Prolonged psychological and philosophical self-examination is not limited to movies made in Europe, it is, however, less frequently encountered in either American or Asian films. Nonetheless, the intricate neurotic workings of the personality of a middle-class man are the subject of this made-for-television Indian film, which makes it a moderately rare phenomenon. In the story, the proprietor of an antique store in Bombay acts as though he were king of the roost and bosses his wife and their housekeeper around. However, his self-confidence is paper thin, as evidence by the fact that almost twenty years earlier, he was cashiered from the Indian Army for cowardice. When his young wife begins showing signs of actually possessing a personality of her own, he begins to fall apart. The filmmaker has chosen to mirror the techniques European filmmakers such as Michelangelo Antonioni used to tell similar tales, and moody symbolism abounds.
by Clarke Fountain
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