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)
