A Tale of Love? More a Tale of Lust and Revenge! (Kama Sutra - A Tale Of Love (DVD))

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Product:	Kama Sutra - A Tale Of Love (DVD)
Date:	05/03/06 (534 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent cinematography, great acting

Disadvantages: Story is almost overshadowed by scenery and atmosphere

Not to be confused with a Bollywood film - the dialogue for Kama Sutra is totally in English although it was filmed entirely on location in India.


~*~ CAST/CREW ~*~

Starring Indira Varma as Maya (servant girl), Sarita Choudhury as Tara (the Princess/Queen), Ramon Tikaram as Jai Kumar (the King), Naveen Andrews as Raj Singh (brooding sculptor) and Rekha as Rasa Devi (teacher of Kama Sutra) this film was released in 1996 and runs for 114 minutes.

The film is directed by Mira Nair and co-written by Mira Nair and Helena Kriel. Produced by Mira Nair and Lydia Dean Pilcher, the cinematography is by Declan Quinn and it’s rated 18 as there are many scenes unsuitable for younger viewers.


~*~ PLOT TEASER ~*~

Maya is a servant to Princess Tara in 16th century India. They’ve known each other since childhood and have grown up as friends (or so we’re led to believe). As a young woman Tara watches enviously as Maya is given lessons in Kama Sutra (an ancient 4th century guide on how to make love) by a famed courtesan Rasa Devi. Tara is allowed to observe during these classes. Maya secretly envies the life of Tara, she hates being given Tara’s hand me down clothes and constantly complains to her aunt about her life as a servant. The girls grown up and Tara is to be married to Raj Singh, a neighbouring king. Unfortunately for Tara, Maya learnt a bit too much during her Kama Sutra lessons and ends up deliberately seducing Tara’s opium addicted husband on the eve of her wedding! This is brought about because Raj Singh looks at Maya with lust at his first meeting with his wife to be and she is so jealous she spits at Tara and tells her to leave the pre-wedding ceremony. Tara has a brother, Prince Vicky, a hunchback who is openly ridiculed by many, who has been in love with Maya since childhood. Vicky sees Maya seducing and bedding the king and is distressed and furious!

On the wedding day as Tara is leaving the palace to go to her new palace Maya whispers to her “All my life I have lived with your used things but now something I have used is yours forever.” Tara doesn’t quite understand this and at the same time Vicky tells his mother that he wants to marry Maya and she must arrange it for him. Maya is approached with this proposal and refuses, and an enraged Vicky tells his mother of Maya’s betrayal with his sister’s husband on the eve of the wedding. The queen throws Maya out of the palace banishing her from the kingdom. Maya roams the land alone and lost. Tara rejects her husband’s sexual advances as she has heard how painful sex is supposed to be the first time and he calls her “Maya”. So the king leaves her bed and takes more and more opium and more and more mistresses and no one is happy. On her travels Maya meets Jai Kumar, the king’s sculptor, who falls for her seductive charms and she becomes his most favoured model and lover. Maya falls in love with Jai and for the first time in her life she feels out of control. In the meantime the king is still obsessed with Maya, pretty much ignores his wife and continues to bed other women when he’s not searching high and low around the kingdom for Maya.

What happens when the king catches up with Maya? What is the king’s relationship with Jai Kumar? Do Tara or Maya ever achieve happiness in their lives? Just how vindictive can people be in the name of love and lust and revenge?


~*~ ACTING/PLOT ANALYSIS ~*~

I couldn’t fault the acting of any of the four leads. I can’t imagine any other stars taking on those parts and doing any more justice to the roles. This was Indira Verma’s film debut and her grace and stunning looks were perfect for the role. Sarita Choudhury (who was chosen from 500 hopefuls for the part) displays just the right amount of feline jealousy and royal etiquette to be completely convincing. Ramon Tikaram (the role was specifically written with him in mind) and Naveen Andrews looked like they had a ball working with these beautiful women and the scenes where they’re wrestling almost naked (!!!) are amazing and somewhat funny! Rekha (one of Bollywood’s most famous actresses of the 80s) continues to prove how sexy and beautiful she is even in her 50s. Verma, Andrews and Tikaram did well covering up their English accents and putting on Indian accents throughout the film and Choudhury covers up her American accent very easily too.

I couldn’t empathise with any of the characters in the film. Maya’s character is spoilt and petulant and she’s grown up as a servant. Even as an adult she’s spiteful and wants everything on her terms. She may be beautiful but is a perfect example of “beauty is only skin deep”. Tara is vulnerable but very jealous of her beautiful servant and is as nasty as possible at every opportunity. Even when Maya re-enters her life halfway through the film she tries again to humiliate her by offering her used clothes for her to wear. Raj Singh as the king is a complete buffoon, you don’t see any regal attributes about him except he is spoilt rotten. His character is only interested in bedding his courtesans and getting high on opium, even when war is threatened he makes no attempt to get his house in order. Jai Kumar too is not a very likeable character, his infatuation with Maya stems from the fact that he wants inspiration to sculpt even more perfect figures.

On the wedding night the king’s mother is the one who gives her a white towel to put beneath her and says “just the tearing of a back tooth, one moment there, one moment gone” and leaves the room telling her son his “good luck charm” is ready for him. It’s almost creepy the way the mother treats her son and further comments she makes later in the film especially about courtesans only add to this creepiness. In some ways it’s shown that history is repeating itself in that the queen mother had to put up with her husband having a palace full of courtesans too.


~*~ MUSIC ~*~

The music is by Michael Danna and it must be stated that there are no songs in this film – it is not a Bollywood film. There is background music throughout the film though, which is well placed and adds to the drama of it all.


~*~ WHERE TO GET IT ~*~

This has been shown on TV a few times over the years, but if you can’t wait for it to be shown again you can pick up a DVD version at DVDSource.co.uk for £5.99 or from SelectCheaper.com for £5.40. I spotted it on Amazon for about £2.50 for new or used copies.


~*~ OVERALL ~*~

I would rate this 7 out of 10. It’s a very sensuous and beautifully filmed piece of work with excellent acting (whether or not you like the characters). For those who like romance, with historical drama and jealousy and spite all rolled into one, this is worth watching. Also if you like soft-core sex you might want to check it out too!

To summarise the story I’d say it was predominantly about a poor girl trying to get revenge over a rich girl after years of being made to feel inferior even though they are brought up as best friends and by seducing the latter’s husband on her wedding night she extracts the best revenge she possibly can, although ultimately this leads to tragedy.


Some facts about the film:

1. Most of the sex scenes had to be drastically cut for this film to be released in India where it was filmed. It was even banned initially till it passed the censors which took several months. Even in release in the USA it had to undergo the knife to pass the censor boards!

2. Declan Quinn won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography in 1998 for Kama Sutra.

3. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is about the original Kama Sutra. It’s a love story written with the teachings of Kama Sutra as a subplot.

4. Time Out film guide said of this film “And what's behind the deluge of sex tips? Be imaginative in bed, girls, or the man in your life will stray. Ye gods! It's like being stuck in a lift with Jane Seymour: slave-girl chic turned nauseatingly fragrant.”


~*~ FILMOGRAPHY ~*~

Indira Verma – BBC series Rome, Bride & Prejudice, Sixth Happiness
Naveen Andrews – The English Patient, BBC series The Buddha of Suburbia
Ramon Tikaram - Buddha, Cutthroat Island, BBC series This Life
Sarita Choudhury – Mississippi Masala, Wild West
Rekha - Umraoo Jaan, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar



Trivia: one of the outfits Verma had to wear in the film was a very revealing chain mail piece made of plastic pearls which had to be sewn over her body every time it was needed for filming – each time taking four hours!


To read more about Kama Sutra you can see www.thekamasutra.com

Summary: Don't worry - you won't need subtitles to understand this Indian film