The Doll

This quietly subversive Indian drama in Bollywood garb, adapted from a novel by the Bengali writer Mahashweta Devi, does well by its central metaphor. Johnny Mendes (Chakraborty) is a young musician under an ageing master ventriloquist who passes on his prize lifesize female dummy. To the dismay of his would-be girlfriend, Johnny's new act blends pop music with sharp social comment from the doll's lips, swiftly gaining mass popularity that local politicos seek to exploit. Images of Indian femininity, the lack of genuine political debate and the corruption of the system come in for searching examination, though the frequent stops for musical numbers may inhibit the involvement of a Western audience.