Loosely based on Thomas Hardy’s classic novel “Tess of the D’Urbervilles,” Michael Winterbottom’s “Trishna” explores attraction between two people from different classes and the havoc such unions can bring. Set in contemporary Rajasthan, Trishna (Freida Pinto) meets a wealthy young British businessman Jay Singh (Riz Ahmed) who has come to India to work in his father’s hotel business. Jay becomes infatuated with Trishna at first sight, and he uses an accident which incapacitates her father and in-debts her family as an opportunity to get in the good girl’s graces. Jay offers Trishna money and job, two things which are scarce in rural India. As Jay undoubtedly expects, Trishna accepts his offers, and the eagerly goes to work for Jay, eventually becoming his live-in lover. The two then leave for a large metropolis, where she mistakes his infatuation for true love and is forced to contend with the bloody ramifications of her mistake when Jay reveals his true inclinations.
Filmed in Mumbai, Winterbottom makes historic India “Trishna’s” centerpiece. He uses locations such as massive medieval and early modern royal palaces and forts to educate as well as entertain. Wide shots establish the locations, acting to place them in contrast with the sprawling metropolis surrounding them, and thus acting as a metaphor for the differences between Trishna and Jay which become increasing apparent as the movie unfolds.
“I first had the idea of making “Trishna” eight or nine years ago,” explains Winterbottom. “We were working on a film called “Code 46,” and we shot for a few days in Rajasthan. On one of the recesses, we visited the desert outside, Osian. I was with some crew from Mumbai, and there was an incredible contrast between the life of the crew from Mumbai and the people of the village, whose lives were just beginning to change with the forces of mechanization, industrialization, urbanization, and above all education.” Hardy describes a similar clash of cultures in English society, when farmers and industrialists first met. Like Tess, Trishna struggles to cope with having strong ties to both worlds.
Pinto (“Slumdog Millionaire”, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”) shines as Trishna, a beautiful and easily manipulated doll who tragically becomes a “real girl” when it’s too late. Her portrayal of Trishna as an innocent lured into the garden of evil captivates. And Jay is convincing as the metropolitan playboy whose good intentions are undermined by his lack of discipline and lack of empathy for others.
“Trishna,” in theaters now, is rated R.
“TRISHNA”: Directed by Michael Winterbottom; written by Mr. Winterbottom, based on “Tess of the D’Urbervilles” by Thomas Hardy; director of photography, Marcel Zyskind; edited by Mags Arnold; score by Shigeru Umebayashi, songs by Amit Trivedi; production design by David Bryan; produced by Mr. Winterbottom and Melissa Parmenter; released by Sundance Selects. In English and Hindi, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 48 minutes.
WITH: Freida Pinto (Trishna), Riz Ahmed (Jay) and Roshan Seth (Jay’s father).