SIR, winner of the Best Film at the 2018 New York Indian Film Festival, is the debut feature film of Rohena Gera, who has written, directed, and produced it. The film explores class divides in Indian culture relating to domestic help and their masters. Divides kept alive by shaming anyone who deviates from long-held traditions.
Cinematographer Dominique Colin presents Mumbai in various ways: daytime hustle-and-bustle, peacefulness at night, high-rise luxury, dusty slums or green villages, festivals, etc. Ratna, Tillotama Shome, comes to the city in the hopes of following her dream to become independent and self-supporting. She finds a job working as a maid for Ashwin who is soon be married.
Ashwin, Vivek Gombar, was happily pursuing a writing career in the United States when his brother fell ill and eventually died. Sabina, a close friend of the family, had been supportive during this time. Knowing that it would please his parents, Ashwin proposed marriage to her. At some point during the wedding festivities, Ashwin learns that Sabina has cheated on him and he breaks the wedding off.
Ashwin decides not to return to the US. He returns to his Mumbai high-rise depressed and resumes working with his father. Ratna resumes her duties. Eventually, Ashwin and Ratna will be drawn to each other emotionally. But family, friends, and society will make them carry the burdens of their class.
One of the joys of watching SIR was being introduced to Tillotama Shoma and Vivek Gomber. They fit so perfectly in their respective roles. Tillotama was sweet and ambitious as Ratna. Physically, she is a waif-like woman who easily blends into the background. Her personality, kindness, understanding, and dignity draw Ashwin to her. Vivek Gomber’s Ashwin is a man who is sensitive and genuinely interested in the welfare of his maid. When she is belittled by his friends, he defends her, and he respects and encourages her desire to rise from her current situation.
If you like sweet and sincere totally Indian love stories, watch SIR to see if Ratna and Ashwin have a future together. SIR made it to Indian theaters in 2019, but it is now finding its’ voice on Netflix.
