connotations. Lockdown, isolation at home and distancing outdoors have a ridiculous nuance. Is it possible to remain isolated in slums or Indian squares? It is an oxymoron:

“In reality, social distancing is an oxymoron in such India's scenario.” (2)

The insufficiency of the hospital system, the restrictions promulgated without intelligence and the anti-COVID rules have caused even worse trouble, even psychologically. The popular discomfort is hallucinating and the repercussions are unstoppable:

“Mass unemployment is likely to create frustration and drive people to chronic stress, anxiety, depression, alcohol dependence, and self-harm.” (2)

The consequences are retail business crises, unemployment, recession, acute poverty among day labourers, ineffectiveness and the absurdity of anti-COVID measures. Is it possible to respect the COVID law criteria in a shack in a slum with just a room? Or can they respect distance on the perennially regurgitating and confusing streets of India? The conclusion is that depression and alcoholism are provoked by financial and social troubles. The theme of lockdown, combined with private and family motivation, is the background of the film Tora's Husband by director Rima Das presented at the 15th Bangkok World Film Festival.

India. A lonely man plays football on a field. He is Jaan. He is lonely. He kicks but hits the goalpost. He is in training. He runs a pastry shop with some employees. He also has a construction company. The outbreak of the pandemic generates a cataclysm in Jaan and his activities. Like many in India, he begins to be affected by depression. In the evening, he drinks excessively, both alone and with friends. Drunk, he stays out the whole night. This disordered behaviour creates a rift even in his family. Despite their love, his relationship with Tora deteriorates. Children are also affected.

The filmmaker examines lives during the COVID time. He deliberately excludes dealing with health complications and those of the disease. The author exclusively supports the social implications:

“It was a difficult film to edit as well. The film reflects the turbulence and the stillness during these unprecedented times, people who look fine on the outside but are broke and broken.” (3)

. . .

“I have realized that the pandemic took such a toll on people that they want to escape it. It took me a while as well, to decide whether I want to tell a pandemic story or not. I felt this was an important time in history and I should document it realistically.” (3)

Rima Das' artistic power is to interpret the crisis through the mediation of a common and ordinary man. Jaan is a father, a husband, and a businessman; he is a good man, kind, and charitable:

“Tora’s Husband is the very personal journey of a common man.” (4)

Common man reacts alone and without help to the catastrophic fantasies of incapable politicians. The common man risks his job, his welfare, and consequently, also risks losing his family.

Public and intimate aspects are set in a specific environment; particularly those involving exuberant social relations, cultural and religious traditions. This place is India:

“When I am weaving a story, I cannot isolate it from the people, space and time. I am walking down a road and I see a tree, tea stall, cat, river, sky — they are all part of my universe. Should I ignore them? Should I not represent them in my work? I feel incomplete if it doesn’t reflect in my films.” (4)

The opinion of the director is comprehensible. No story is possible in sterile and frigid territory. The topics are overweening as they live in the buzzing and colourful streets of India. The sacred cows wander around undisturbed. Cars and rickshaws miraculously avoid pedestrians, bicycles, scooters, driven by drivers at a censurable driving level. With this miscellany, the film acquires a stylish value.

The characters are used for their internal, natural, social and economic realism. Therefore, an ambience description in a manner that is “raw and realistic”:

“I am glad people connected with the raw and realistic portrayal of characters, their world and the times.” (4)

Jaan is “raw and realistic”. He sincerely and deeply loves his wife and children. He is very busy with innumerable projects. He works a lot and is completely involved in his trades, aware of risks and investments. He has a pastry shop and a construction company. He is generous and he helps everyone. He donates balls and tracksuits to kids on a football team. He constantly gives money to vagabonds and the needy he meets on the road.

In his spare time, or when he needs to clear his mind, he hangs out with friends. Even with them, he has a friendly attitude, both at leisure and in difficult situations. He adores his family, follows his children with tenderness, plays with them, or encourages them to study. He has a conflicting relationship with his Tora but he loves her passionately: “He is very good man.” “But he is not a good husband.”

Maybe he does too many things. Maybe he is too good. Maybe he is eternally calm and peaceful. Maybe it would be good for him to get angry, scream, vent. Maybe he should have fired the employees when the business was bad. Maybe he should have beaten the defaulting partner in his company. Maybe he shouldn't carry all the evils of the universe on his shoulders.

The implications are terrible. A lot of stress, sports and exercise are not enough to relax him. So he secretly grabs a glass, goes away from his wife and drinks so much. He goes out with friends and does not come home because he is terribly drunk.

He is a resilient protagonist. Very active, tireless, brilliant, faithful. His head is full of thoughts that are arduous to erase, and these disorders push him towards self-destruction.

Tora loves her husband too. She is a loving and caring mother. She is passive. She wearily accepts Jaan's behaviour. She tries to talk to him but there is no dialogue. She watches him furtively but she does not communicate. Tora gets sick with COVID. Jaar has to manage his children and take care of Tora in the hospital. Will they be able to restore their relationship, or will they also be victims of the side effects of COVID?

The story oscillates in two directions, COVID and Jaan's family life.

The structure is organised, determined. There is nothing imperfect.

Images in the house are bright, with light colours. In the first part, the family scenes are joyful, with children and parents engaged in their education. Subsequently, something changes, the relationship becomes worse and darker. The language of family life is simple, lively but easy to understand.

Much more complex, rightly so, is cultural India's representation.

The cows are majestic. They roam freely and with a feeling of tranquility in the chaotic streets. It does not matter if they stop traffic, or if cars have to avoid them, or if passers-by could get run over. All places are animated by humanity, means of transport, animals, idlers, sellers.

“The sirens ruined it” two beggars complain. They sang a song in the middle of the street to get some coins, but ambulance sirens ruined the performance.

A madman in the crowd attacks people devoid of masks, shouting at them to wear them. He does not have one either.

In the chaotic mess of India's open spaces, some sequences are at the edge of irony. Despite the anti-COVID resolutions, no one has a mask, or, they wear it in a carnival way. The communication of a loudspeaker, installed on a truck, is ironic. He invites keeping a gap while the vehicle is surrounded and it cannot move by a crowd of people, confusedly occupied with their own affairs.

Another reading is Jaan's existence. He alternates periods of prostration and alcoholism with those of fun and revelry. Jaan and his companions' awkward dance is hilarious. They are big children overwhelmed by trouble. Or the “Dance-Exercise” when they train in football, moving like a drunken Billy Elliot.

The film is a mix of episodes focusing on social issues and their outcomes. The rhythm is frenetic, never a break. The tension is uniquely on Jaan, the spectator's attention and even sympathies concentrate on him, perhaps it is just pity. His gaze is predominantly sad, except when he is carefree with his children.

The COVID emergency is over; has India changed too?

1. Wordometer, Last updated: 28 March 2023 13:56 GMT, https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/india/

2. Aritra Ghosh, Srijita Nundy, Tapas K. Mallick, “How India is dealing with COVID-19 pandemic”, 2020,https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666351120300218

3. Nivedita, “TIFF Regular Rima Das: Taking India On A Global Platform, One Film At A Time” Last updated: 16 September 2022 9:42 AM, https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/tiff-regular-rima-das-taking-india-on-a-global-platform-one-film-at-a-time-news-223721

4. Srivatsan S, “TIFF 2022: Rima Das on ‘Tora’s Husband’ and making films with real people, space and time”, Date 23 September 2022 05:24 pm Last updated 06:16 pm IST https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/tiff-2022-rima-das-on-toras-husband-and-making-films-with-real-people-space-and-time/article65913035.ece