An American doctor's ( Patrick Swayze) conscience sends him to Mother Teresa's Calcutta when he has a nervous breakdown after his efforts to save a young patient fails. On the other side of the world, a very poor family (Om Puri, Shabana Azmi) arrives in Calcutta from a small village to make a living. There their lives intertwine when they meet in a slum.
It is heartbreaking to see the families meager savings being stolen by a con, as they try to find a place to stay. An American nurse and the doctor try to help the family. The father of the poor family becomes a Rickshaw puller to make a living; such is life of the uneducated, you see! Om plays the Rickshaw puller with such authenticity, that he manages to evoke sympathy at the plight of the poor, who survive by doing physical labor inspite of their poor diet.
Besides poverty, the other villain is the slumlord and his villainous son who want a cut of the Rickshaw puller meagre earnings. The two resort to physical violence when the poor cannot afford to pay them.
It is remarkable that a movie director from the West (Joffe) manages to recreate the lives of slum dwellers in Calcutta. While Indian actors , Om Puri and Shabana Azmi excel, Patrick is remarkably comfortable among the slum dwellers!!
It is heartbreaking to see the families meager savings being stolen by a con, as they try to find a place to stay. An American nurse and the doctor try to help the family. The father of the poor family becomes a Rickshaw puller to make a living; such is life of the uneducated, you see! Om plays the Rickshaw puller with such authenticity, that he manages to evoke sympathy at the plight of the poor, who survive by doing physical labor inspite of their poor diet.
Besides poverty, the other villain is the slumlord and his villainous son who want a cut of the Rickshaw puller meagre earnings. The two resort to physical violence when the poor cannot afford to pay them.
It is remarkable that a movie director from the West (Joffe) manages to recreate the lives of slum dwellers in Calcutta. While Indian actors , Om Puri and Shabana Azmi excel, Patrick is remarkably comfortable among the slum dwellers!!
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