Heaven on Earth (2008)

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

This movie is a piece of art. It tugs at your emotions and empathy. The pain of Chand, the main character, is felt as you watch her endless tribulations and abuse in the home of her new in-laws. The end of the film also plays and flirts with Indian folklore and symbolism which makes the ending mysterious. It's clear that there are several mixed reviews, however those who dislike the film most likely don't understand the culture and folklore played into the films inspiring ending.

Great Acting by Zinta!? You have to be kidding. Terrible movie,terrible acting all around. What do you expect when you get actors who have never worked in film? For instance, the lead guy has never worked in film prior the Heaven on Earth! The direction was also so flimsy with nothing to write home about. Deepa Mehta style.All her movies have the same rhythm lacking in depth. Besides,this movie really lacked reality,one could tell from the acting alone. What was the point of shooting it in Toronto when no locales were really highlighted except the snow? Perhaps government incentives, but this movie really is an Indian movie and should not be termed as Canadian. It was horrible.

I agree with the last person who rated this film as horrible. Such films give any genre of independent film a bad name. I think now that Mehta's is trying to show mainstream audiences taboo topics in an interesting way but, failing miserably. I thought the film was shot well and looked colorful enough yet I felt that Chand's character could have been better developed and I would also like to have seen Rocky in any other light but a monster. I am sure even he is a victim of some abuse from his family but his father did not even seem as evil as he was. I cannot understand how some Indians can be ashamed of slum dog for depicting India as "a dirty country" when films like this show just how horrible some Indian community's are yet seem to accept it as just as another fact of life. I guess that's the message the film is going for...?

Heaven on Earth is both excruciating and incredibly beautiful. It's this juxtaposition, along with the magical realism, that pulls us in, chains us to our seats, keeps our eyes and ears open, and exposes our hearts to the intensity of the situation. It opens us to Chand's vulnerability and strength, and commands us to be vulnerable and strong in turn.The story is told elsewhere, so I won't talk about it here. Preity's performance is amazing, and she deserves any award she gets for this. And everyone else in the cast is also terrific. Like all Mehta's film's, it's literate, beautifully shot and edited, and takes on an issue no one really wants to talk about, let alone see up on a big screen.While it might not be for everyone, Heaven on Earth is for those with the heart and strength to bare the onslaught of Chand's suffering and her escapes into imagination. The film has stayed with me since I saw it about a month ago. I hope it always does.