Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway is based on a subject which we haven’t seen before in Bollywood. This film shows the power of a mother, a mother who can go to any extent for their children. We have seen many films where mothers take revenge, mothers fight for the custody of their children, etc. But in Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway a mother fights for their children against a whole nation. A legal drama should be perfect by all means but Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway has some flaws but the emotional touch is so strong that you can overlook them.
Mrs.Chatterjee Vs Norway is based on the autobiography of Sagarika Bhattacharya titled ‘The Journey Of A Mother’. The book tells the story about a mother whose children were taken away by the Norwegian Childcare System. The book tells the journey of a mother and her struggle of fighting for her children.
Debika Chatterjee (Rani Mukerji) along with her husband Anirudh Chatterjee (Anirban Bhattacharya) migrate to Norway. They are blessed with two children Shubh and Suchi. One day Norwegian Child Welfare Services named as Velfred take away both their children and their lives are turned upside down. Velfred declares Debika an unfit mother and just because of some cultural differences declare her mentally unstable. She also doesn’t get justice by the court and is later betrayed by her family members. She doesn’t get much needed support and how she fights against the whole nation single handedly forms the crux of the story.
Talking about performances, Rani Mukerji gives a powerful and strong performance. She delivers one of her career best performance. Being a Bengali in real life and portraying a Bengali character on-screen, it was such an easy task for Rani. But the emotions of a mother and the struggle scenes have been performed so well by her. Rani did not just play the character she has lived the character. Rani Mukerji is always brilliant in women centric films like No One Killed Jessica, Mardaani, Hichki, Mardaani 2 and Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway is the latest addition to the list. The rest of the cast Anirban Bhattacharya, Jim Sarbh, etc. have also done good. It was so good to see Jim Sarbh back on the silver-screen again. Jim Sarbh plays the role of a lawyer named Daniel Singh Ciupiek and it was such a tailor made role for him.
One biggest thing about the film is that we see that a small child of 5 to 6 months can’t live without her mother for more than 3 hours, here the child has to live without her mother for more than 3 years. What would have been the mother’s condition? How did she face such a thing mentally? Rani portrays each and every emotion with so much of ease that you feel for the character and are emotionally engaged with her. I was literally in shivers when I saw such things, what Sagarika Bhattacharya (the real mother on whom the story is based on) would have gone through and hats off to her that she fought against the entire nation and won the legal battle.
First of all Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway is a film which doesn’t need any songs. But here songs are situational and show the bonding of children with their mother.
The film has many powerful and brilliant scenes but also has some flaws. The film also has some over dramatic moments which hurts a little bit. A little bit of editing would have made this one better. Some things are left incomplete and don’t provide a better answer. Film also drags a little in between. The film delivered slight less than what I expected.
Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway tells in detail about the legal system of Norway. How can one separate the child and a mother? How can one tell a mother how to raise kids? This film exposes many things like how in Norway just for sake of money the separation is done between a mother and child, child trafficking and other malpractices carried on the name of children. How can someone be so stone-hearted? How can someone fall so much just for the sake of money? After watching the film I feel like bashing the Norwegian government so much and have decided won’t visit such a country in future where there is no value of emotions, relationships, bondings, etc.
Overall, Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway is an universally appealing film which can make you emotional. A film about a mother-child relationship is sure to make you cry and this film also does the same. Barring some flaws, this film can be watched for its emotional and strong content. Some scenes are so powerful and clap worthy. In some scenes you cannot just stop whistling and cheering for Rani. Rani Mukerji fans just can’t miss this film. A female director can bring the best in woman centric film and we saw that last year in Salaam Venky which was directed by Revathy and had Kajol in the lead role and here Ashima Chibber also delivers the same. Watch this one just for the struggle of a mother and how she faces all odds and stands tall against them.
Rating – 3/5*
Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway is releasing in cinemas on 17th March.
Have a look at the trailer below:
