There is no denying the fact that the common perception of the idea of divorce has never been in favor of women. In most cases, they are considered the reason for a divorce. Mini IG’s movie Divorce tries to depict different variants of divorce in a single movie by using the court as a common premise. But with shoddy writing and inept performances, this movie, funded by the Kerala State Film Development Corporation, has a craft quality similar to those Vidya Balan ads about toilets.
The plot here is very simple. We have a pool of characters dealing with difficult situations in their relationships. A young mother whose passion is dancing is seeking a divorce from her judgemental husband and has no support from her family. Another woman is in court because her husband has abandoned her and her children. We have an elderly woman who is proceeding to divorce to live peacefully in her retirement life. Then there is another woman who is forced to be the mistress of someone due to financial situations. We even have the track of a cine artist who seeks divorce from her husband. Through the movie Divorce, we are given an idea about what led them to make that difficult decision.
The problem with a lot of movies that want to be political about their content is that it has zero regard for the craft. The stage drama-like feeling you get from the written dialogues and how it has been performed made me wonder whether the makers wanted to make an impactful movie or just flat documentation of various divorce cases. The sad part is even the cases that are somewhat relatable to everyone have this amateur presentation on screen.
I will not talk specifically about anyone’s performance in this film. Because most of them have actually proved their caliber in other projects. But in this film, they all have collectively tried to be excessively dramatic by uttering the dialogue exactly the way it has been written. There is a scene where Fara Shibla’s character comes home frantically after knowing her husband has taken her daughters. Even the women who sat behind me in the theater couldn’t resist their giggles seeing the artificiality in the performance.
For almost a decade now, the woman empowerment theme has been active there in movies. Old classics have got brutally audited on social media for their misogynistic nature. “Giving enough freedom” has been used so much in movies that it has easily become a cliche, even though it still exists in society. Cinema is not a mere medium to state facts. If a serious problem has lost its seriousness due to its repetitiveness, makers should make an extra effort to make it look compelling. Instead of being inventive, Mini IG opts for a radio drama-like dialogue-driven approach, which makes the movie a flat-out boring experience.
Being subtle and real is not a quality one can associate with the movie Divorce. The writing and visualization are so unremarkable that even the ones who have faced the trauma of going through a divorce won’t feel vindicated.
The writing and visualization are so unremarkable that even the ones who have faced the trauma of going through a divorce won't feel vindicated.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
