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

 

Heroes Of Hindi Cinema | Uttkrishtt 2012

We can always argue who is our favorite hero. Definitely a matter of subjective evaluation. However, that should not undermine the popularity of characters and appreciation by masses. Presenting Uttkrishtt 2012 Results – Heroes Of Hindi Cinema...

A quick analysis can tell us that people didn’t voted much for larger than life characters. Most of them walk among us. They represent masses. They fight for causes so omnipresent that usually we chose to ignore. Not every hero wins. In fact, some lose their battle. But their fight is not about the outcome. It’s about their values... You can lose a battle provided you fight well.

1. Common Man (Naseeruddin Shah - A Wednesday) : What can a common man do? We need heroes to do the struggle on behalf of common man. But on a Wednesday things changed when a caller brought entire Police Department on knees and successfully orchestrated killing of four deadly terrorists. As it turns out, he is just another common man, without a name and to some extent, without an identity.

2. Raghu (Rajesh Khanna - Bawarchi) :  He is street smart. He can manage house and people like a magician. But what makes him different is his inherent goodness. His ability to teach people a few nuances about life. He picks a family where harmony is a matter of past and becomes a part of it, only to teach them small things to make life better and leave them forever... in search of a new house.

3. Radha (Nargis - Mother India) : Mother - whenever this word is uttered, Nargis drenched in sweat while working in farm is one of few images which comes up in mind. Radha's life is a ballad of struggle and resilience. Her husband leaves her with debt when he becomes invalid. Lala who lustfully approaches her. The famine and never ending financial problems. She refuses to bow down and remains righteous. In the end, she even kills her own son in order to save the honor of her village which she believes to be not different from hers.

4. Suresh Sinha (Guru Dutt - Kagaz Ke Phool) : A successful film director whose marriage is on the rocks finds some solace in affection of his new actress. As his romance faces trials, his daughter is not happy with the situation. Unannounced, actress leaves him. His work betrays him and slowly becomes irrelevant in cinema. In the end, he dies a tragic death.

5. Usha (Smita Patil - Bhumika) : Usha is a strong willed woman who wants to make her career in cinema. Her manager, who later becomes her husband, arranges work for her. After a point she wants to leave her profession much to dislike of her husband. She leaves her and pursue a relationship with a director which doesn't work out. It follows up with a relationship with a businessman who is too orthodox. In the end she returns to her husband and try to redefine her life.

6. Vijay Deenanath Chavan (Amitabh Bachchan - Agneepath) :  Revenge is a dish best served cold. Kancha was responsible for murder of his saintly father and he decides to take his revenge. Vijay wants his village back. His violent means are not appreciated by his mother but his goodwill has many takers. He is a character who breaks laws but doesn't break hearts of poor. A person with heart of gold and blood in eyes.

7. Yeshwant Lohar (Nana Patekar - Yeshwant) : Hot-head. This one word describes Yeshwant. However, he is not only a hot headed cop, he is a very honest person who would not let anything bypass law. He inspires his wife to become IAS. When he realizes that he was wrong in doubting her, he apologizes sincerely. He is a temperamental but un-tampered character.

8. Kabeer Khan (Shahrukh Khan - Chak De! India) : A disgraced captain of Indian Hockey team whose religious identity becomes a subject of suspicion takes up a difficult task of training a women's Hockey Team and win the World Championship, something literally unheard. He fights against the system, his demons and resistance within the team. In the end, when his hard work pays back and the color of medal changes to gold, he silently leaves in his own little world.

9. Adinath (V Shantaram - Do Aankhen Barah Haath) : A young jail warden who believes that goodness exists in even most dreadful criminals and this goodness can help them their demons and become good citizen. He takes six criminals with him and tries to rehabilitate them in a farm. His firm belief in his ideology works and six criminals becomes good citizen. The purpose of law and punishment sees the daylight.

10. Raju (Dev Anand - Guide) :  Raju, the guide, falls in love with dancer-wife of archeologist. Dancer is lonely as her husband doesn’t care for her talent. Raju makes her a professional. As money comes, greed develops. Eventually, he is arrested. After release he takes shelter in a famine-ridden village. Due to miscommunication, people start believing that he is a saint. They start paying respect and much more. Some more miscommunication happens and message 'he won't eat till it rains' goes out. After a lot of dilemma, Raju decides to stick to the message.

Story Of Two Villages And One Woman | Mirch Masala And Manthan | Under Lens

Among different shades Smita Patil gave life, character of a strong willed village woman is a prominent one. In Mirch Masala and Manthan you can see different hues of a village woman. The way Smita Patil interpreted these characters and played her roles is a case study for all heroines who wants to become actresses.

Manthan made by Shyam Benegal is one of the most inspiring biopics of Hindi Cinema. The movie talks about White Revolution and AMUL. Smita plays a role of a villager and is pivotal element in the growth of narrative. However the story remains about the person behind Amul and the character played by Girish Karnad never gets subsided. On the other hand, in Mirch Masala she plays a fiery character who is not ready to give in to a cruel subedar who lusts for women.

In these two characters of hers, Smita plays very strong characters having a personal identity and a strong will power to stand against the odds. These characters though based in villages echoed the contemporary feminism mostly exhibited in urban, something she stood in her life. Even after so many years, she is a poster girl for Indian feminism.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Bhumika | The Role Of Life | The Critique

Loosely based on life of Marathi actress Hansa Wadkar, Bhumika also take subtle references from lives of many contemporaries as well. Directed by an accurate Shyam Benegal, the movie has an ensemble of amazing performers: Smita Patil, Amol Palekar, Naseeruddin Shah, Anant Nag and Amrish Puri. Each excelled in her own right.

Bhumika is fictional biopic of actress Usha (played by Smita). Usha is brought under spot light by a family acquaintance Keshav who later marries her. She becomes an actress and occasionally works with star Anant Nag. However things doesn't go the silky way. Keshav is a parasite. She decides to leave him.  It follows up with two more relationships, each turns out to be an abuse of some kind. The misfortune of her life is that she is suffers in all relationships in her life. People try to own her and she has to struggle to come out... and she end up trapped in a different trap.

The movie won two National Awards. Best screenplay given to Satyadev Dubey, Shyam Benegal and Girish Karnad. This explains why this movie had such an impact. And the second National Award was given to Smita Patil for her mesmerizing performance. Bhumika is perhaps one of the best biopic made in this country. It refrains from sensationalizing the story but keeps the sting intact. Respect is the word. Period.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Death Of Smita | Hammers High

For all her life, she stood for feminism. She was one of the most vocal advocates of gender equality of her time. However, she was targeted when the news of her relationship with Raj Babbar graced the newsstands. In such kind of relationships, it’s totally unjustified to put the blame on someone... at least as a fourth person. Still, Smita was subjected to various kinds of abuses.

Raj and Smita were blessed with a beautiful child named Prateik. However, Smita didn't survived long and died due to childbirth complications after two weeks. Raj returned to his first wife, Nadira, a fine lady herself. In book Mrinal Sen: Over The Years, An Interview With Samik Bandopadhyay, Mrinal Sen implied that there was more than a headline in Smita Patil's death. She died due to medical negligence.

Medical negligence is not a rare thing. It happens. It happens to almost everyone in varying degrees. However, this one caused loss of an amazing actress. Over the years, many conspiracy theories have been suggested blaming colleagues and others for the death. Most of these cannot be anything more than wild figment of imagination... though some of them might have some gravity.

(In Conversation: Sujoy And Ali)

Smita Patil | The Real Talent | Statesmen

Ardha Satya, Shakti, Mandi, Manthan, Bhumika, Aakrosh, Bazaar, Chakra, Chidambaram and Mirch Masala... Most of the actresses in current crop would be proud of herself if she gets even 1 second presence in any of these movies, Smita Patil did all of them... mostly as lead and heavy duty roles. Her filmography boasts of movies like these and a few other acclaimed ones, experience of working with actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Amitabh Bachchan, Raj Babbar and Girish Karnad and  directors like Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani, Mrinal Sen and B.R. Chopra. Uff... quite a list.

Smita was known as an intense actress. She had the power to hold a scene with great élan. Something Meena Kumari was capable of doing in a more romantic way. Smita carved her niche in a male dominated cinema and portrayed many strong female characters like Sonbai in Mirch Masala. Even in smaller roles, like the one in Shakti, she used to put in so much energy. She was not exactly a fit for commercial cinema but still made a mark in commercial hits like Shakti and Namak Halaal in which she was paired opposite to Amitabh Bachchan.

Her dedication for parallel cinema has no parallel. She was face of parallel cinema in 70s. She was a favorite of directors who spearheaded the parallel cinema movement. However, at a point, she was 'unceremoniously' removed from projects just to accommodate more commercial faces to make movies more commercially viable. What a shame it was? At that time, Smita decided to move to commercial cinema. Though the decision didn't work out much in her favor, she earned respect of likes of Ramesh Sippy and B.R. Chopra. Talent can earn respect anywhere, she proved.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh