Navratri and Hindi Cinema

[Guest guest]

Here's an interesting column from the latest issue of the Indian

cinema magazine, "Screen." It's written by Bhawana Somaaya:

 

NAVRATRI AND HINDI CINEMA

 

For a country divided into several regions and dialects, Hindi

cinema has predominantly catered to the Northern audience. ... The

rare occasions when an audience is introduced to a different culture

come either because the filmmaker originated from that particular

region, or because the subject specifically demanded so. ...

 

For some strange reasons, Bengal's Durga Puja has seldom been

depicted with elan by the commercial directors. With the exception

of Shakti Samanta's bilingual "Barsaat Ki Ek Raat," and many years

later, Rakesh Roshan's "Karan Arjun," the mainstream directors have

shied away from elaborating on the rituals of the festival, unless

the films delved on women-oriented themes. Kalpana Lajmi's "Daman"

telling of the protagonist finally mustering courage to strike back

at her oppressor, is Goddess Durga triumphing over evil.

 

Over the years, the angry Goddess has remained a metaphor every time

the script called to justify an oppressed heroine seeking justice.

Who can forget the forceful Hema Malini cracking the whip on the

villain in "Jyoti," or Raakhee resorting to dangerous games to

settle scores with her oppressor in "Shraddhanjali," or Dimple

Kapadia taking the law into her hand to punish her rapists

in "Zakhmee Aurat"?

 

The underlying message of all these films remained unchanged. All of

them representing varied images of Goddess Durga. On rare occasions,

the films have even dared to project the protagonist as the Goddess

herself. Hema Malini played Kaali in a South remake that proved to

be a blockbuster in all the regions, and Sharmila Tagore portrayed a

housewife assumed to have divine powers in Satyajit Ray's highly

popular "Devi."

 

Down South, Navratri has a different significance. Considered as an

occasion to welcome the Goddess home, the custom was beautifully

imbibed in the highly successful Sivaji Ganesan and Savitri

starrer "Navratri," later remade as "Naya Din Nayi Raat" starring

Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhaduri. The film was an opportunity for the

actors to display their histrionics. The hero, because he played

nine varied characters, and the heroine, because she evolves with

the nine characters she meets during the course of a single day, and

later recounts the experiences to her groom during their wedding

ceremony.

 

In the coming years, we should discover many newer images of the

festival and the Goddess in films. Besides Vaishno Devi songs

popularised by J. Om Prakash (Aasha) and Mohan Kumar (Avtaar), there

will hopefully be more folk lores adapted on screen and popularised

by commercial filmmakers.

 

URL: http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.php?content_id=6287