Trishna, Seven magazine review - Telegraph Gradually, his thoughtful assistance shifts into forceful seduction (a moment which occurs off-screen, and, given Trishna's economic powerlessness and resulting passivity, might even be considered rape) after which, shamed, she departs. After some months, he comes looking for her, asking her to go and live with him as his girlfriend in Mumbai. Winterbottom's film, which moves at a deceptively leisurely pace through the enchantment and squalor of India, delicately and agonisingly explores the shifting balances of power between a couple slipping towards tragedy. Pinto shines here as never before, exuding a hopeful artlessness combined with the consciousness that she is in no position to demand anything: a pitiful flock of dependents clings to her for survival. In fact, she could assert herself - a worldlier girl would have bartered her sexual power for security - but we watch helplessly as Trishna simply agrees to everything her lover asks of her, whether that is love or, latterly, humiliation. Ahmed, too, is subtle in his portrayal of an immature man who never openly acknowledges the true frailty of Trishna's position, although his worse nature moves silently to exploit it. When Trishna's pride finally asserts itself, it is in a rush of self-destruction: like Tess before her, she is perhaps the female opposite of Georges Duroy.