Dono (2023)

 

Watching Rajshri production’s Dono, is like visiting a tranquil hill station again, after a gap of many years. While it evokes a feeling of calming comfort through familiarity, it also holds enough surprises and modern updates to offer fresh delight. The film was largely overlooked upon release, both by the paying audiences and by the film critics, and thus I carried very little expectations as I sat down watching it on Zee5. However, I was reasonably hooked once the narrative got past some initial jitteriness, and possibly nervousness, given that it is helmed by a first time filmmaker, also the son of a legendary successful Hindi film director.

Yes, the film is an old-fashioned romantic film, where it’s certain that the leads on the poster would end up falling in love. And yet, the film tackles many modern themes, some of them rather sensitive, and quite admirably at that. Relationships in today's age are riddled with newer complications, in addition to the already existing age old ones. And yet, there are very few ‘modern’ films that truly peel through these complexities. Romance in Hindi films these days is largely frivolous, possibly catering to the restless ‘reels’ era. I don’t recall many films dwelling upon the vulnerabilities or frailties of modern love, or of the individuals involved. Dono succeeds in doing that to some extent. Yes, it could have been tighter, and could have done without some tropes for more impact. But there is enough subtext and depth here to keep the discerning engaged, while also being entertained.

Barjatya sets the film during a grand destination wedding in Thailand. It gives ample opportunity to showcase gloss, and stage some mirth. It is as conventional a setting that one can expect from a film coming from Rajshri Production’s stable. What is not conventional though is the choice of leads, their characterization, their battles, and their arcs through the narrative. Rajveer Deol, the younger son of arguably the most famous poster boy of masculinity on Indian celluloid, plays Dev, a character completely devoid of machismo. Paloma Dhillon, the daughter of a heroine known for her beauty and grace, plays Meghna, a character not very confident about her own being and lacking a sense of self-worth. They both are tentative, not just with themselves, and with each other, but also with the audience. In the first act, they miss many notes, their expressions seem taught, and they come across as very raw. However, as the film gets going, this rawness comes through as a strength. Their characters open up not just with each other, but also with themselves, and thus, with us too as audience.

There is some attempt at humour, and while some jokes fall flat, there are some that land as well. That itself feels like an achievement, given that today’s humour tracks are hardly ever as family friendly squeaky clean as what is attempted by Barjatya here. The music apart from the title track is generic and unmemorable, and does not support the narrative as much as it should have. The dances are well shot though, I particularly liked the one where Palomi’s character Meghna finally takes centre stage in the last act of the film, after a bit of a redemption arc. The finale is fitting, and offers satisfactory ‘closure’, sought through the runtime by Dev.

Apart from the leads, the film offers meaty parts to many other unknown faces, who all do a good job of leaving a mark by the time the film ends. The direction and writing by Barjatya is solid for most parts, and would have come across as more polished if he would have resisted adding standard tropes, and a couple of token song sequences. The sensitivity with which he has handled the depiction of an abusive dominant relationship, and its impact on the individuals, deserve much kudos (writing more here would reveal spoilers, but let’s just say expect slightly more angst here than a regular Rajshri film)

Parting Note: Overall, while the film is far from being a new-age classic, it definitely does not deserve the neglect it received upon release. A good OTT watch, which would have been decent on the big screen too.

The Footprints of Shadows: An Anthology

India is an impossibly inexhaustible repository of stories. Sample a train journey between any two major Indian cities, and it is unlikely that we would have heard of more than a handful of station names en-route. Most trains don’t even halt at these small stations, and we hardly pay any attention to these nondescript and obscure names. But more often than not though, many of these names have compelling stories to narrate, and some fascinating anecdotes to share.

This book is a collection of fourteen such stories that are all fictional, and yet set in realistic contexts. Half of them are set in some or the other era from Indian history, while the rest are all set in the current times. While each standalone story has something interesting to say, together these stories evaluate the many human emotions that have remained unchanged over the thousands of years, as the world around us has transformed. Each story has a woman as the central character, as it is the motherland that this collection of stories attempts to pay homage to.

Following are some of the worlds that you would encounter while going through the book:

-> In the story titled "The Voyage", experience a passage of time during the mid-16th Century, when a mysterious ship landed on the shores of Goa, carrying with it a radical object that was to change the course of history

-> In the story titled "Shramana", witness a mystical interaction between arguably the first King of a unified India in the 3rd Century BC, and a village peasant lady whose life was irrevocably pledged to a wealthy businessman

-> In the story titled "Noor", get transported to a time when a peaceful verdant hill town in the Kangra Valley during the 17th Century was roused by the visit of a mighty Mughal queen

All this, and many more!

https://www.amazon.in/Footprints-Shadows-Part-I-ebook/dp/B07KNN49W6

Apradhi Kaun (1957)- A short Note

Last night saw 'Apradhi Kaun', a 1957 murder mystery produced by Bimal Roy and directed by Asit Sen. It could have been a taut and gripping tale, had it not been for some silly side-tracks and romantic adventures. The first 40-50 mins of the film are deceptive, as they promise a delicious Agatha Christie kind of an atmospheric murder mystery. But once the actual crime is committed, things go haywire. Although the suspense element is intriguing, I guessed it right very early into the film, owing to some obvious hints they didn't bother to disguise . After that it was all about how the sleuth would work things out. But to my surprise, the sleuth was an ultimate buffoon, rather not much different from his silly assistant. In fact, I have never seen a worse detective on screen. Then too many songs and too many ridiculous plot turns later, the mystery ended with a 2-3 minute explanation from this genius (which in a serious film should form a major chunk of the entire last act) . It was too funny actually, but I don't know whether the makers intended to make a comic-mystery. The film also features a KatrinaKaifesque woman in a meaty role. She is terrible on the acting department, but her character is a so dumb that it is a joy to watch. That can be said for the whole film really. The songs by Salil Chaudary, although melodious, are quite ridiculous in the context of the film. But the actors have had so much fun performing them, that it made me smile. Quite entertaining actually. But not the neat mystery I expected.

Raat Aur Din (1967)

‘Raat Aur Din’, directed by Satyen Bose, is a rare Hindi film from the black and white era that explores the complex subject of a psychiatric disorder that leads to a split personality. Nargis plays the highly convoluted lead character of woman affected by this malevolent condition. Varuna, the only daughter of a well to do estate owner in the outskirts of Shimla, falls in love and marries a city businessman Pratap (played by Pradeep Kumar), which puts an end to the lonely life she leads in the hills. In the city, however, she frequently turns into this other woman ‘Peggy’ who is a complete anti-thesis of her real self. These periods of transformation are marked by headaches and partial amnesia. How this affects their marital life, and how her disorder is investigated and cured, is what the film is all about.

The story is as tangled as the lead characters affliction. The screenplay though is slightly repetitive and falls in the trappings of usual commercial fare of that time, which is quite understandable. So there is lots of family drama, and there are a number of songs. But even in these slightly ‘run-of-the-mill’ moments, there are some exciting possibilities owing to the unique nature of the plot. For instance when Varuna’s orthodox mother-in-law summons a ‘tantrik’ for curing her, it results in an incredibly moving sequence. Similarly when Varuna in one of her ‘Peggy’ transformations lets herself go completely in the company of a young and bumbling doctor, and then intermittently comes back to her own self when other experienced doctors join them, is fantastically done. In fact there are portions in the film that are so ahead of its time that they could pass of as brilliant even today, i.e. fifty years after the movie was made. The last twenty minutes or so, which trace the childhood of Varuna and its connection to her disorder, are the best of the film. They tell the story of a repressed childhood, of yearn for freedom, of need of expression, and the lasting effects of misplaced guilt. And all this is remarkably performed by Nargis, who is in top form. It is easy to see how the jury at the National Film Awards would have been compelled to give her the best actress award.

Although it is slightly unfair to unfair to question the technical aspects of a film from that time, especially after having been exposed all the modern day wonders of film-craft, one thing stands out glaringly in the film, and that is the frequently changing physical appearance of the lead actress. It seems like the film was long time in the making, and all the songs were shot at the end, by when Nargis had put on considerable weight and was looking much older than the normal self in the film. But that quibble aside, one has to appreciate how challenging it must have been to make this sort of a film in that era of soft romances, family dramas, and social/historical opuses. The songs in the film,  by Shankar Jaikisan, though melodious, are too many in number (like most films of that time). Two of them stand out:

Modern day films like Bhool Bhulaiya and Aparichit might have taken slight notes on the treatment of a split personality from this film. But then again, they might not have. But one has to compliment ‘Raat Aur Din’ for choosing and competently examining a subject fifty years ago, which till date has not turned mundane.

Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho! (1984)

After watching ‘Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho’, a deftly written early 80s flick by Saeed Mirza, one realizes how little of (and in) Mumbai has changed in all these years. Or rather, how little has our society evolved. In fact, watching this movie can lead one to reflect upon how seeds of the modern day degeneration we see around us, had already been sown some decades back…


The film is a depiction of the power struggle between the land grabbing aristocracy and the common man buried under the debris of avarice while also being burdened by the daily skirmishes he has to master for mere self-preservation. And it is a strong depiction indeed, for, despite its simple motif of one man leading a judicial battle against a malicious land-owner, it contains multiple narrative streams, all being helmed by some of the finest parallel cinema actors and performers of the time. Also stark is the sarcastic (and caustic) tone of the proceedings, where humor is sufficiently employed to take digs on pretty much everything that’s lacking in our judicial system, and how it heeds to arm-twisting and delaying tactics of the influential.

One thing that I look forward to in a satirical movie is to see what kind of closure it choses for itself. Does it end on an ‘All is well/All can be well’ note leaving behind a ray of optimism, or whether it revels in the hopelessness of the situation and concludes on a pessimistic note. As this particular movie moves along, the odds for the latter happening keep on getting stronger. More so, the tone of the film is quite unequivocal in regards to this. But despite the unambiguous defeatism of the narrative, it is engrossing for most parts, largely helped by the actors playing out their quirky, well-written characters to the hilt.

Parting Note: The movie is a must watch, if not for everything else, just for the fact that it has hardly lost its relevance even after so many years, and makes points extremely pertinent to even this day.

Sara Akash (1969)

A 1969 film, ‘Saara Akash’ is the debut directorial feature of Basu Chatterjee, who later went on to make some of the most acclaimed films of the 70s and the 80s. It is very much a non-mainstream effort with mostly first time actors forming the cast, and has been given a very unique treatment by Chatterjee, especially in terms of its experimental shot-taking, quirky camera angles, and use of nano-flashbacks to depict the internal conflicts of the chief protagonist. Like many of the director’s later efforts, the movie has its basis in literature and its story is adapted from the first part of a novel of the same name, written by noted Hindi writer Rajendra Yadav.

The movie has a very novel premise about how a newly-wed husband and wife don’t exchange even a single word between themselves for almost six months. Set in a traditional middle class Hindu family in the historical city of Agra, the story is soaked in the atmospherics of the Indian grassroots, especially the ones associated with the custom of arranged marriages in a joint family system.

A young man, yet to complete his formal education, is married off to a beautiful and demure girl, much against his wishes. The girl too has had some schooling, and is seen as someone who is well educated by the general societal standards set for her kind. Thus, completely unprepared for matrimony, both youngsters enter into a relationship that is marked by uncertainty, apprehension, and bashfulness. After making an inauspicious beginning by completely ignoring each other on their first night together, their problems only get compounded, as the reservations they have towards one another keep on getting fueled by their family dynamics.

The boy is fiery and ambitious, heavily influenced by the ideals of Subhash Chandra Bose and other noted public figures that had a stirring impact on the youth of those days. He channels a firm outward belief that marriage is nothing but an impediment in the makings of a great man, resulting in him assuming a tough face in front of his wife, despite covertly longing for her companionship. Some of the most delectable moments of the film are the ones that highlight this contradiction, and mostly involve him completely ignoring her presence, despite wanting to do the exact opposite. Till about halfway into its duration, the film has a light-hearted approach and derives humor from such situations. However, the tone of the film soon changes as the focus shifts on the other half of the conundrum, i.e. the inner world of the bride, who is harangued not just by her husband’s insurmountable apathy, but also by his family members’ demanding behavior and condescending attitude towards her education, especially from the jealous women-folk of the household. In a poignant scene that illustrates this change of treatment, the girl makes a mistake while doing a household chore and is severely reprimanded by her mother-in-law, and when the boy enters the scene and is told about the misdeed done by his wife on whom he has no apparent control, he goes forward and slaps her, which marks the first physical contact between the couple. Later he cries like a baby, hating himself for that act of physical abuse, and mocking his own fake ideals that couldn’t stop him from hitting his wife. The result of this unfortunate occurrence is that he starts spending more and more time outside the home, taking refuge in solitude or in passing time with his friends. On the other hand the girl’s solitude becomes even more absolute, especially when her confinement’s only solace, the boy’s sister with whom she shares some sort of understanding, is sent back to her husband despite her many protests.

Throughout its short duration of 90 minutes, the film unequivocally portrays the plights of a newly wedded bride in a patriarchal, male-dominated set-up. In the alien environment of her husband’s home, the young girl is shown to get little respite, and her world gets completely distraught as she gets abandoned by what could have been her only source of comfort in the unforgiving situation, her husband.  The husband, on the other hand, comes across mostly as a pitiable and spineless figure, with little points of redemption. Hardly out of his childhood, his mind replete with regressive societal notions on how a wife should behave and not behave, and at the same time heavily influenced by the elders in his family, the boy-man’s helplessness too comes out on occasions when he breaks into a child-like smile on being teased by a friend, or when he shyly dreams about little moments of intimacy with his wife.

The acting by the two leads, Rakesh Pandey and Madhu Chakravarty is impressive and both manage to do complete justice to their extremely complex characters. The three most familiar faces in the cast are those of AK Hangal, Dina Pathak, and Jalal Agha, but none of them have really much to do. There are no songs in the film; however, the music by Salil Choudhary, which plays mostly in the background, fits the mood of the film very well.

Parting Note: An exceptionally well shot experimental film with a very realistic treatment that remains topical, despite the forty-five years that have passed since its making. A must watch for all those who wish to study and savor the parallel Hindi art-film movement, which according to many, started with this film.

Interesting fact: The film was shot entirely in the ancestral home of its writer, Rajendra Yadav (source Wikipedia)

Chaitali (1975)

This is a mid 1970s movie starring Dharmendra and Saira banu in lead roles, and directed by none other than Hrishikesh Mukherjee, a man who helmed arguably some of the best Hindi movies made ever. There is another great matter of prestige attached to this feature, that of it being a Bimal Roy production, albeit posthumous. Bimal Roy, who himself arguably made some of the best Hindi movies ever, is also seen by many as the precursor to Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who he mentored along with a man called  Sampoorn Singh Kalra, better known as Gulzar. So it will be fair to say that ‘Chaitali’, as a movie, boasts of some enviable pedigree. And yet, it is one of those criminally under-seen movies, reflected in just a handful of ratings it has garnered on Imdb (less than 20 on last count). It might have been a commercial failure at that time, but does it deserve the obscurity that it is shrouded in today? For sure not, as, though the film is not faultless, it is still a reasonably engaging dramatic feature that makes a social comment on delinquency, forgiveness, and redemption. 

Adapted from a Bengali short story of the same name, Chaitali inhabits a world that is much different from the general Hrishikesh Mukherjee fold, wherein most of his movies stayed away from depicting the darker strata of our social order. The narrative is centered on Chaitali (Saira Banu in the title role), a woman who has been forced by her circumstances and her unfortunate upbringing to occupy a space that constantly haunts her, but from which she not being able to escape. Creating a stark contrast, her life merges with a more typical Hrishikesh Mukherjee middle-class urban household, full of family values and righteousness. The first few minutes of the movie establish this moral rectitude and bonhomie of this family, headed by a kind matriarch, and assisted by that ever cheerful and passionately loyal servant (Asit Sen yet again). The tone and tenor of the film then changes considerably when Chaitali enters the household, guiltily taking advantage of goodness of the elderly matron, with the intention of swindling some money. All this while, the younger son of the family Manish, (Dharmendra in a mostly subdued role) is aware of the reality of the woman, but takes pity on her circumstances, apart from developing a soft corner for her. The drama later shifts to a religious sanctuary on the hills, where Chaitali shares her life story honestly with Manish, who gets utterly shaken by the grimy details of her upbringing, which include a criminally inclined father on the run, a brothel, many lecherous eyes eager to pounce on her adolescence, and a suitor (played uninhibitedly by Asrani) who is both a danger and a comfort to her in the murky vicinities of her life.  

Throughout the story and its dramatic last act (the best executed out of the lot in my view), Chaitali comes across as a highly complex character, both repulsed by and dependent on crime and delinquency. And this confusion, somehow, gets reflected in the treatment of the film, with its highly uneven tone oscillating between glimmers of hope and pits of hopelessness. Dharmendra’s part is under-cooked and not well defined, with neither his motivations, nor his intentions, and nor his beliefs, coming out on screen clearly. This in some ways gets evened out by strong subsidiary characters- chiefly the lawyer elder brother (who gets a lot to do in the last act) and his wife (Bindu in a meaty part, but hamming it up completely).  

The music of the film, much like the film itself, is not popular at all. There are just three songs, and seen in isolation, two of them are pleasant enough. But none add to the movie in any which way; this lack of memorable tunes another reason for the oblivion the film finds itself today.

Signing off with a vintage 'on-the-set' still from the filming of an outdoor shot from the movie:

http://cinegems.in/dharmendra-hrishikesh-mukherji-durga-khote-and-saira-banu-on-the-locations-of-chaitali-1975/