“A profoundly inspiring, gripping, and feminine film. Great finesse and deep psychological insight into women past and present. A very realistic portrait of Mother Teresa.”

Source: Journalist, author of “Great Men and God,” Paris

Film review
Moving and absolutely gripping

The film tells the story of two women – Mother Teresa, portrayed by Swiss actress Jacqueline Fritschi‑Cornaz, and Kavita (Banita Sandhu), a privileged young violinist of Indian origin. The juxtaposition of these two lives forms the foundation of the film. A fascinating tale of intertwined destinies, this sensitive work – written and directed by Swiss‑Indian filmmaker Kamal Musale (better known for Curry Western and Millions Can Walk) – is a moving and absolutely gripping story about these two women.

Musale’s impressive storytelling unfolds across two parallel timelines, exploring the inner worlds of two passionate, uncompromising women from different generations whose lives are woven together by the darkness each experience. We see Mother Teresa (brilliantly played by Swiss actress Jacqueline Fritschi‑Cornaz) in her early years, arriving in Calcutta, India, a year before Independence. Her request to the Archbishop to found her own order is granted, and her life as Mother Superior of the Missionaries of Charity begins.

The film opens with Mother Teresa foraging for food to feed the 300 starving orphaned girls in her care. It is a time of political turmoil, and the young Mother Teresa, clad in a simple white saree with blue borders, faces menacing elements that physically threaten her. This pattern repeats itself through that early period.

Reviewer: Johnson Thomas, Mumbai

Source: https://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/hollywood-news/article/mother-teresa-and-me-movie-review-poignant-and-completely-captivating-23284823

Banita Sandhu does well in the role of Kavita. Jacqueline Fritschi-Cornaz delivers a skillful performance as Mother Teresa. Deepti Naval offers a dignified turn as Deepali’s aunt. Heer Kaur is an excellent support as Sister Agnes. Shobu Kapoor is suitably cast in a tiny role as Kavita’s foster mother. Liza Sadovy (as the Mother Superior), Kevin Mains (as Rupert), Vikram Kochhar (as Dr. Ahmed), Kezia Burrows (as Johanna), and the rest of the cast provide solid support.

“I really found it an intense moviegoing experience. Overall, it’s a film that is highly recommended. A film that grips you while at the same time carrying a wonderful message. A message of hope, a message of love.”
— Murtaza Ali Khan, Film Critic, Delhi

Source: filminformation.com

Jacqueline Fritschi-Cornaz delivers a commendable performance as Mother Teresa, portraying the character with heartfelt emotion and pathos. In her second film after Shoojit Sircar’s October, Banita Sandhu shines here, showcasing her talent with an outstanding portrayal of a conflicted young woman. Deepti Naval also leaves a strong impression despite limited screen time. Kamal Musale’s direction is assured and brings the characters effectively to life on screen.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Jacqueline Fritschi-Cornaz plays Mother Teresa in the film. She looks impressive in the role of Mother Teresa. The film’s art director has evoked the era well, and cinematographer Keiko Nakahara has captured every single scene beautifully.

Source: www.amarujala.com

Mother Teresa & Me is a moving, unvarnished story about exalted love and compassion, inspired by the life and times of Mother Teresa. Jacqueline Fritschi-Cornaz brings the spirit of Mother Teresa to life with fervor, making us feel as if we were seeing Mother Teresa in person. Banita Sandhu plays the young Briton Kavita with exuberance; Deepti Naval has a soothing presence that elevates this deeply emotional film.

Source: cineblitz.in

With Mother Teresa & Me, Swiss‑Indian filmmaker Kamal Musale tells the story of two resolute women in India, one in the past and the other in the present. Colors and melodies — Shot largely in India on the scale of a major production, the film admirably recreates the atmosphere of the 1950s, when the country was beset by social unrest that led to a terrible famine. The film also owes much to the precision of tone achieved by its cast and to its formal choices. Above all, the colors help bring the two women closer together, even though they are far apart in time and space: Mother Teresa first appears in black and white and the young woman in color, and at the end the tones merge into pastels, connecting the two figures in a surprising way. Alongside this meticulous visual aesthetic, the music also plays an important role, accompanying Kavita in particular.

By Anne‑Laure Martinetti

Source: L’essentiel, 02.2023, https://presse.saint-augustin.ch/blog/mother-teresa-me-les-destins-croises-de-deux-femmes/

The author’s idea, who also wrote the screenplay was to draw a parallel between the crisis of a young Anglo‑Indian singer who becomes pregnant by a musician friend in London, and Mother Teresa’s loss of faith in Calcutta, as revealed in her correspondence after her death.

The screenplay alternates between present‑day scenes, in which the young Kavita returns to India to escape her family, and scenes from the past that recount the vocation of the famous Albanian nun at the bedsides of the dying. From there, the two stories must be brought together to achieve a form of transmission, a spiritual liberation. But because it is directed with a certain verve and so well acted by the two leads, it is a real crowd‑pleaser. And if for a moment one feared it might be a religious film (a genre on the rise in the United States, without overstepping its bounds) with an anti‑abortion message, the film fortunately proves subtler. It is about stifling traditions and the pursuit of freedom, about deep doubts and self‑sacrifice, intertwined in a way that can speak to everyone.

Norbert Creuz

Source: Le Temps, https://www.letemps.ch/culture/ecrans/mere-teresa-moi-sainte-lorpheline

The premiere of a unique production in Zurich

The feature film Mother Teresa & Mewas shot in India and England and financed 100% through donations and foundation funds. All the proceeds from the film will be donated via the Zariya Foundation to selected organizations dedicated to the education and healthcare of sick, disabled, and abandoned children living in poverty.

Swiss actress Jacqueline Fritschi‑Cornaz traveled to India twelve years ago with the goal of visiting Bollywood studios. On site, she was confronted with the misery of many children, and the images never left her.

The two main characters of Mother Teresa & Me are Teresa and Kavita: two women’s lives, passionately and uncompromisingly interwoven in two parallel stories in the film. Both women fulfill their vocation despite great doubts. This interlaced story presents Mother Teresa—the woman behind the myth—in a new dimension. Her loss of faith inspires Kavita, a young English woman with Indian roots, to discover true love and empathy in present‑day Kolkata.

Pastoral theologian

I saw the film. It is remarkable. Sensitive and burning topics are addressed head‑on, with finesse, without bias, and sometimes with a touch of humor that softens the gravity of the scenes: the Church, abortion and society, adoption, suffering and faith, lack of belief and doubt, the coexistence of religions (Christianity, Hinduism, Islam), war, social crises, illness and poverty, etc. All of this is perfectly woven into a dramatic plot that reminds us that love is the universal meeting point between human beings.

The figure of Mother Teresa surprises us with her vulnerability, her crisis of faith, her inner loneliness despite the support of those around her, a kind of permanent melancholy due to the absence of her mother, and even a sense of powerlessness and at times failure — which is brilliantly balanced by the character of Kavita. She is like a promise of life within this social chaos of misery and poverty. Her own story, that of a survivor, places her, in the face of her tragedies, at the service of life…

Bravo to Mr. Musale, who has succeeded in turning such complex characters and delicate subjects into a coherent whole that can only move and edify!

Source: jurapastoral.ch (10/28/2022), http://www.jurapastoral.ch/