Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway Review: Watch this movie for its sensitive dramatization of a real-life case
Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway Movie Rating: 3 Stars
Just watched Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway movie on Netflix. Let’s focus on the complete details, story, positive/negatives and at last my personal view on this movie.
Cast: Rani Mukerji, Anirban Bhattacharya, Neena Gupta, Barun Chanda and Jim Sarbh
Director: Ashima Chibber
Release Date: 17th March 2023 in cinemas & 12th May 2023 on Netflix
Story: It is based on a real-life case involving Sagarika Bhattacharya who was living with her husband Anup Bhattacharya with two children in Norway. In 2011, their children were taken away by Barnevernet (also known as Norwegian Child Welfare Services) on grounds of improper treatment of children. She separated from her husband and fought a two-year legal battle to get back the custody of her children. The Indian government backed her claim and finally, the Kolkata High Court ruled in her favour. The film portrays a fictional account of her ordeal.
Movie revolves around Debika (Rani Mukerji) who is a young Bengali housewife lives with her husband Anirudh (Anirban Bhattacharya), elder son Shubh (Yuvaan Vanvari) and five months old daughter Shuchi in Norway. One day, two Velfred (A child welfare service) hired by the Norwegian government have been visiting the Chatterjee’s on a daily basis to monitor how the couple is raising their child.
After 10 weeks surveillance and last day of review meeting Velfred officers snatched Shubh and Shuchi and run away. The Chatterjee’s are shocked, and they are told that they can’t hold custody of their child as they are unfit to do so. Cultural differences and opposite parental practices become enemies of Debika, who with an extremely stubborn, toxic and non-supporting husband, takes it into her own hands to get her children’s custody back from Velfred.
When worse comes to worst, Debika approaches the Indian government through the Minister of External Affairs of India Vasudha Kamat (Neena Gupta) at a press conference being held in Norway. Despite receiving help from the Indian government to get her kids out of foster care, Debika’s troubles don’t end and pick up again in Kolkata with a greedy and grasping family of in-laws. What follows next is Debika’s protracted and painful mission to get her kids back through the Calcutta High Court.
Positives
1. Excellent Performances
2. Story
3. Screenplay
4. Climax
Negatives
1. Direction
2. Length
3. Music
4. Dialogues
Durgesh Tiwary’s View: When I watched the trailer of this film planned to watch this movie on digital premiere as skipped theatrical release due to certain circumstances as it based on real life incidents.
Based on a real-life incident, the film tells the story of Indian immigrant Debika Chatterjee who must fight for the custody of her own children after they are handed over to foster care by the Norwegian childcare services. She is deemed unfit for their upbringing.
Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway story is based on real life incident of an Indian couple whose children were taken away by Norwegian authorities in 2011. What works for the film is the truly inspiring story. Despite having taken creative liberty, the screenplay is as realistic as it gets. Rani is a natural actor and there’s no denying that. While she plays Mrs. Chatterjee, she plays a mother beautifully. There are some real emotions there. Special credit to Balaji Gauri, who brings the climax of courtroom drama to life with her quirk and power. Mention must also be made of the foreign character artistes who play Velfred officials. They do so maliciously and are loathsomely believable. It’s an emotional rollercoaster ride that tug at your heartstrings with good days of the couple and their children beautifully shown in flashback. The climax is well done. It makes you feel emotional and proud at the same time.
On the flipside story which had the potential to be a tearjerker. But the trio’s screenplay does not have its heart in the right place. Rather than being an emotional tale of an Indian woman’s fight against a foreign country to get her children back, the drama turns out to be one which has very limited appeal, that too, for a thin section of the audience only. the film drags and should have been 100 minutes long at best. Secondly, the whole social media angle is sudden. When and how was Debika’s picture posted on the internet is not explained. Thirdly, this film is not a simple courtroom drama. The case shown is a complicated one and moves from one court to another with a few technicalities thrown in. Lastly, the use of too much English and Bengali might not be acceptable to those who don’t like relying on subtitles while watching a film. Overall, movie is a hard-hitting drama and is laced with real-life incident with excellent performances. The film could have achieved a similar effect if it wasn’t for its populist approach and melodramatic execution. My view on this movie Recommended.
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