Heeramandi- the diamond bazar/ 

As SLB’s productions go, #HeeraMandi has all the drama, intrigue, touch of history, emotion and vendetta that have marked his previous outings. The storyline is dominated by #ManishaKoirala as MallikaJaan, the big boss and the reigning Queen of one of the central pleasure houses of Lahore’s HeeraMandi, with a daughter Bibbojaan ( #AditiRaoHyadri) a singer and a dancer, who secretly leads the life of an active revolutionary in the war against the oppressive British rule.  There is another daughter Alamzeb, (#SharminSegal) who doesn’t want to be a courtesan but aspires to be a poet instead. MallikaJaan has a gory past regarding her sister whose spitting image of a daughter, Fareedan (#SonakshiSinha), soon stages her arrival in Lahore; coming replete with a plan to avenge the various wrongs committed against her by Mallika Jaan, to dethrone her and claim her legacy as the undisputed lady boss of Shahi Mahal. But Fareedan’s game is as much about power and control as about revenge.

Interspersed with the unfolding of MallikaJaan’s culpability is the love story of Alamzeb and Tajdaar, ( #TahaShah) the Oxford educated scion of one of the several Nawab families in Lahore. They wine and dine with the imperialist power and pay fealty to them, notwithstanding the British cruelty, ruthlessness and brutal subjugation of people, their infamous corruption and the unleashing of a reign of terror in the war of independence waging outside the fantasy world of Shahi Mahal. How the issues will resolve is what holds the interest together but the disjointed glueing of various sub-plots, along with failed performances by some key actors, is the cause why the webseries falls short of expectations.

So far as the craft of film making  is concerned it has the right ingredients that have architected SLB’s success as a film maker in the past; It has grandeur, it has opulence, it has great set designs, it has elaborate period costumes and enchanting jewellery.. The set design, play of colour, light and sound, the art direction are all scintillating and manage to elevate the series. After all, SLB’s craft always excels

But is a good production only about the format? What about the content, the soul? It has a good story line, set in pre Independence India in Lahore. Manisha Koirala takes your breath away with her elegance and flawed beauty; her wrinkles and lines and scars all contribute to the devious character that she assays with aplomb. She acts and looks the part. Sonakshi Sinha also turns out a convincing portrayal of the wronged and vengeful niece, an evil force. So does Sanjeeda Sheikh as Waheeda, another sister of MallikaJaan’s, who holds many a secret close to her chest. Farida Jalal remains cherubic and loveable as the Grandmother of the love- interest of Alamzeb. So far as #RichaChaddha is concerned, I was left wondering that there must be a reason, not related to the storyline,  for her to make such an early exit from the series. 

Sharmin Sehgal had the strongest role in the webseries, but turns out the #weakest #performance. Her entire repertoire of acting is limited to giving trance-like, vacant looks at some imaginary, diagonal spot on the set, with a permanently frozen and expressionless face. Believe me there were enough opportunities for her to show off her talent and realise her potential  but she just couldn’t emote! Shekhar Suman is alright but his son Adhyan Suman and Fardeen Khan who returns to screen after nearly two decades, have bite sized roles in the great smorgasboard of characters and they add virtually nothing to the overall impact of the drama. Some of the other male characters who play the debauched nawabs and their handsome sons leave some impression eg Taha Shah  and his father.

But the subject matter itself ie the life and times of #Tawaifs ( courtesans) their rivalries,  broken hearts, suicides, murders, their larger than life influence on the Nawabi era, their wealth, their power structure- everything  is so disconnected with reality that one wonders! . One has read that It was a life of drudgery, exploitation,even poverty and misery that the Tawaifs led, not of such resplendence and grandeur. But one can dismiss the thought as being Bhansali’s imagination and his poetic licence to interpret society as he wishes. However, how does he play out the story so close to #1947 and have a whole sub plot of revolutionaries trying to create disturbances, yet not say a word about the #MuslimLeague and the demand for  #Partition? That is really  baffling.

The series falls short of expectations but there’s something about Bhansali and his treatment of women. As in his other films he provides some dignity and grace to women who are not paragons of virtue and who may have led questionable lives. His delineation of their characters is non moralistic and non judgemental. For that reason alone, and for the craft of film making, the series can be watched. But what to say except Yeh DiL Mange More from SLB!

Laapata Ladies

  Returning to blogger after a long long time. Still sticking to Film reviews and here’s the latest: 

#LAAPATAA LADIES: 

If there’s ever been a biting satire on the status and identity of women in a contemporary and relatable patriarchal society, it is this! #KiranRao has delivered a very well crafted social satire, juxtaposing an intriguing tale of lost brides, with the issue of complete negation of women’s identity in rural India. As the tale unfolds one wonders which is the metaphor and which the reality! 

Phool and Pushpa, unknown to each other and very dissimilar too, are brides and co-travellers in a passenger train along with their newly married husbands Deepak and Pradeep. They sit quietly, covered from head to toe in identical bridal attire- red sari, red veil, the works, indistinguishable and undefinable, except as brides. As the chaotic train compartment with several dulha-dulhan jodis finally slumbers, Deepak grabs his veiled  wife Phool and hurriedly disembarks from the train on reaching his destination. A comedy of errors has begun! It’s only when the welcome party in the village emerges that truth dawns on them-there’s been a huge mix-up and the bride is not Phool but an unknown entity who calls herself Pushpa! 

Deepak faces derision from his family and community at being such a loser.  However, the film is not about Deepak but about the lost bride, Phool, who is now stranded at a non descript train station and after many an anxious moment, finds shelter and work with an older,  single, independent woman called Manju Mai, (Chhaya Kadam).  

As Deepak mounts his search for the missing Phool there emerges the SHO of the local police station, the paan-chewing,  sleazy, slothful Shyam Manohar played by the very versatile #RaviKishen. What follows is an interesting tale of Pushpa whose motives for not lamenting at being “lost” or surreptitiously using her #Nokia phone in the middle of the night, remain shrouded in mystery and add several layers of socially relevant issues. 

Have women no identity of their own? Are they really and metaphorically lost behind a veil and expected to toe the line set by their husbands, howsoever undeserving or for that matter, even deserving they may be? Must they only have two relevant addresses in life- father’s and husband’s? Must they always be viewed through a relationship prism? Is there another aspiration that they can have, even though they may appear to be  too distant and difficult? 

Or is the situation so irredeemable that they can neither call their husbands by their names nor eat the food of their choice? Are their desires, talents, capabilities and aspirations forever subservient to their husband’s or can women assist each other through mutual support, camaraderie and solidarity and in the process redraft their destinies? Will men continue to command a premium in the form of dowry and obedience from wives or is there another role they can play? The film has a very pronounced feminist accent but luckily, it is not in-your-face.

There are many questions and some answers. While attempting to answer some, many beautiful #symbolisms emerge and the one that particularly caught my attention was the Keonchha ( a small bundle of rice, turmeric, coins and in some places jaggery)  given to Phool when she leaves her parents’ home, as a blessing for prosperity; but as demonstrated by Manju Mai, the true gift a mother can give to her daughter should be to recognise her talent and endow her with the ability to earn her own living and go on her own journey. And the Keonchha can literally be shelved as a sweet but redundant custom. Similarly the names in the movie eg Phool and Pushpa symbolise the innocence of young brides; going to a village called Surajmukhi, and you wonder will this village move like the flower whose name it bears and allow the girls to chase their own path under the Sun?  You worry about Pushpa as the sly and sleazy Inspector probes her activities, but hey his name is Shyam Manohar, the Saviour Incarnate himself!  . 

Kiran Rao has excelled in every aspect of the film. It has a great cast and each actor brings the character alive. Ravi Kishen is the leader of the pack with a very young and talented cast. He’s brilliant as he goes about trying to solve the Pushpa mystery but he is par-excellence in the denouement, as is Pushpa. Will the mystery be solved, will the lost brides be “found” or will they chart their own paths? For answers to that, this beautiful film needs to be watched.

 Kiran Rao has chosen  a simple narrative based on simple village life; tackling and highlighting apparently  minor socio-cultural issues and handling them delicately, without  heavy-handedness  and without any chest-thumping, shrill lecturing on women’s empowerment, equality and right to choice etc. With lots of wry humour and jibes at patriarchy the film entertains and grips you at an emotional level. Yet the impact of a story told so simply is profound . The message appears to come straight and clear - handle the simple things first, the complex will sort out on their own.

Neel Kamal Darbari