Before the Rains | |
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Theatrical poster
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Directed by | Santosh Sivan |
Produced by | Mark Burton Paul Hardart Tom Hardart Doug Mankoff Andrew Spaulding |
Screenplay by | Cathy Rabin |
Starring |
Linus Roache Rahul Bose Nandita Das Jennifer Ehle Leopold Benedict Lal Paul |
Music by | Mark Kilian |
Cinematography | Santosh Sivan |
Edited by | Steven Cohen |
Production
company |
Merchant Ivory Productions
Adirondack Pictures Excalibur Pictures Santosh Sivan Productions Echo Lake Entertainment |
Distributed by |
Roadside Attractions (USA) Metrodome Distribution (UK) |
Release date
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Running time
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96 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English Malayalam |
Box office | US $1,316,722 |
Before the Rains: Official Motion Picture Soundtrack | |
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Soundtrack album by Mark Kilian | |
Released | 22 July 2008 |
Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
Label | Lakeshore Records |
Before the Rains is a 2007 Indian-British period drama film directed by Santosh Sivan. The film is adapted from a story from the 2001 anthology Israeli film Asphalt Zahov.
It was filmed on location in Kerala, India and was released in cinemas in India, the US and the UK.
Before the Rains is set in 1930s Malabar District of the Madras Presidency of British India, against the backdrop of a growing nationalist movement. An idealistic young Indian man, T.K. Neelan (Rahul Bose) finds himself torn between his ambitions for the future and his loyalty to tradition when people in his village learn of an affair between his British boss and close friend Henry Moores (Linus Roache) and a married village woman Sajani (Nandita Das).
Henry and T.K. are working on constructing a road in rural Kerala. The start of the film focuses on the affair between Henry and his house-maid Sajani. They make love near a waterfall, witnessed by two children who flee. Both Henry and Sajani are married to different partners and both know of each other's marriages. Henry's wife Laura and son Peter return from their vacation in England. Sajani is distraught but Henry assures Sajani that she is the one he loves. Sajani's violent husband finds out about her infidelity and brutally beats her. Sajani flees to Henry's house; Henry instructs T.K. to take her away into hiding. T.K tells Sajani never to come back as she is now disgraced and her presence in the village will endanger Henry's life. Sajani does not believe T.K but leaves nonetheless. During this time, resentment towards the British grows stronger; news about an adulterous act between an Indian woman and a British man would be inflammatory.
Sajani's love for Henry drives her back to Henry's house. Henry tells her to leave and admits that he does not love her. A distraught Sajani finds T.K's handgun (a gift from Henry), shoots herself in the chest and dies. T.K. and Henry throw her body in the river to conceal her death.