Mandi | A Great Ensemble | The Critique

Beat this – Smita Patil, Shabana Azmi, Saeed Jaffery, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Satish Kaushik, Pankaj Kapoor, Neena Gupta, Soni Rajdan, Annu Kapoor and Amrish Puri. A Shyam Benegal movie. When was the other rare occasion when you have seen such an illustrious star-cast. Probably actor-cast would be more appropriate. Based in Ghulam Abbas’ famous short story Aanandi, this movie stands out due to its brilliant treatment where prostitution is not treated with disdain. It’s a profession which demands dedication and patience. Despite of social outlook towards it, in its core humanity lies.

 

 

Rukmini Bai (Shabana) runs a house in Hyderabad. Zeenat (Smita) is a dancer whose chastity is guarded by Rukmini Bai for some unknown reason. Zeenat falls in love with a young boy (Aditya Bhattacharya who later turned director and made Raakh). Love is mutual. Meanwhile, on behest of social reformers, the house is moved to a place where a holy shrine is there. As the house moves, the place becomes famous. The secret of Zeenat and the boy comes in open and… Each actor has at least one good scene and they played it with great honesty. Special note should be made about Shabana and Smita who put aside their rivalry and gave brilliant performances. Their chemistry can put all gossip magazines to shame. Om Puri, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Saeed Jaffery got good amount of screen time and they delivered the goods. In a very complicated role, Naseeruddin Shah accomplished what few can do. Watch the movie to make a note.

 

Shyam Benegal used metaphors in a brilliant way. Something only a person with great knowledge of Urdu literature can manage. The movie can be divided into multiple short subplots and each of them mean something different from what is coming on screen. It leaves behind multiple layers of thoughts… some static, some dynamic. The taste it leaves can’t be explained. One can just experience it.

 

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh