The Week India – July 14, 2019

JULY 14, 2019 • THE WEEK 67

TWO YEARS AFTER a horrible trag-

edy turned her life upside down, Do-

lores Dreier is mostly confi ned to her

home. She hardly has access to the

outside world, including the virtual

one, as her parents want to distance

her from a malicious media campaign

against her. Her only comforts are

her younger brother, with whom she

plays video games, and a friend who

occasionally drops in. Her parents,

while caring, seem too aloof.

Dolores is awaiting trial for the

murder of her best friend Camila.

The case has attracted much media

attention and people are quick to

believe

that she

has killed

Camila.

Although there is no direct evidence

for it, Dolores seems to have a

motive. Camila had leaked a sex tape

involving Dolores, and someone had

heard her say that she would kill

Camila if the video was shared with

anyone else. As the trial begins, the

media frenzy intensifi es and Dolores

becomes increasingly unpredictable,

making the viewers doubt her version

of the story.

Directed by Gonzalo Tobal, the

movie, which premiered at the Venice

International Film Festival, is a text-

book courtroom drama with a good

number of twists that will surely keep

you on the edge of your seat.

BY JOSE K.GEORGE

Film: THE ACCUSED

(Spanish, 2018)

WORLD

CINEMA'S

FINEST

Error and trial

time, the case got buried,” says Sawhney.
“Thankfully, I was able to prove that the
duo were being detained illegally.”
Still, there were many roadblocks. The
child could not be deported as she was
born in India. Also, if sent to Pakistan,
Shehnaz could face a jail term of 10 years
for attempted suicide. Sawhney utilised

many channels to secure the release

of Shehnaz and her daughter. He even

reached out to the Pakistan Human

Rights Commission and the then-Paki-

stani president Pervez Musharraf.

“The story was brought to me by

Bhavani (Iyer, the writer of Kaafi r) when

she read it in a newspaper report,” says

Siddharth Malhotra, the producer of the

series. “She then showed it to me as a

script in 2011. I asked Bhavani if she

could write it and she immediately said

yes. Everything sort of fell into place

after that.”

While Mirza and Raina deliver admira-

ble performances, it is the young Dish-

ita Jain who steals the show with her

nuanced portrayal of Mirza’s daughter.

Although the story is set in Kashmir, the

makers had to shoot Kaafi r at Sangla in

Himachal Pradesh. But the wide vistas

and shadow-laden plains are beautiful

to behold, a fi tting backdrop to this

poignant story.

The series begins with poetry: hum

rahen na rahen.... rahengi yaariyaan

(Whether we live or not, our friendship

will live on). One may wonder what

friendship has to do with the life of a

woman mistaken for a Pakistani mole.

But as the plot develops, one realises

that her story is only a shimmer of light

glinting off a larger surface. A story

within a story—of poetry drenched in

warfare, beauty gift-wrapped in blood-

shed. A tale of two countries.

It is similar to how, when you copy an
essay from a friend for an assignment,
the teacher who reads both essays will
prefer the friend’s.
The fi rst season feels like a re-staged,
Hindi-translated version of The Offi ce
(US), its episodes lifting their plots
from the American version. Gags like
the stapler prank are translated and re-
used, with Desi Michael Scott (Jagdeep
Chadda, played by Mukul Chadda)
delivering the infamous “that’s what she
said” refrain poorly in Hindi.
Unoriginality disappoints viewers.
The French adaptation of The Offi ce, Le
Bureau, fl opped for being a far-too-Brit-
ish transposition in a Parisian context.
Canada’s La Job failed for imitating the
British version. Successful variants,
like Germany’s Stromberg and Israel’s
HaMisrad, made the format their own,

imbuing their own politically-in-

correct blends of humour into the

cringe-comedy template.

Even so, if you have never seen

The Offi ce (US), this show is a com-

pelling slice-of-life look into a typical

Indian offi ce. For those who were

born in the early 2000s, The Offi ce

(India) will have more contemporary

relevance.

T.P. Mishra (Gopal Dutt), a desh-

bhakt version of Dwight Schrute,

presents a timely cultural conundrum

for Narendra Modi’s India. How will a

show that humanises everyone make

lovable a man who lusts for riots and

even the torture of his co-workers?

There is still potential for this

desi series to shine, but to do so, it

must declare independence from the

American script.

LEGAL EAGLE

Sawhney; (left) a

still from Kaafi r