Split Wide Open (1999)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Dev Benegal

Writer:

Dev Benegal (writer)

Release Date:

25 July 2001 (Belgium)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

16 Million People, 16 Million Stories, 16 Million Secret Lives. Which one of it is yours?

Plot:

A search for a lost street girl in midst of exposés of modern sexual behaviour in Bombay and a water mafia in the city, this is a real 'split wide open' of the Indian glamour capital.

Plot Keywords:

India | Water | Secret | Talk Show | Father Daughter Relationship

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Rahul Bose	...	KP / Kut Price
Laila Rouass	...	Nandita
Shivaji Satham	...	Shiv
Farida Haider Mulla	...	Didi
Shiv Paul	...	Bobby
Kiran Nagarkar	...	Brother Bono
Arti Gosavi	...	Arti
Rajika Puri	...	Auntie
Ayesha Dharker	...	Leela
Veerendra Saxena	...	Altaf
Anjula Bedi	...	Mrs. G (show "I can't get no satisfaction")
Amit Divekar	...	The Son-in-Law (show 'I can't get no satisfaction')
Sopan Dorkar	...	Peon (show 'I can't get no satisfaction')
Adya Bedi	...	Virgin 1 (show 'The Virgins')
Neha Dubey	...	Virgin 2 (show "The Virgins")

Runtime:

Japan:107 min | UK:100 min | India:103 min

Country:

India

Language:

English | Hindi

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Australia:MA | India:A | Singapore:R(A) | UK:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Company:

Adlabs Films

Quotes:

KP aka Kut Price: [to Nandita] I slept on the footpaths. I slept on these water pipes.
[pause]
KP aka Kut Price: And one day I got a job. In the hospital. To do what? To shave the bodies. The dead bodies. Good money. Arre this is Bombay. Only entry. No exit.

It's not Bollywood!

Indian Film industry does have something more to offer than Bollywood- sing-n'-dance-in-unison flicks! Mind you, Indians used to make politically and philosophically challenging profound films several decades ago. This film, I repeat, is NOT bollywood. What a relief. KP is the leading charactor who wanders about Bombay saerching for "value", I think. He has four main contacts, one with a little girl Didi whom he cherrishes like his sister, another with a female TV presenter who's hosting a expose program "split wide open", and yet another with a nice Catholic priest, finally with a mob who sells water. All four lead us to a different story, each intertwined together. Each contact represents a certain set of value, and KP struggles to find out what is truly valuable. You have to see for yourself what he finds at the end. This film says that there isn't such thing called pure value. Profound love, wisdom, realism, tradition, post-modernism, violence; "ha-ha-" to all of them. Since I'm not an expert in acting and filming, so I won't comment on them.

But the strong message must be rated 18. Can you refute?