FILM ANALYSIS: WATER

FILM ANALYSIS: WATER

1. Chuyia

   • Naive and innocent; has the believe that one day her mother will come take her home.
     • Forces Chuyia and Kalyani in prostitution because of their young age. She wants to make money out of it to run the widow home.
   • An 8-year old giirl who's life is changed upon being taken to a widow home when her very old husband (which she sin't aware of) dies.
   • Character: An 8 year old girl seperted from her family as a widow after her husband which she is too young to know about or even understand. She was unaware of the fact that she was married. She is introduced as a playful child that is in her own little word, kicking her tiny legs and then enters the widow home. She keeps thinking that her mother will come take her home but is unaware of the fact that she has to spen her whole life in the widow home in segregation from family. She is compared to Kalyani when she first came to the widow home. A fruendly and caring child, who learns to adapt to her environment at a young age without understanding her situation. PHYSICALS: Short, brown eyes, short black hair, brown skin, wears a white saree.

2. Kalyani

   • Falls in love with Narayan and dreams of marrying him and starting a fresh new life
   • A playful soal and devotee of Lord Krishna (hindu god)
   • • Kalyani is the only one out of all the widows who is allowed to keep her hair long as a symbol of beauty due to her being a prostitute, until the ruling Madhumati finds out about her and Narayan and cuts her her.
     • Compares herself to a lotus: Purity and unattachment
   • Befriends with Chuyia who consideres her an angel at one point.
   • Playful and fun loving. She olays with Chuyia and seceretly keeps a puppy with her. She lives alone upstairs, seperate from the other widows and their influence.
   • Character: A beautiful, young and fun-loving women (sadly a widow), who is in her early twenties. She lives in a widow home with other widows. She got married at the age of 5 and hadn't even seen her husband. She is one of the main characters with Chuyia and ends up commiting suicide.She was brought to the Ashram at a young age like Chuyia. PHYSICALS: tall, hazel-green eyes, fair white skin, black long hair (gets shorter by the end), wears a white saree.

3. Shakuntala

   • A motherly figure to Chuyia. She takes care of her and calms her down when she starts throwing tantrums.
   • A helpful and questioning supporting protagonist. She is always there in some way for Kalyani and Chuyia. Shakuntala cares for others,; she takes care of an old widow, aids Chuyia from not getting beaten by othet elderly widows.
     • Unlocks Kalyani out of her room by going against Madhumati and lets her go to Narayan after finding out about the new law of remarriage.
   • Caracter: An enigmatic, yet nurturing women in her late thirties. She is one of the widows living in the widow home. She is very caring and helpful towards other widows esecially the ones who are too young to be in this situation. She always questions the norms of society and the Hindu culture. She ends up freeing Chuyia from the bars of being a widow and gives her away to Narayna so that she can start a new life and does not end up commiting suicide like Kalyani. PHYSICALS: Average tall height, brown eyes, short black hair, brown skin, wears a white saree.

4. Madhumati

   • Character: An old widow in the widow home, who rules and bosses around the other widows in the home. She smokes marajuana and forces young widows into prostitution. She physically abuses other widows and makes them do her chores. Her wishes get fulfilled due to power and confidence, as she is one of the oldest widows in the home. She blindly follows the norms of making widows suffer without questioning it., and also scolds others if anyone breaks the rules . PHYSICALS: Medium height, brown eyes, short black hair, big, wears a white saree.

5. Narayan

   • He thinks that she is beautiful and cares for her. He wishes to free her out of the constrains of being a widow.
   • A young and passionate lawyer of a rich merchant. He is a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and his belief of civil-isobedience
     • Kalyani is forced to sleep with his father for money, which Narayan is unaware of and decides to leave his father after finding the truth.
   • Character: A handsome young lawyer, the son of a rich merchant in the city of Banaras. He is a follower of Gandhi and wants to see chage in the society. He believes that people hide facts from others if one does not have any economical benefits from telling the reality. He is very friendly, loves to joke around and very open minded person. He does not agree with a male dominated society and is against the misrable lives of widows in the Hindu culture. PHYSICALS: tal, brown eyes, glasses, fair brown skin, medium lenth black hair, wears a white shirt and a dhoti (a wrapping on lower body).

6. Trauma /Event : After going through all the segregation in life, from a very young age by becoming a widow in a strict Hindu orthodox environment, Kalyani is finally allowed to marry her true love. There had been a new law established, where widows were allowed to remarry. Narayan was taking Kalyani to meet his parents, when she realizes that Narayan's father was one of her clients that she was forcefully spending her nights with as a prostitute. She decides to not marry her true love, even when she was getting a chance to start over again. A heart-broken Kalyani decides to go back to the widow home, but gets gestured of denial and a loss of self respect when Madhumati asks her to spend the night with another rich merchant. When she saw no hope of living a happy and joyful life again, she decided to commit suicide. This led Madhumati to force poor little Chuyia into prostitution to keep the income coming to run the widow home, which traumatized a little girl.

7. Setting: The story is set in 1939, India when it is still under ruling by the British. It is based around the isolated lives of widows in an Ashram (a widow home) in the city of Banaras, India. All the characters in the movie are Indians following Hinduism. The widows sit around and chant god's prayers everyday, some go out to beg at temples for money to run the Ashram and some like Kalyani are unfortunetly forced into prostitution. All of their lives are based aorund strict hindu norms that are blindly being followed in a patriarchal society.

8. Synopsis: The story is about an 8 year old little girl named Chuyia whio is brought to an Ashram (widow home) and how she interacts with other characters. Her life is devastated upon being seperated form her mother after she becomes a widow. She is not aware of the fact that she was even married and all the sudden she beocmes a widow. In the widow home she meets a young widow named Kalyani and they become friends. She throws tantrums as she can't go back to her mother. A nurturing widow named Shakuntala takes care of her. Chuyia also meets the ruler of the widow home,Madhumati, who forces Kalyani into prostitution and follows the norms of the society. A young lawyer named Narayan and Kalyani fall in love and decided to get married. However, Kalyani ends up commiting suicide after finding a truth about Narayan's fatyher. This leads to Chuyia unnowingly getting put into prostitution by Madhumati. In the end Shakuntala hands Chuyia off to Narayan to start a new and better life.

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