Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway REVIEW: Rani Mukerji will make you weep with her heartwrenching performance

Film: Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway

Director: Ashima Chibber

Star Cast: Rani Mukerji, Anirban Bhattacharya, Jim Sarbh, Neena Gupta

Platform: Theatre

Bollywood Bubble ratings: 4/5 stars

Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway Movie REVIEW: 

Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway starring Rani Mukerji is based on a true story of a mother named Sagarika Chakraborty who also fought for her kids. The movie is about an Indian mother named Debika Chatterjee who is leading a happy life with her kids Shub and Suchi and her husband in Norway. However, her happiness is short-lived when her kids are forcefully taken by the Child welfare agency, claiming that the kids’ mother is mentally unstable, unfit and unable to raise her kids. Regardless of many labels given by the people and her husband, she ensures to fight for her ‘own’ kids against the country.

The agency feels that Debika Chatterjee is not a good mother on the grounds of her feeding her kids with bare hands, making her kids sleep on the same bed as her or even putting kajal tikka on her forehead. They feel that these Indian practices are odd and are enough to take away the kids forcefully without following the proper protocol. Yes, after watching the movie, it makes you raise a lot of questions about the Norway government and the country itself. Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway can make you feel angry but also make your heart fill with emotions.

The movie shows the struggle and the fight of a mother who goes to many lengths just to bring back her own kids. Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway is high on emotions as director Ashima Chibber tries to show the plight of a mother who needs nothing else in the world but her kids. The story and Rani Mukerji’s performance will surely leave make you weep, so keep your tissues handy. Sorry, I have rarely cried in films; however, my friends were quite sobbing throughout the movie, so now, you can understand the impact of the movie.

After watching Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway, I have started understanding the love of a mother even more now. Yes, I have seen mothers going to an extent for their kids and seeing the same again this time has definitely made people weep. Hats off to all the mothers out there who go through a lot of struggles to raise, to take care of their children. And just so you know, no mother can be an unfit mother.

Drawbacks:

First, in some parts, I felt the editing was abruptly edited which looks quite odd. It’s like the flow of the movie gets interrupted due to bad editing. For instance, there was one scene in Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway where Rani is seen praying for her children’s well-being and suddenly, in the next scene, we see her kids dancing which actually disrupted the flow as well as the essence of the film.

Second, I wish Ashima Chibber showed more details of Velfred Agency – the childcare agency where that takes away the kids and keeps them at the foster home. It seems incomplete to me, especially when your story revolves around the agency. It is important to show more about it and I guess, Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway would have been more interesting.

Story:

An immigrant Indian mother’s battle against the Norwegian foster care system and local legal machinery to win back the custody of her children.

Star Performances: 

Rani Mukerji, *bows down*, kudos to you for delivering such a heartwrenching performance in Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway. The role was tailor-made for Rani and hands down, she gives a phenomenal performance that will surely make want to give a standing ovation. She essays the titular role of Mrs Chatterjee who is a simple Bengali mother whose world only revolves around her kids and her husband. However, after her kids are snatched, she is unable to think straight and takes all the measures to bring her kids back by hook or crook.

She is a mother who is not seeing what’s right and what’s wrong but has only one thought in her mind and that is her kids with her. Rani’s performance makes your eyes teary if not crying. From showing a loving mother to showing her vulnerable side, Rani seems to know her character way too much. She is effortless in front of the camera that’s what makes you feel connected to her character.

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Rani is shown as the typical Bengali mother and I can relate to her on so many levels since I’m a Bengali too. The best part about her character is how she speaks broken Hindi and English with a mixture of Bengali. In fact, she reminded me of my mother who sometimes struggles to speak Hindi and English flawlessly. My mother also messes up the tenses and genders while speaking other languages instead of Bengali. I absolutely loved that part of her character.

Moreover, it is her Bengali accent and dialect that makes her character feel more real and raw. I’m, sure, no other actress would have done it better than Rani Mukerji. Keeping the authenticity of the character, we see Mukerji donning stunning Bengali cotton sarees right from tant to jamdani tant sarees. She is definitely the heart and soul of the movie.

Anirban Bhattacharya essays the role of Aniruddh Chatterjee, the husband of Debika, who is a terrible husband and father. He is someone who is more concerned about his citizenship in the country than his kids. His concern and care for kids or even his wife were nowhere to be seen but worries about his citizenship.

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Aniruddh is an actor who predominantly works in the Bengali industry. It is his Hindi debut film and must say, this actor delivers a fantastic job. Since his character has all the shades of grey, you’re bound to hate him and if you do hate him, then he has done a good job of convincing you.

Jim Sarbh shines in the limited screen time. The actor brings his own charm to the movie and I absolutely love it. Be it his smirk or his concern for the mother, Jim is up to the mark.

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Direction/ Screenplay:

I liked how director Ashima Chibber kept the authenticity of a Bengali woman real. It is quite evident what she wants to show and what needs to be highlighted. Though it seems like a few pages from her script fell off when certain things are not shown when they need to be highlighted. Nonetheless, Ashima’s story of showing the plight of a mother is beautiful but has minor flaws.

Conclusion: 

Concluding my Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway review, Rani Mukerji is the heart and soul of the film whereas Jim Sarbh and Anirban Bhattacharya shine and stand their ground despite standing opposite stalwart Rani. On the other hand, the story of a mother and child will make you emotional for sure.

Watch the trailer Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway after the review:

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