Sagarika Chakraborty

''Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway'' is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language legal drama film written and directed by Ashima Chibber starring Rani Mukerji, Anirban Bhattacharya, Neena Gupta, and Jim Sarbh. The film is inspired by the real-life story of Anurup Bhattacharya and Sagarika Chakraborty, an Indian immigrant couple whose children were taken away by Norwegian authorities in 2011.

The film was theatrically released worldwide on 17 March 2023. Mukerji's performance earned her several accolades including the Filmfare Award for Best Actress (Critics), the IIFA Award for Best Actress, and the Zee Cine Critics Award for Best Actor – Female.

Plot

The film follows Debika, a Bengali Hindu immigrant who lives in Stavanger with her husband Aniruddha, son Shubh and five month old daughter Suchi. Two Norwegian Child Welfare Services employees visit them regularly on being reported by the Chatterjees' Norwegian neighbour before separating Shubh and Suchi from Debika during the last visit, owing to culture clash caused by misinterpretion of Debika's expressions of traditional Indian maternal affection (like making the children co-sleep with their parents & a mother feeding her child with her own hands) as child abuse. The Chatterjees are told that they are unfit to hold custody of their children, so Debika decides to win back custody of her children. However, the Chatterjees lose the case due to prevailing cultural imperialist & racist mindset of the Norwegian jury. Debika was branded as mentally unstable and unfit to parent the children. At the Norwegian child shelter, the children are subjected to brainwashing in order to make them forget their Indian identity so that they can be easily integrated into the Norwegian society. Soon Debika learns that the child welfare service is a scam to extort from immigrants. She learns of the children's foster location and takes them away to Sweden but is soon caught at the border. How she overcomes legal hurdles and reunites with her children while dealing with her pathetic husband, forms the rest of the story.

Cast

Production

Development

''Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway'' is the first Indian film to be shot in Estonia. The film was announced by Rani Mukerji in March 2021.

The film also marks the Hindi film debut of the Bengali actor Anirban Bhattacharya.

The film is inspired by the real story of Sagarika Chakraborty and her husband, an Indian couple living in Norway whose children were taken away by the Norwegian Child Welfare Services, who had objections against parenting habits that are considered typical in Indian culture.

Filming

Principal photography began in August 2021. The first production schedule took place in Estonia and was completed by 21 September 2021. The film was wrapped up on 18 October 2021.

Release

Theatrical

''Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway'' was theatrically released on 17 March 2023.

Music

The music of the film is composed by Amit Trivedi. Lyrics are written by Kausar Munir.

Reception

Critical reception

Zinia Bandyopadhyay of ''India Today'' gave the film 3.5 stars out of five and said, "The best thing about the film is, undoubtedly, Rani Mukerji’s performance. It is not a light watch, but something that is compelling and emotional. However, by the end, the film feels a bit stretched." ''Bollywood Hungama'' gave the film 3 stars out of five and said, "It is a hard-hitting drama and is laced with the career-best performance of Rani Mukerji." Monika Rawal of ''Hindustan Times'' said, "It remains a true-to-heart account of a gut-wreching story of a mother, but there are so many layers you wish the director dug deeper and explored with the main character."

Sukanya Verma of ''Rediff.com'' said, "Instead of feeling her desperation, despair or extreme acts stemming from a mother's primal need to protect her brood, what comes through is hollow theatrics." Saibal Chatterjee of ''NDTV'' gave the film 1.5 stars out of five and said, "It is an overheated affair that sucks the air out of an intrinsically moving story that deserved infinitely better." Udita Jhunjhunwala from '' Mint Lounge'' said, "It was hard to root for the Chatterjees in a film that has greater recall as a tear-soaked Bollywood drama than a recreation of a real life human-interest story."

Box office

The film collected crore on its opening day with releasing on 500 screens. The collections saw a 77.95% jump on the second day with the film collecting . On the third day it earned taking its first weekend collection to . As of 20 April 2023, the film has grossed ₹36.53 crore worldwide with grossing 745K Norwegian Krones over the weekend, the film has become the highest grossing Bollywood film in Norway. It later became the most-watched South Asian film in Norway with 8356 admits.

Response from Norwegian authorities

The Norwegian Embassy in India issued a statement before the release of film:

They further wrote that they ″sympathize with the affected families, particularly the children. For those involved, there is no denying that the such experiences are difficult.″

Following the release of the film, Norwegian Ambassador Hans Jacob Frydenlund criticized the film, stating that "it incorrectly depicts Norway’s belief in family life and our respect for different cultures." This was countered by Sagarika Chakraborty (the real life person on whose ordeal the film is based) who condemned the statements made by him adding, "When the whole world can see the bond between me and my kids, the Norwegian Government continues to spread lies about her without even knowing her story". She also said that she's getting a lot of love from all over the world and people want to come and meet her after the film. Sagarika said that the Indian Government has helped her immensely. In an op-ed piece in the Indian Express, she specifically referred to the issues surrounding children sharing the bed and being fed.

Jone Skjelbred, Municipal Manager for children, young people and families in Stavanger municipality said that ″they do not want to comment on the case because none of the people who have worked on this case work for them anymore. As a result, they do not have enough knowledge of the matter.″ Gunnar Toresen, who was head of child protection in Stavanger municipality in 2011, said, ″This is not the story as it happened, but the film probably reflects the violent feelings that the case triggered in the family and in India.″

Accolades

References

External links

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{{Portal bar, India, Film, Bollywood

2023 drama films
2020s Hindi-language films
2020s Indian films
2020s legal drama films
Drama films based on actual events
Films about families
Films about immigration to Europe
Films set in Norway
Films shot in Estonia
Hindi-language drama films
Hindi-language films based on actual events
Indian films based on actual events
Indian legal drama films