For a time in the early 1990s, playwright Tom Stoppard explored the intriguing concept of depicting a dual story of an historical event and the contemporary individuals investigating such an event, mainly through manuscripts and letters, most notably in ARCADIA. He addressed similar themes, though, in his 1991 radio play "In the Native State" which formed the nucleus for his 1995 stage work Indian INK. I was particularly reminded of the latter while watching RETURN TO RAJAPUR, the feature directorial debut of Nanda Anand, who also wrote the screenplay.
As in the Stoppard work, there's a mystery at the heart of the story. Samantha (Kelli Garner), a 22-year old American woman, arrives in Rajapur armed with a handful of photographs and letters. She's determined to uncover the true story behind events that unfolded in the early 1980s as they related to Jai Singh (Manoj Bajpai), the erudite owner of a dilapidated palace. Posing as a grant writer (who conveniently fails to turn up), Samantha begins her investigation into the lives of an American couple, Sara and Jeremy Reardon (Lynn Collins and Justin Theroux) who spent their honeymoon in the area. Samantha arrives with a set of preconceived notions that eventually are stripped away, although she only learns parts of the truth.
The film shifts easily between time frames and director Anand skillfully weaves the story in a compelling manner. My biggest complaint with the movie is that the ending felt rushed -- I was paying attention to everything that was occurring on screen, yet I became a bit confused. Perhaps it doesn't matter in the long run, but it marred an otherwise enjoyable experience.
The cast is uniformly good, with Garner (whom I found miscast in THE AVIATOR) delivering a fine turn. The strongest acting, though, is from Lynn Collins (who sounds like Gwyneth Paltrow) and Justin Theroux as the couple. He's an alcoholic who married a meal ticket and she's a woman who comes to the conclusion she might have made an error. Her decision is enhanced by her growing attraction to Jai Singh, and Bajpai makes the character believable, successfully essaying both the younger and contemporary versions. There's also fine supporting work from the always reliable Celia Weston and Frank Langella.
Although on a minor scale, RETURN TO RAJAPUR contains some of the lushness of THE English PATIENT or A PASSAGE TO India. Even so, it accomplishes a great deal, proving engrossing and enjoyable.
