Tropical drama "Rains" not steamy enough (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - The sort of steamy tropicalmelodrama that Hollywood used to produce with regularity in itsgolden age, "Before the Rains" depicts the tragic repercussionsof an adulterous affair between an upscale British colonialistand his beautiful housemaid in 1930s India.

Lacking the emotional power necessary to fuel its contrivedplot elements, the film is a distinctly minor entry in theMerchant Ivory canon.

Recently showcased at New York's Tribeca Film Festival, itisn't likely to achieve much art house traction upon itstheatrical release May 9.

Set in Kerala in southern India, the story centers on HenryMoores (Linus Roache), a spice baron who desperately needs tobuild a major road in order to expand his trade. Even whilepursuing his goals, he's engaged in a steamy affair with hismarried housemaid, Sajani (Nandita Das), which must be put onthe back burner when his wife (Jennifer Ehle) eventuallyreturns from England to join him.

Despite their subterfuge, the couple's affair is eventuallydetected by Sajani's highly suspicious husband (Lal Paul), whobeats her in an effort to confirm the truth. This sets off anultimately tragic series of events that overtake not justMoores but also his right-hand man T.K. (Rahul Bose), who istorn between loyalty to his boss and his own moral convictions.

(In the film's early moments, Moores presents T.K. with thegift of a handsome gun, leaving one to simply count the minutesuntil it figures prominently in the proceedings.)

Screenwriter Cathy Rabin's story line is certainly dramaticenough, but it is handled by director Santosh Sivan in adecidedly muted if tasteful fashion that proves uninvolving.The normally fine Roache doesn't manage to infuse his decidedlyunsympathetic protagonist with sufficient charisma, and whileBose and Das are moving in their supporting turns, their strongefforts aren't enough to compensate for the overall familiarityof what transpires. The film's chief asset is its superblyatmospheric evocation of its period milieu.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter