Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway

<p>The film follows Debika, a who lives in with her husband Aniruddha, son Shubh and five month old daughter Suchi. Two employees visit them regularly on being reported by the Chatterjees’ neighbour before separating Shubh and Suchi from Debika during the last visit, owing to caused by misinterpretion of Debika’s expressions of traditional Indian maternal affection (like making the children co-sleep with their parents & a mother feeding her child with her own hands) as . The Chatterjees are told that they are unfit to hold custody of their children, so Debika decides to win back custody of her children. However, the Chatterjees lose the case due to prevailing & mindset of the Norwegian jury. Debika was branded as and unfit to parent the children. At the Norwegian child shelter, the children are subjected to in order to make them forget their Indian identity so that they can be easily into the Norwegian society. Soon Debika learns that the child welfare service is a scam to extort from immigrants. She learns of the children’s foster location and takes them away to 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. is the first Indian film to be shot in . The film was announced by in March 2021. The film also marks the Hindi film debut of the Bengali actor . The film is inspired by the real story of Sagarika Chakraborty and her husband, an Indian couple living in whose children were taken away by the , who had objections against parenting habits that are considered typical in . began in August 2021. The first production schedule took place in and was completed by 21 September 2021. The film was wrapped up on 18 October 2021. was theatrically released on 17 March 2023. The music of the film is composed by . Lyrics are written by . On the website , 13% of 15 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.7/10. Zinia Bandyopadhyay of 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.” 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.” Monika Rawal of 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.” of 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.” of 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.” Udita Jhunjhunwala from 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.” The film collected crore on its opening day with releasing on 500 screens. The collections saw a 77.95% jump on the second day with the film collecting . On the third day it earned taking its first weekend collection to . As of 20 April 2023, the film has grossed ₹36.53 crore worldwide with grossing 745K over the weekend, the film has become the film in . It later became the most-watched South Asian film in Norway with 8356 admits. The issued a statement before the release of film: There has been a lot of attention towards the film, . 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; — 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.″ 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.” This was countered by Sagarika Chakraborty (the real life person on whose ordeal the film is based) 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. In an op-ed piece in the Indian Express, she specifically referred to the issues surrounding children sharing the bed and being fed. 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.″</p>