Jungle Book Entertainment and Protein Entertainment’s Angry Indian Goddesses (A) is the story of bonding of girls. Freida (Sarah-Jane Dias) invites friends over to her Goa home and tells them when they arrive that she has called them over for her marriage. She keeps the name and identity of her spouse a secret. Suranjana (Sandhya Mridul), Pamela alias Pammi (Pavleen Gujral), Madhureeta (Anushka Manchanda) and Nargis (Tannishtha Chatterjee) arrive and they bond well, remembering days spent together in the past. There is also Joanna (Amrit Maghera), cousin of Freida. There is some tension between Suranjana and Nargis but it gets resolved in some days.
The girls discuss their present lives and several secrets come tumbling out of the cupboard. But the biggest sec ret which shocks the girls is when Freida reveals who she is getting married to.
Anyway, even as the merry-making is going on, there comes a shocking news which shakes the girls. And that’s when they become like angry Indian Goddesses.
What is the shocking news which brings the worst out of the girls? What do they do after hearing the news? Why were the girls shocked to know the identity of Freida’s to-be spouse?
Pan Nalin, Dilip Shankar, Subhadra Mahajan and Arsala Qureishi have written an entertaining story which keeps the audience engrossed. The drama has many twists and turns, engaging the viewers right from the word ‘go’. But it must be said that the theme of the film restricts its appeal to the very elite audience mainly. However, given that, it is a well-written story and an engaging screenplay. The good part of the story and screenplay are that they unfold effortlessly and smoothly. Dialogues, penned by the four writers, are very natural but all the cuss words – and there are plenty of them – have been muted by the CBFC.
Sarah-Jane Dias is beautifully restrained as Freida. Sandhya Mridul does an outstanding job in the role of Suranjana. It is a delight to watch her perform. Tannishtha Chatterjee is also excellent. She plays the character of Nargis with a rare understanding. Amrit Maghera is endearing as Joanna. Pav- leen Gujral shines in the role of Pamela. Anushka Manchanda makes her presence amply felt in the role of Madhureeta. Rajshri Deshpande leaves a wonderful mark as maid Laxmi. Adil Hussain is outstanding as the investigating police officer. Arjun Mathur is effective in a very brief role. Anuj Chaudhary has screen presence; he plays the sexy hunk whom all the girls are mad about.
Director Pan Nalin has handled the subject with the sensitivity it deserved. His fast-paced narrative style only adds to the enjoyment quotient of the drama. Music (Ram Sampath for ‘Kattey’, Anushka Manchanda for ‘Zindagi’, Kary Arora for ‘Tinko’, Ashish Prabhu Ajgaonkar and Dr. Swapnil Salkar for ‘Mera dil dola re’, The Local Train for ‘Aaoge tum kabhi’, M. Boyer for the Konkani song, and R. Blaaze and Paul J. for ‘The woman is divine’) is wonderful. Although the songs are not popular, they sound good when they come in the film. The lyrics go well with the mood of the film. All the songs, except for ‘Kattey’, have been penned by the music composers themselves; the ‘Kattey’ song is a folk number. Cyril Morin’s background music is effective. Swapnil S. Sonawane’s camerawork is lovely. Aradhana Seth’s production designing and Tiya Tejpal’s art direction are very appropriate. Shreyas Beltangdy’s editing is razor-sharp.
On the whole, Angry Indian Goddesses is a well-made film with fantastic performances by all the actors. It will win a lot of critical acclaim. But its commercial prospects are poor because of several reasons – its class-appealing subject, its odd English title (due to which many in the public will wrongly assume that the film is in English), too many muted dialogues and lack of awareness about the film’s release among members of the public.