Prolific, daring and inventive, British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom likes to reimagine the works of Thomas Hardy the way others do Shakespeare. Having adapted Jude the Obscure (with 1996's Jude) and The Mayor of Casterbridge (with 2000's The Claim), he now rips Tess of the d'Urbervilles out of its 19th-century Dorchester setting, again simplifying the narrative's complexities, before replanting it in the heat and bustle of contemporary India. Tess has become Trishna (Freida Pinto): a bright, attractive peasant girl, wooed from her Rajasthan village by wealth and privilege. Her suitor, restless hotel heir Jay Singh (Riz Ahmed), is a blend of Hardy originals Angel Clare and Alex d'Urberville. Distinct parallels between Victorian-era England and modern-day India remain. Winterbottom's film spends much of its time focused on his two leads. Jay abandons his English friends to stay on in India to set up a Raj-style hotel chain for his wealthy father (My Beautiful Laundrette's Roshan Seth), but remains uncommitted. His desire for Trishna eventually sees them relocate from the country to Mumbai, swapping the trappings of five-star luxury for more modest inner-city digs. Bollywood is a magnet for them both, but neither is able to commit to this either. Jay misses England, it seems, Trishna her family and the comfort of the village. Despite some typical visual flair and an affecting soundtrack, Trishna lacks the emotional punch of Hardy's original novel. This may be due to a lack of chemistry between the two leads, rather than Winterbottom's imaginative reading of the material. While Pinto and Ahmed have adequately proved themselves on screen elsewhere (the former in Slumdog Millionaire, the latter in Four Lions and Winterbottom's The Road to Guantanamo), here - together - they feel awkward, even contrived. Classic twist ... Freida Pinto as Trishna. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/trishna-20120505-1y5mg.html#ixzz1wSxIB1jy
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