MEN BEHIND WOMEN

Much before the fashionable labels of feminism came about, pre-Independence and post talkies Hindi cinema has proved strongly supportive of women protagonists. Filmmakers have periodically attempted to explore a woman’s psyche, some with admiration and some with a chauvinistic gaze. Javed Akhtar has a fascinating theory about directors who make women oriented films. He says he couldn’t, because his growing up years were bereft of women influences. So was Gulzar’s, but he went on to write and direct some of the most sensitive women-oriented films. Whatever the reasons, directors drawn to women’s issues returned to the subject time and again , the refrain being, ‘There’s so much left unsaid.’

Bimal Roy’s cinema depicted a healthy reverence towards his women who, whether it was the landowner-turned-rickshaw puller’s wife in Do Bigha Zameen or the orphan girl in Parineeta, were dignified in their suffering. His films were devoid of gender bias. Biraj Bahu based on Saratchandra’s novel, questioned family and societal cynicism towards a working wife, in this case one making and selling dolls to support her husband and in-laws. In Madhumati the heroine seeks her own revenge rather than be the hero’s appendage. But Roy’s most heroic portrayals came in Sujata, the touching story of a Harijan girl reared by an upper caste family and her quiet battle for acceptance. Four years later came Bandini, based on a central jail superintendent’s experiences about convicts imprisoned for murder! Kalyani played by Nutan, transforms from a cheerful village girl singing vaishnav poetry to an oppressed woman. In this unforgettable film, Roy explores the darker side to his protagonist with curiosity and compassion.

Melancholy was the backbone of all Guru Dutt films and women the cause of his despair! Often a spectator, his films were pathos-ridden and seldom had a happy ending. Pyaasa told the story of a heart-broken poet loved by two women. In Kaagaz Ke Phool, the hero is in love with a young actress he grooms but cannot marry because he’s already married! They split, the actress becomes a major star while he disappears into anonymity, eventually dying in a film studio. And finally Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam about a village boy, Bhootnath’s fascination for the feudal family’s young and beautiful daughter-in-law, chhoti bahu. Neglected by her husband, chhoti bahu is determined to win him back even if it means drinking and aping the courtesan he goes to every evening. In the process, she turns an alcoholic. Sahib Biwi... captured the decadence of a crumbling feudal family, undoubtedly offering the first disturbing glimpse into the life of a bored housewife doomed to monotony, a subject later exploited by Satyajit Ray in Charulata. The lonely housewife obviously wanted more than just making and breaking ornaments. She wanted self-expression!

Self-denial and guilt were recurring emotions in all Hrishikesh Mukherjee films. In Anuradha a renowned singer gives up her career to marry a doctor. After a few years she sinks into depression and begins to review her life. Anupama focussed on a father who hates his daughter because his wife died in child birth and he holds the daughter responsible for the tragedy. Indulgent of his characters Mukherjee participates in their dreams... Cinema for the star-struck teenager in Guddi and poetry for the conservatively brought up Rama in Jurmana. The director disagrees that his women are oppressed. Anuradha’s husband is dedicated to a cause. It would be oppression if he was neglecting her and enjoying himself, but he is neglecting himself too. Uma of Abhimaan isn’t asked to go, she initiates the separation. She’s more talented than her husband, also more mature and therefore makes that extra effort. He hurts her because he cannot help himself. In Bemisaal Amitabh refused to address Raakhee, his adopted brother’s wife as bhabhi and settled for sakhi, establishing an independent relationship.

Gulzar describes his films more as a study of human relationships than a stand on the sexes. His protagonists interestingly were always the decision-makers. Domestic or social, they took the initiative and whatever the circumstances, bore the brunt. In Parichay it’s the elder sister who calls a truce with the grandfather. In Khushboo, Hema is wedded in childhood, but has to wait a lifetime for her husband to take her home because everytime he comes to fetch her, he unwittingly hurts her pride. The film is a journey of heartbreaks. In Mausam again it’s the daughter who confronts the truth while the father is still waiting for the right moment! Aandhi on the surface about a jilted wife seeking her political ambitions, was actually about choices and the space women negotiate for themselves in a relationship. Twelve years later, Ijaazat explored the anguish of the wife and the other woman haunted by the shadows of the past.
Unconsciously, the director sympathised with the man, who like most men in similar circumstances, does nothing, but just watches on, until one woman destroys herself and the other escapes.

Interestingly, while the urban woman was battling with family and marital oppression, her rural other-half was facing bigger issues. Shyam Benegal’s early protagonists were women oppressed by society, system or her spouse. Non-judgmental of Lakshmi in Ankur sleeping with the zamindar’s son, Benegal also empathised with the school master’s wife Sushila in Nishant. Motivating Bindu to oppose the system in Manthan, indulgent of the insecure Urvashi in Bhumika Benegal admires the courage of Rukminibai in Mandi when the prostitutes manage to build a township in the outskirts of the city...

Filmmaker Vijay Anand appears fascinated with Rosy in Guide for daring to defy her impotent husband with ‘Marco main jeena chahti hoon...’ Encouraging her abandon, he captured her zest for life in the evergreen, ‘Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hain...’ penned by Shailendra. Rosy has no moral hang-ups. She makes no concessions for her beloved arrested for forgery. Similarly Govind Saraiya is far from patronising towards Kumudsundari jilted first by the proficient beloved and later by the illiterate husband in Saraswatichandra. On the contrary, he transfers his anger to his protagonist when she is repeatedly deceived by destiny.

Asit Sen endures with his skilled nurse, Radha, when she is expected to cure one more mentally unstable patient in Khamoshi and Basu Bhattacharya, an ace at marital relationships, is willing to understand the wife’s need for sexual fulfilment in Aastha. In Swami, Basu Chatterjee is amused by Soudamini’s reluctance to adjust in the joint family and BR Chopra angrily empathises with the rape victim in Insaaf Ka Tarazu. Mahesh Bhatt breaks the stereotypes in his study of the other-woman syndrome in Arth. Tired of dragging a dual relationship with false promises, he lets Pooja opt for a life without the anchor of another man or religion. Mrinal Sen’s Khandhar, about duty trapped in pain, is an ode to Jamini’s quiet dignity while director Ketan Mehta’s Mirch Masala initiates Sonabai’s fight for chastity as a challenge to the chauvinistic cinema.

Over the years, many meaningful woman portrayals have come from both the small and the mainstream cinema. Govind Nihalani’s adaptation of Mahashweta Devi’s novel Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa and earlier Rajkumar Santoshi’s quest for truth in Damini both paid their own tribute to women. Everytime we celebrate woman power, we need to remember that there were men who made this possible.

Bhawana Somaaya>>>>

email: bhawanasomaaya@express2.indexp.co.in