Film: Mother Teresa & Me
Cast: Jacqueline Fritschi-Cornaz, Banita Sandhu, Deepti Naval, Heer Kaur, Shobu Kapoor, Liza Sadovy, Kevin Mains, Vikram Kochhar, Kevin Mains, Kezia Burrows, Gavi Singh Chera
Director: Kamal Musale
Rating: 3.5/5

An intriguing tale of intertwined destinies, this soulfully spirited film written and directed by Swiss/Indian Kamal Musale (better known for films such as 'Curry Western' and 'Millions Can Walk'), is a poignant and completely captivating tale of two women. Musale's evocatively realised narrative straddles two different timelines in parallel form as he unravels the inner makings of the two passionate and uncompromising women from two different generations, whose lives are intertwined by the darkness they experience in their respective lives.

We see Mother Teresa (portrayed brilliantly by Swiss actress Jacqueline Fritschi-Cornaz) in her early years as she arrives in Calcutta, India, a year prior to Independence. Her request to the archbishop to start her own order has been acceded to and her life as Mother Superior in the Sisters of Charity has begun. The film opens with Mother Teresa foraging for food to support 300 starving orphan girls under her care. It's a time of political turbulence, riots, and unrest, and the younger Mother Teresa, clad in her habit of a simple white sari bordered in blue lines, comes face to face with lumpen elements who threaten her physically. It's a pattern that repeats itself through the early years of her life in India as she struggles to bring succour to the homeless, the ailing, and the disadvantaged. Kavita (Banita Sandhu), a privileged young violinist of Indian origin living in the UK, is plagued by self-doubt following a broken love affair that leaves her feeling abandoned and saddled as she is with an unwanted pregnancy.