Review Cinema Movies: Little Box of Sweets | Meneka Das | Uttar Pradesh | India | Emancipation | Seth

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The Review - AT THE MOVIES with DAN CARRIER
Published: 14 August 2008

Seth and Asha are lost in a whirlwind romance

Romantic tale of Little Box of Sweets - Just not my bag

LITTLE BOX OF SWEETS
Directed by Meneka Das
Certificate U

WHAT a great disappointment this film turned out to be.
On paper it sounds interesting: a coming-of-age flick set in the northern Indian region of Uttar Pradesh, it tells of a relationship between aspiring university student Asha and her childhood friend Seth, the white son of a school mistress.
Uttar Pradesh is a politically unique region – a strong Marxist party has held power for many years and urban and rural development has the hallmarks of a community working together to improve conditions. It could make a super backdrop for a contemporary tale about love, arranged marriages and female emancipation – which is what director Meneka Das, who also plays the lead role, was aiming for.
But although the director also puts in a good-ish performance of the shy and retiring schoolgirl-servant, the dialogue is horribly stilted.
The director states that she wanted to capture parts of India that were rapidly disappearing because of urbanisation. Instead, we are served a rather too obvious romance.
Seth’s friendship with Asha is frowned on by both families. Seth’s dad is an Indian commissioner and his mum, we discover, runs a Christian school established by her grandmother. Both see Seth’s love for Asha as socially shameful, while Asha’s family feel the same.
From the off, the whole thing lacks quality: emotions between the characters splutter and fizzle with no real reason.
With incredible scenery as a backdrop, you’d almost wish the actors would move off stage and let you bask in the mustard fields, the semi-derelict temples and the wide, flowing rivers.
But it looks like it’s been shot on the cheapest possible film they could find, meaning even the slow and measured shots are a little painful and jaundiced.

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