Queen: Probably Feminism at its Best

This is not a review of the movie, god knows we have almost a million of them on the net; instead this article tries to express why this movie is one of a kind and how it has nailed feminism. You might wonder about the connection to feminism since the protagonist neither makes a hard hitting statement by avenging her pride and then becoming a career oriented woman nor does she renounce her love and do something for the greater good of society. Rather from the beginning of the movie till the end she has remained a “Nobody” and yet through her journey and her subsequent evolution she has given you the true meaning of feminism, something all of us can relate to.

So, here we have the protagonist Rani, all innocent and sweet getting married to her prince charming, who will protect her from everything and love her till the end of time...so what if he is a bit controlling at times, that’s ‘cause he just wants what’s best for her. But then comes the twist in the tale that too within the first half hour of the movie, the charming prince feels she is just too drab for her and so dumps her quite unceremoniously the day before the wedding. All her virtue and naiveté goes against her as she tries to plead for her love...she returns heartbroken and numb to her home trying to shut the door to reality, exactly like most of us would behave in a situation like this. 

From here on the character could have taken two distinctly trodden paths of yesteryear movies (Remember Rekha, Sridevi etc.); in one she would win over her lover and all other obstacles in her path by her innocence and virtue, whereas in the other she would decide to turn a modern woman, which usually refers to wearing western clothes and mouthing English at the drop of a hat to avenge her pride but of course simultaneously retaining her ‘sanskar’ till the very end. Instead the story took on a very fresh and realistic approach and gave us a protagonist who is sensible and mature. So, Rani cried her heart out for the first couple of days and then decided to go on a trip, her honeymoon trip to be exact, and get a little perspective.

Throughout the story, you find instances of woman power deeply rooted in the context...so you have Vijaylakshmi or VJ, the namesake of Rani’s ex-fiancée, who is raising a kid on her own, is very much aware of her own sexuality and who shows Rani how to not take herself or life that seriously...then you have Roxettee, another character who stays with us for just a couple of minutes but creates a statement  that women today do take the role of bread earners for their family very seriously and handle it very effectively. And of course, then there’s Rani herself, who slowly but surely takes a stand... she learns how to survive in foreign lands, she learns to enjoy herself dancing in the nightclub without feeling guilty, she learns how to protect herself while fighting off a robber or for that matter improvise when she drives her drunk friends back to the hostel, she learns to be aware about her own sexuality when she kisses the Italian restaurateur, she even learns to appreciate her friends when she decides to postpone her discussion with Vijay just to hang out with them (which actually gets a big thumbs up since most of us are guilty of choosing the guy over our friends) and finally she learns to put her own needs first, deciding to let go of her relationship with Vijay.

In the end you find her almost the same in terms of appearance and mannerism, the same heavily accented English, the same Indian kurti, albeit a more stylish one...but what changes drastically is her poise and her attitude towards life and herself. This is a woman who knows her own mind, one who is self assured and confident and who does not need some prince charming by her side to validate her existence. The best example of her sensibility shines through in the way she rejects Vijay, with kindness and grace, thanking him for everything.

This is Rani’s journey of self discovery, a journey which reveals the true mark of a woman of the world. This lady has broken every stereotype there is and given us a character we can associate with on so many levels.

Maybe this is what feminism looks like in the real life...

Fair & Beauty : The Unfairness of it all

Recently I came across a campaign by 'Dark is Beautiful' which spoke about choosing to stay dark skinned and yet acknowledge that one is beautiful. This according to me is a very crucial subject to speak of, as important as caste discrimination or same sex relationships...because it is definitely an epidemic in India and maybe in the neighbouring countries as well.

I have often wondered...Why is it that we are so obsessed with fair skin?? Exactly who decided to set the parameter of beauty based on one's complexion...Could it be that the people who ruled us ages ago have somehow set that standard so that even after all these time we hanker to become like them, our gora firangi invaders...that subconsciously we still feel beneath them and somehow we relate our skin colour or how fluently we speak English (Oh Yeah! thats another one, but that calls for a separate blog post altogether) to that. There are no definite answers to that although the results are for all to see..

Today our market is filled with fairness products right from face wash, sunscreen, body lotion...no matter which product you reach for, you can be certain the "F" word is right there tempting you, promising you much more than a lightened complexion...a better career, loving husband, colleagues who respect you...all of this just by changing the colour of your skin. The situation is such that even men are not spared, now we have superstars proclaiming that the reason for their success is because they went for skin lightening, even though these stars are known for their smouldering dark skin so much so that it adds on to their charisma. So there you have it, even if you want to buy a product which does not promote such blatant discrimination your choices are pretty limited...

I know what you are thinking, it isn't that bad right? I mean all of us are educated open minded people who know not to take these things that seriously, its just a means to feel good about yourself, just as you splurge for that branded dress or the expensive eye liner...Right?? Yeah, it would have been that simple only if all of us took it that simply..but the point is: it has long gone past the stage of just feeling good about yourself, now it has become a requisite to be termed a beauty; don't believe me, OK, quickly calculate in your mind the number of fair beauties versus the number of dark skinned ones, it could be in cinema, modelling, people you know...got the answer. Our art reflects our culture, our mindset and so does our consumer market and all of these are screaming out the same thing. Fair Skin Sells, Fair Skin is In.

Now, lets step away from the metropolitan cities, and you will find the situation taking an ugly turn. Because in villages and towns you will find people having access to the concept of fairness being sold over counters but with no means to achieve them and there lies their misfortune. So we find dark skinned girls stigmatised because of their colour from an early age, fated to be shunned even by their parents, their confidence shattered just because of their colour, being told  to settle for what they get in life, be it a means of livelihood or a marriageable prospect.

See, the "F" word is an epidemic and it does need to stop....

So the question is what can we do about it...Well,  we can take a conscious stand to stop using such products which promote skin lightening, we can ensure that we are vocal about it whenever we see discrimination on colour and we can definitely ensure that our coming generations are not a victim to such perceptions.

Stay Unfair. Stay Beautiful.

Apur Panchali - Review

A lil late in the day to write a review on the movie but then we did have a late release in Mumbai. Now there is a special thrill watching a movie of your native language playing in Mumbai, where, in that small movie hall you seek a solidarity in all the fellow lingual natives sharing the experience with you, though in this case the movie was good no matter the language and if you happen to be a Ray movie buff then it's definitely an added bonus.

Apur Panchali traces the story of Subir Banerjee, the person who played Apu in Ray's Pather Panchali. Based on a true story, the movie brings forth the question which most of us did not even think of acknowledging : What happens to the child artist after he/she disappears from the silver screen....for that matter what happens to any artist who is famous for a while and then lost in obscurity. The movie jumps between past and present, reel and real, black and white, slowly unravelling the life of the protagonist on three parallel lines: Ray's Apu, Subir's youth and his present.

Kaushik Ganguly beautifully captures the anguish of Subir Banerjee, the one who has been forgotten and has been cast into mediocrity. Parambrata Chatterjee, in his role as the young Subir is adept and as usual gets all the nuances right, though it is the older Subir played by Ardhendu Banerjee  who strikes a chord in our  hearts with his subdued performance of a man defiant of the world which rejected him. Parno Mitter, in the role of Ashima is just right, playing the character of child-woman perfectly, even Ritwick Chakraborty, who plays Subir's friend is understated and mature in  his portrayal. Needless to say the treatment of characters has been done beautifully, where even characters with bit roles like Subir's in laws have stayed on. The background score is poignant & haunting binding the entire three stages of the film together, the music of Indradeep Dasgupta carrying remnants of Pandit Ravi Shankar's score.

The director's intent is clear, by placing Ray's classics against his own story line he wanted to drive home the resemblance between the character of Apu and the person who played it, that is, Subir Banerjee, which he himselfs mouths as "Uncanny" in the movie. But this is where the movie falters, by placing his scene with Ray's classics Ganguly, instead of projecting the stark resemblance, at times without intent, undermines  his own work. For example, the scene where Parambrata is told the news of his baby's death, we find Ray's classic being played where Apu (Soumitra Chatterjee) hears the news of his wife's death, now this creates a damper on the original scene cause before Ray's handiwork Ganguly's pales in comparison...and instead of empathising with Parambrata you are reminded of the brilliant portrayal of pain by Soumitra Chatterjee in Apur Sansar, so much so that reel becomes more intense, invokes more pathos, just in that once glimpse. 

But, that definitely does not take away from the intent of the film, which is pure and quite original. If we let go of  comparisons, we find that Ganguly has given us a good film, something which is interesting to watch, not too preachy and yet delivers a message. In the end we do find a kinship with Subir Banerjee, our beloved  Apu of yonder years, and that's the power of good storytelling.

So in case you are a Bengali do catch this movie in your nearest theatre and in case you are not, well the movie is playing with subtitles as well, its definitely worth a watch.