Roam Rome Mein Is A Film About Men Coming To Terms With Patriarchy. We Absolutely Love The Concept!
Bollywood has really been upping its game when it comes to creating relevant content, especially with the kind of movies that have released or are yet to release this year. From biopics of important and revolutionary personalities in sports to taking up movies that start a dialogue on subjects like menstrual or mental health, Bollywood finally seems to have realised its social responsibility and we can’t complain. Except of course for the times they unleash a misogynistic trauma upon us in the name of movies like Kabir Singh. And just as they say for every bad there is some good in the world, for every Kabir Singh, there is a movie like ‘Roam Rome Mein‘ around, which is a feminist film with a male protagonist.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B33-R6ChEMr/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=dlfix
A directorial debut for Tannishtha Chatterjee, also starring in the film, the first look of Roam Rome Mein shows Nawazuddin Siddique in the lead role, on the streets of Rome. The story is said to be about Reena (Tannishtha) who escapes from her strict patriarchal father to go to Rome, all by herself in search of freedom. Upon finding out she is missing, her brother Raj (Nawazuddin) undertakes a journey of his own to find her and in process himself, as he sees the kind of life Reena leads.
Also Read : Taapsee Pannu Is Crushing Patriarchy With Her Choice Of Roles And It’s Fabulous
The movie that revolves around breaking stereotypes and the deep-rooted patriarchy in the minds of men, be it our fathers or brothers, is expected to be hard-hitting for the reason that Tannishtha has chosen to do it through a male protagonist and not a female character. She said, “I kept the protagonist of my film a man because I wanted to trouble him and make him feel from inside. He’s also an image of that patriarchy. I wanted to do that so it’s more internalised. It’s not from an external point of view that ‘oh this girl went through that and I pity her.’ Here’s a total sense of regret and loss.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3M26Q6hYkk/
She further said, “Unless I went a little surreal, I couldn’t get into the psychological aspect of the character. That was my main idea. It’s not a search film because that’s an obvious layer. It’s mainly how he’s feeling, his regret, his desire to change. He doesn’t know what to believe, what’s deja vu, what’s real and what’s a dream. It’s the trouble he’s going through.” Her own inspiration, she shared, was from a very real experience she had in Rome a few years ago when she was visiting. She said, “I went to a money exchange place and there was an old man who invited me home. It was a very weird dinner and at 9.30 pm, he looked at me and said ‘it’s time for you to leave!’ He gave me a total lowdown on the history of feminism, Renaissance, Italy, Venice. Ten days later, when I went back to the place, I couldn’t find it. The shopkeeper next to it told me that for hundreds of years there was nothing but a wall!”
She added, “Till date, I don’t know what that was. My father says I was hallucinating, I might’ve made a mistake. But I am sure I went back there and I couldn’t find it, I just saw a wall.” Using that to set the premise of her story, Tannishtha seems to have cracked the way into society’s prejudice, to free it for the disease that is patriarchy.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3Zp89ihA8e/
And honestly, it seems to have the makings of what is going to be a much needed piece of celluloid for most of us, who are still oblivious of all the struggles that us women face in our society’s patriarchal mindset. Tannishtha shared how she feels it is her responsibility as an artist and creator to tell progressive stories, and that is something we all can learn from her. The movie is set to release later this year.
