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.[4] The film is inspired by the real-life story of Anurup Bhattacharya and Sagarika Chakraborty, an Indian couple whose children were taken away by Norwegian authorities in 2011.[5][6]
The film follows Debika, 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 before taking Shubh and Suchi during the last visit. The Chatterjees are told that they are unfit to hold custody of their children, so Debika decides to win back custody of her children. Some of the charges levied against her are that the children co-sleep with the parents, they are hand-fed and the mother is mentally unstable and unfit to parent the children. Soon Debika learns that the child welfare service is a scam to extort 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.
Soumya Mukherjee as Anurag Chatterjee, Aniruddha's brother
Bodhisattwa Majumder as Debika's father
Saswati Guha Thakurta as Debika's mother
Varun Vazir as Biswajeet Sarkar
Charu Shankar as Nandini
Roopangi Vanvari as Rabia
Sara Soulié as Berit Hansen, kindergarten teacher at Velfred
Yuvaan Vanvari as Shubha Chatterjee, Debika and Aniruddha's son
Irha Ali as Suchi Chatterjee, Debika and Aniruddha's daughter
Kristjan Sarv as Lars Kristiansen (official from Velfred)
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.[11]
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.[12][13]
Filming
Principal photography began in August 2021.[14] The first production schedule took place in Estonia and was completed by 21 September 2021.[15] The film was wrapped up on 18 October 2021.[16][17]
Release
Theatrical
Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway was theatrically released on 17 March 2023.[18]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 19% of 16 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.9/10.[20] 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."[21]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."[22] 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."[23]
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."[24]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."[25] 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."[26]
Box office
The film collected ₹3.22 crore on its opening day with releasing on 500 screens.[27] The collections saw a 77.95% jump on the second day with the film collecting ₹4.55 crore. On the third day it earned ₹4.91 crore taking its first weekend collection to ₹12.68 crore. 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 grossingBollywood film in Norway.[28] It later became the most-watched South Asian film in Norway with 8356 admits.[29]
There has been a lot of attention towards the film, Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway.
The film is a work of fiction, even though it is based on an actual case. The case being referred to was resolved a decade ago in cooperation with Indian authorities and with the agreement of all parties involved. To protect the children and the right to privacy the government can not comment on specific cases due to strict confidentiality regulations. However, some general facts must be set right;
Children will never be taken away from their families based on cultural differences described. Eating with their hands or having children sleeping in bed with their parents are not considered practices harmful to children and are not uncommon in Norway, irrespective of cultural background.
Child welfare is not driven by profit. The alleged claim that ‘the more children put into the foster system, the more money they make’ is completely false. Alternative care is a matter of responsibility, and not a money making entity.
The reason for placing children in alternative care is if they are subject to neglect, violence or other forms of abuse.
— Royal Norwegian Embassy, New Delhi
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.″[30]
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."[31] This was countered by Sagarika Chakraborty 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.[32] In an op-ed piece in the Indian Express, she specifically referred to the issues surrounding children sharing the bed and being fed.[33]
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.″[34]
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