Mukti Bhawan—Of Free Will

 

Shubhashish Bhutiani's Mukti Bhawan is the story of a seventy-seven-year-old man, Daya (Lalit Behl), who thinks that his time of death has come. He wants to spend his last days in the holy place of Benaras. Daya's stubbornness forces his obedient son Rajiv (Adil Hussain) to take him there. They check into a place called Mukti Bhawan, a hotel for people who are waiting for their death. The hotel allows people to stay there for a maximum of fifteen days. During their stay, Daya and Rajiv let go of past resentments, form new bonds, and ultimately find salvation in different ways.

In Hinduism, the term mukti, or moksha, refers to freedom from the cycle of death and rebirth. The soul is believed to pass through a cycle of successive lives, and its every rebirth depends on how the previous life was lived. People must take responsibility for their actions (karma) in their different lives. Mukti means permanent liberation from this cycle and is, thus, called the ultimate goal. Mukti Bhawan is also essentially about freedom, and the freedom that is portrayed here is not just about moksha, but also the freedom and the desire to live life on your own terms. At some stage in the film, Daya asks Rajiv why he stopped writing the poems that he used to when he was a kid. Rajiv replies that Daya's stick in school made him stop writing. Whenever something happened, Rajiv, being the teacher's son, was the one who was punished. As a father, Daya was probably too harsh with his son, forcing his own choices on Rajiv rather than letting him do what he wanted. In another lifecycle of parenthood, Rajiv, the father, has become like his own father, forcing his own choices on his daughter, Sunita. Rajiv's daughter does not like her fiancé, but she is marrying him because she wants her to do so. Rajiv is initially aghast to know Sunita can drive a scooter and is not in favor of her having a job. Rajiv carries some resentment in his heart against his father and is inadvertently meting out the same treatment to his daughter that he got as a kid. He has become a version of his father. In fact, both of them are called ziddi—stubborn. While Daya talks about freedom from this world, the film is as much about Rajiv, where he learns to let go. The time he spends at Mukti Bhawan is also about his own salvation.

The sense of liberation is reiterated at other stages throughout the film. When Sunita and her mother are going back to their home, Daya advises Sunita to do whatever her heart wants. Vahi karna jo tere man ko accha lagta ho. At some other point in the film, Vimla and Daya take one of their walks together, and she tells him that death comes at its own will. Vimla tried to do that when she went hungry for many days, but it did not work. She has been waiting for almost eighteen years, but death comes at its own volition. It is as if making the point that if death follows its free will, then what is stopping the mortal humans from doing the things that they want to do. Vahi karna jo tere man ko accha lagta ho. After Vimla dies, Daya writes an obituary for her in which he tells us that Vimla is flying, and has become a free spirit. After Daya's own death, Sunita reads a few lines that he had written in his diary, where he writes a poem titled Mann Ki Karo Hamesha—Do what your heart says—again underscoring the theme of free will and liberation in the film. He wrote, "Karo vahi jo man ko bhaaye, varna jeevan bhar pachtaaye." At an earlier stage, when Daya gets sick, everyone thinks his time has come. During one of the nights he was not well, he and Rajiv had a tearful conversation where he admitted he was not a good father to Rajiv. Just after this conversation, Daya gets better on his own the next morning as if this guilt that he had felt was something that was making him sick from the inside, and he is now free from it. Even the TV show that the residents of Mukti Bhawan watch regularly is named Udan Khatola—A Flying Vehicle.

Mukti Bhawan also tells us that one has to be ready for death. And, by being ready, it does not mean singing devotional songs and eating the food as that of the hermits, but rather learning to let go. In an earlier scene, Vimla tells Daya and Rajiv that she has no problems staying alone as she has learned to let go and is now waiting for death. When Daya fell sick, everyone thought he would die, but he did not because he was not ready. Later, Daya learns to let go and asks Rajiv to return as he feels he is getting closer to his son again. He will have to learn to live without the people and without the worldly desires that he demanded, or else he will never be ready. He has to become an elephant, who, when its time of death is near, leaves everyone and goes to the jungle. Daya eventually becomes the elephant.

Use of height

There are many other beautiful touches in Mukti Bhawan. Since death plays an important role in the film, it is quite interesting that Rajiv works in a life insurance company, where he sells policies that benefit people after someone's death, in a way helping people prepare for their death. When a cockroach is found dead, Mishraji picks it up, and says it achieved salvation. Earlier this year, Vikramaditya Motwane's Trapped also had a cockroach that was eaten by Shaurya (Rajkummar Rao). Incidentally, that film also dealt with themes of freedom and entrapment in the modern day urban life.

Safe Life Insurance

There is also a little bit of Masaan and Piku in the film. As parents age, they almost become like a child, requiring attention and care. They become cantankerous, but it is so difficult to abandon them. In one of his dreams, Rajiv kills his father. But, of course, it is only his sub-conscience. As Alain de Botton's The School of Life has taught us, these feelings are natural. Rajiv does not act on them; rather, he takes the best possible care of his father, with great personal hardship.

I remember the scene from Delhi-6 when Roshan's grandmother starts preparing for her death. Vriksh bole paat se sun patte meri baat, iss jag ki yeh reet hai, ek aavat, se jaat. The tree told the leaf, "This is the cycle of life; a leaf dies, another is born." Roshan initially finds the idea of preparing for death a bit morbid, but then he thinks that humans cannot control how they are born, but at least they can plan how they are going to go away from Earth. Mukti Bhawan also shows this preparation for death, but it is also one of the few films celebrating death. When Daya dies, he is sent off with a big celebration as he had wanted. Death is certain for every human on this planet, so why not celebrate a life lived well. After all, what greater freedom there is other than a soul achieving its permanent mukti.

Trivia:

Navnindra Behl, who plays Vimla and plays a small part in Queen, is the wife of Lalit Behl and the mother of Kanu Behl, who directed Titli.

Dialogue of the Day:
"Sapna toh antarman ki aankh hai."

—Mishraji, Mukti Bhawan

Shuddh Desi Romance—Of Toilets and Cold Drinks

Recently, I came across a video essay by ScreenPrism that elaborated on the symbolism of toilets in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. It explains that scenes with bathrooms and toilets precede major deaths in the film. These bathrooms represent the ultimate isolation—these are one of the only places where characters (and ourselves) are really alone, and death represents the ultimate loneliness. Thus, toilets symbolize death in the film. In Tarantino's other films as well, there is a repeating motif of a bathroom scene. 

While watching the video, I was reminded of Maneesh Sharma's Shuddh Desi Romance, a gem of a film based on the modern-day romantic relationships in India. Toilets play an important part in that film as well, and represent something related to relationships. Throughout the film, the characters keep going to the toilet at crucial points. In fact, there are many scenes that are shot where the characters are sitting on the toilet seat itself. Early in the film, as soon as Goyal Saab (Rishi Kapoor) gets down from a bus, he asks the location of the toilet. Moments before Raghu (Sushant Singh Rajput) is about to get married to Tara (Vaani Kapoor), he wants to go to the toilet and, then, runs away from his own wedding. Toilet appears again when Raghu and Gayatri (Parineeti Chopra) are getting married. Goyal Saab tells one of the boys to not let Raghu go near the toilet as he might again escape. During this time, it is Gayatri who goes to the toilet. She smokes a cigarette while sitting on the toilet seat, and the words Pyaar Do, Pyaar Lo are written on the walls. Raghu also feels the need to go the toilet but his friend prevents him going there. Raghu beats up his friend, and they find out that this time Gayatri has run away. Then, the film's interval appears and instead of the usual 'Interval' being written, the words 'Bathroom Break' appear underscoring the importance of toilets in the film.

The use of toilets continues in the second half of the film as well. When Raghu is waiting for Tara at the airport, he is standing next to a pillar that has toilet written on it. At some later stage in the film, Tara's friend is getting married. Gayatri bumps into Raghu at this wedding. A lady asks Gayatri to accompany Raghu to pick-up Panditji from the railway station. However, given their history, Gayatri makes an excuse that she needs to go to the bathroom first. Sitting on the toilet seat, Gayatri explains her reasons for running away from her wedding with Raghu. While coming back from the railway station, Gayatri again wants to go to the bathroom and asks Raghu to come with her. Later, when they reach back at the wedding spot, Raghu and Gayatri meet near a mobile toilet that has the words 'Chalte Phirte Shauchalya' written on it. During the final moments of the film, when Raghu and Gayatri decide to get married for the second time and start having doubts for the second time, they both walk to the toilet again and run away. The repeating instances of the characters going to the toilet are pointing to the film's theme of the inability of the characters to commit to the relationship of the marriage. They are unable to hold on to the commitment of marriage, hence, they keep going to the toilet. When Goyal Saab asks a young boy if he plans to get married in the future, even he is non-committal and makes an excuse to go to the toilet. Toilet provides a space where the characters are alone and do the act by themselves, perhaps, pointing that they are happy being single, unbound to any ties. 

We never see Tara talking about or going to the toilet; it is mainly Gayatri and Raghu who cannot hold on. Tara, however, keeps asking for a thanda (a cold drink). When Raghu runs away from the wedding, leaving her stranded at the mandap, her first reaction is to ask for a cold drink. When Tara's uncle almost beats up Raghu when he sees him at another wedding, Tara comes to Raghu's rescue, and orders to bring a cold drink for her uncle. At some other instance, Tara and Raghu meet at a restaurant, and Raghu asks the waiter to bring a cold drink for Tara. He says to her if there is any specific drink that she would prefer. She replies that all thandas are the same. It is, later, that Tara reveals the reason of her drinking cold drink all the time when she and Gayatri get to talk inside the bus. She tells her that whenever she is confused, and does not know how to react, she orders a cold drink. It brings a certain comfort to her. And, we also see that if Tara keeps having a cold drink, Gayatri keeps smoking a cigarette. Each character in the film has been given some quirks. 

The most remarkable thing about Shuddh Desi Romance is its views on marriage. The film questions the concept of marriage itself. Marriage has been portrayed as the ultimate goal of a romantic relationship in films. Early in the film, Raghu questions this by asking if marriage is like a glucose drip that can cure all problems of life. The society does not easily recognize a relationship in which two people are happy living together and do not feel the need to get married. Raghu and Gayatri are not just suited for marriage. The film has many weddings, and unsurprisingly, we don't see any of the wedding ceremonies, actually, getting completed. Initially, Raghu runs away from his wedding. Then, Gayatri runs from her wedding. And then, they both run away from their wedding. Even a side character, such as Tara's friend, in whose wedding Gayatri and Raghu meet again, also runs away with her electrician boyfriend before the wedding is completed. In a hilarious scene, Panditji, who is picked-up by Raghu and Gayatri, sits behind in the car and does not say a word. He is of no use to the film's characters. Traditional marriage takes a backseat. While sitting in the car, Raghu asks for blessings from Gayatri (not from Panditji). At some other point in the film, Goyal Saab wonders if marriages will stop happening in the future and if his business of wedding planning will go bust. 

Raghu and Gayatri work as fake wedding guests, again, pointing to the film's belief that marriage is fake and is nothing more than a monetary transaction. Raghu, actually, says that it is the fake wedding guests who can easily spot the pretense of marriage and its rituals, hence, he is not suited for this façade. In addition, it is a human psychology that if one is tied to something, he wants to break free. As long as one has no restrictions, a person is free to do anything, but as soon as he is told that he cannot do something, it becomes enticing to break away and do the same thing he is told to avoid. Marriage is like that kind of a restriction. An open door makes one go in and out as per his choice, but a closed door can only be opened. Raghu and Gayatri are happy to have an open-door policy, and their story ends with them living together with an open door, not bound by the restrictions of marriage. Earlier, when Raghu moves in with her, he shares the work responsibilities of the house with Gayatri. He cooks, puts clothes to dry, and does household work as well. They both are considered a sort of equal in their live-in relationship, quite a contrast with the traditional portrayal of a husband-wife in a marital relationship. Shuddh Desi Romance is, thus, a significant film that tries to subvert the conventional concept of marriage; it is almost revolutionary in its portrayal. 

The film portrays all the three characters in the film as people who are free to do whatever they feel like. None of the three central characters have any visible filial relationships. Parents are absent or are dead. Gayatri's father does not turn up for her daughter's wedding. Gayatri stays all alone and not with her widowed father in Guwahati. She has had many boyfriends, and also had an abortion in the past. She frequently smokes in a society where women who smoke are judged (most recent example being Mahira Khan). All these acts are showed not as a sign of any rebellion, but as something that a normal girl will like to do. She is not shy to have sex. In fact, the opening stretch of the film, Raghu acknowledges that women also have armaan (desires). Tara, too, has a certain freedom. She is an orphan raised by her relatives. After Raghu leaves her, she does not start crying or become depressed. She comes to Jaipur and pretends that she is an air hostess as she always wanted to live her childhood dream of flying. She is more upfront than Raghu when she tells him that he does not need to flirt with her using his eloquent falsehoods. If he wants to kiss her, he can say directly. She also has sex with Raghu. In the end, she achieves her dream of flying and experiences true freedom when she lets go of Raghu. She is also free. At some points, we see that Raghu is in a dilemma of doing what the heart says, and doing what is (ethically) right. But this dilemma never was a serious problem for him. He always went on to do whatever his heart said, without thinking the impact that his actions will have on others. At some stage, Gayatri tells Tara that she did not intend to hurt her; she adds that she did not even think of Tara, again highlighting that they only think about their own self. In some ways, the film celebrates this individualism and encourages one to follow his/her heart in relationships.

My favorite bits were the monologues in which the three of them talked to the audience, being completely honest about their thoughts and feelings. They reminded me of Kal Ho Naa Ho. There is another beautiful scene where Tara says that it might be difficult to remember the moment one fell in love with but the exact moment when someone falls out of love is always remembered. And, I absolutely love Gulabi. It is splendidly shot. Everything in the song is pink, the song is also shot in the pink city of Jaipur. Red is the usual color of love. It is another interesting subversion where pink, a lighter version of red, becomes the color of love, much like the love between the film's characters. There are many other nuances that scriptwriter Jaideep Sahni brings in the film with his understanding of contemporary India. There is a blink-and-miss scene in the film where a billboard of the film Naya Kadam (A New Step) is being carried by a few people in the streets of Jaipur. I guess that film does not contribute anything to the context of this film, but Shuddh Desi Romance is truly a new step for Hindi cinema in more ways than one.

 References:

Naya Kadam

Self-reference Chak De! India

 Books In Movies:

Sacchi Adayein 

Hindi Pulp Books

1. Pehle Pyaar Ki Pehli E-mail

2. Risky Ishq

3. Ati Random Love Stories

4. Sex Ki Shayari

5. Dhuandhar SMS

6. Kashmakash

Dialogue of the Day:

"Doubt ghadi dekh kar thori aata hai."

—Raghu, Shuddh Desi Romance

Padmavati―First Look

In Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish, the character of Sofia was clearly inspired by Frida Kahlo, the famous Mexican painter. Frida Kahlo’s portraits, mainly autobiographical, explored themes of identity, gender, and race. Her artwork is celebrated because of its "uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form." Kahlo’s famous unibrow was also a form of resistance and symbolized many things―courage, boldness, honesty. She refused to compromise and change in spite of all the ridicule she got. It seems Sanjay Leela Bhansali is again taking inspiration from Frida Kahlo for Padmavati. Queen Padmavati’s unibrow should be seen in this aspect. Like Kahlo’s, Padmavati’s unibrow also represents resistance and opposition. Padmavati would rather commit suicide and kill herself than surrender to Khilji.

Lipstick Under My Burkha—Dreams of Desire

Alankrita Shrivastava's Lipstick Under My Burkha is about four women at different stages of their life—Rehana (Plabita Borthakur), a college student who loves to sing; Leela (Aahana Kumra), a beautician who harbors the dream of having her own business; Shireen (Konkona Sensharma), a mother of three children who works as a saleswoman; and Usha (Ratna Pathak Shah), everyone's Bua Ji, a widow who owns a building where several tenants stay. The fifth character in the film is Rosy from the book that Bua Ji is reading—Lipstick Vale Sapne. She does not have a physical presence in the film but her story connects the story of the other women. The four women relate to Rosy's story at different points. They are Rosy in some way or the other. These women live with their lipstick vale sapne in a building called Hawai Manzil, appropriately named, as fulfilling their dreams seems difficult. There is a lovely scene in the film when Leela tells Shireen, "Pata hai, Di, hamari galti kya hai. Hum sapne bahut dekhte hain." Their fault is that they dream too much. As women, they have to keep their desires under the veil of burkha. Hence, the title Lipstick Under My Burkha. Lipstick becomes a symbol for expressing their desires that have to be kept hidden. Lipstick Vale Sapne Under My Burkha. 

In Anshai Lal's Phillauri, there is a scene when Shashi (Anushka Sharma) finds out that she is pregnant, and her friend Amrit (Nidhi Bisht) asks her, "Sharam nahi aayi." Shashi initially nods yes but then says no and starts smiling. It is a heartwarming scene about a woman in the early 1900s who has no qualms about admitting that she had premarital sex. It is this sharam (shame) that the women in Lipstick Under My Burkha are constantly reminded of. Rehana is asked to not dance at a family function because of this sharam. Rahim asks his wife if she was shameless enough to purchase a condom from the chemist's shop. Leela's mother calls her shameless after she finds him having sex with Arshad. Bua Ji's nephews tell her that she should be ashamed after they find out about Jaspal. Sharam, as is often said in our films and in our society, is a woman's jewel. But it is also said, "Jisne ki sharam uske phoote karam." These four women try to fight this patriarchal sharam to live the life they want to, with their limited means. 

The film also shows us different contrasts in the lives of these women. There is Rehana, who stitches burkhas for other women, but in her college, she protests against the ban on women wearing jeans. As a mark of protest, she tears her jeans. There is Shireen, who is the best saleswoman in her company, and can sell the most ridiculous of magical products but can't weave some abracadabra to sell the idea of her as a working woman to her own husband. There is Leela, who is stuck between two men—one who can give her the security of a home without her ever needing to step out, and, the other with whom she has the chance to travel far but no security. There is Usha, who has to pretend to follow the path of Swami Ji but what, rather, who she really wants to do is her swimming coach. She owns a hundred-year-old dilapidated building and takes her first trip to a newly constructed mall to buy a swimming costume.

There is a point in the film when Shireen plans to tell her husband that she got a microwave by being the top-performing saleswoman at her company. She bakes a cake for her husband, hoping he would allow her to work. But telling him was no piece of cake. She enters the room and sits on the bed; however, her husband does not even look at her and is busy watching the television. She tries to speak, but he asks her for the remote. She hands him the remote, and then he grabs her hand forcing her to give him a handjob. The remote scene is telling because Shireen's husband remote controls his wife for the fulfillment of his sexual needs whenever he wants, like switching on the television at his will, without caring that sex is an activity that requires mutual consent. He shows no concern for her pleasure. He does not even bother about the basic comfort of Shireen during sex. 

During the same above scene, Rahim is watching Keh Do Ek Baar Sajna from Prakash Jha's Mrityudand. This is a self-reference in the film, as Prakash Jha is also the producer of Lipstick Under My Burkha. It is also significant as Mrityudand is also an important film that dealt with the issue of women's empowerment and did a better job of portraying it. In Mrityudand, there is a point where a building contractor Vinay (Ayub Khan) tells his wife Ketaki (Madhuri Dixit) that she should not try to become his husband. She had refused to sleep with him after he physically abused her. He taunts her that she has to respect his needs by saying,"Dekhiye Srimati Ji, apna aukat me rahiye. Hamra marad banane ki koshish mat kijiye." She should stay within her limits and not try to become his husband. Ketaki replies, "Aukaat ko taakat ka taraju me tolne ka koshish mat kijiye. Aap hamre pati hain, parmeshwar banane ka bhool mat keejiye." You can't define limits with violence. You are my husband, not God. As Rahim (who also works for a building firm, like Vinay) is watching Mrityudand, a similar scene appears in his story only. In the end, when Rahim rapes Shireen (again) after she finds out about his affair, he tells her, "Biwi ho, shauhar banane ki koshish mat karo." She is his wife and should not try to become a husband. Ketaki and Shireen, who are much more intelligent than their husbands, are told by them to remain within the limits of being a wife, and not try to become a husband.

After Shireen feels humiliated by Rahim, who does not eat the cake, she returns to the kitchen. Silently crying, she eats the piece of cake all by herself. The scene took me to a similar one from Zoya Akhtar's Dil Dhadakne Do, where Neelam (Shefali Shah) also eats cake in front of the mirror after her husband humiliates her yet again. Her philandering husband keeps mocking her eating habits. At the onset, it feels like a usual taunt, but only after this scene do we realize she is compensating for the love she craves from her husband with food. The characters in Dil Dhadakne Do belong to the wealthy upper class, but that film also portrays some of the same issues that women have to deal with, as depicted here. Whatever the class, women have to fight the same prejudices. In that film, there was Aisha (Priyanka Chopra), an intelligent entrepreneur, who runs her own company, but her mother-in-law is not happy that her daughter-in-law works instead of taking care of household duties. Aisha is on the pill and does not want to have kids. There is Farah (Anushka Sharma), a dancer who belongs to a conservative family and has always been told that she must be a good housewife. So, she runs away to do what she wants. Shireen and Rehana from Lipstick Under My Burkha are like Aisha and Farah from Dil Dhadakne Do. Maybe Shireen, like Aisha, will someday come out of a loveless marriage, and Rehana, like Aisha, will rebel and run away, to do whatever she wants.

The character that got the most sympathy from me was Bua Ji. She is a widow. At some early stage, there is a scene where the electricity fuse goes off, and she goes to fix it. She meets another widower. She tells him that when there is no light, our eyes automatically adjust to darkness. Humans get used to the darkness. The darkness that she talks about is her own life. She has gotten so used to living the life of everyone's bua ji that she has forgotten that she is Usha—a woman. She has to think for a few seconds at the swimming pool when asked her name. She has forgotten her own name. She pretends to read a religious book of prayers, but underneath that, she secretly reads a Hindi Mills & Boon romantic novel. She craves for sex. She meets a swimming instructor, and has phone sex with him, pretending to be Rosy. An aging widow indulging in such activities is ridiculed because, as per the rules of society, she cannot have any sexual thoughts. In a hilarious and depressing contrast, the widower's sister, whom Bua Ji met, tells her she is looking for a girl for his brother. Even a young girl in her late thirties will be a good match for him. Every year, the Indian media reports the same templatized story of the widows of Vrindavan celebrating Holi. As per tradition, they are not supposed to enjoy any worldly pleasures. The fact that this is news itself says a lot about the rules that older women, especially widows, have to live by. Having an active sex life is considered sacrilege. It is heartening to see that the film treats Usha's desire with grace and dignity. There is never a cheap moment in the film, and Ratna Pathak Shah gets under the skin of the role beautifully. Though I must say, I wondered what if the roles were reversed. For instance, if a man in his fifties lied about his age, and did the same with a girl, as Bua Ji did to Jaspal, would the people have treated the man kindly without labeling him a creep?

Leela and Arshad have an idea for a business where they plan to go with newly married couples on their honeymoon to click their pictures. They want to go on a trip like the characters of Imtiaz Ali (Arshad's words, not mine), but using someone else's money. It is a bizarre and silly idea, which can only work in a city where people are stupid and rich enough. Perhaps that is why it makes sense for them to run away to Delhi. Shruti and Bittoo from Band Baaja Baaraat, whom Leela and Arshad refer to while selling their idea, actually had much more innovative ideas. I also understood the point of view of Leela's mother and will not judge her because she knows the importance of having a roof over her head, given her experience with Leela's father. It is natural for her to be skeptical of Arshad's intentions over Manoj's, who promises to buy a house for her. There is also a bit of Delhi-6 in the film. Bittu (Sonam Kapoor) wants to be a singer (like Rehana) and plans to run away (like Leela) with a shady photographer. 

Another thing that struck me was personal space and privacy in the film. Leela's home is a single room where she and her mother stay together. When she visits the house of her fiancé Manoj, there is absolutely no sense of privacy in that place. The house is filled with so many people, all the women and all the men in one room. It must be suffocating for her to even think of living among them. She immediately goes to Arshad's place. But he also does not have his own room. He sleeps in a room with many other people. Leela and Arshad have sex sitting uncomfortably on a toilet seat. Film critic Meenakshi Shedde recently wrote a short article on furtive sex in India, talking about the lack of privacy in India. Later, Manoj finds out about Leela and Arshad when he sees their sex video on Leela's phone, again, highlighting the lack of privacy in her life. She is furious at him and asks him whose permission he took to watch the contents of her phone. Bua Ji has to go to the toilet when speaking to Jaspal because some children are sleeping in her room. Rehana is lucky that she has her own room, but still, she has to listen to the music on her headphones and be doubly sure not to make any noise. This lack of a secure private space is profoundly saddening, so startups like this should be encouraged more. It is also entirely fitting that the film is set in Bhopal, a central India town at the cusp of modernity and tradition.

Lipstick Under My Burkha has interesting women characters. However, the portrayal of other men and women in the film makes us empathize with these women more. Of course, there is no denying the fact that men, as shown in the film, do exist in real life, but there is a thought-provoking article that Romit Chowdhury wrote that puts this in a better perspective. He writes, "If it [oppression] operated only through coercion and hurt, it would perhaps have been easier to reject domination. Patriarchy succeeds because it offers love and affection as rewards for subservience. This is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to opt out of patriarchal scripts." It is, actually, quite true. The actions of some of these women range from illegal to unethical. Rehana steals expensive clothing and makeup items from a mall. Usha lies about her identity to Jaspal. Leela lies about her boyfriend to Manoj. The film does not condone these actions, and these women bear the consequences of their actions, but we are willing to forget these because the other people around them are so insensitive. And, these women only have each other for help. There is a lovely moment in the film when Bua Ji goes to the mall, and a young girl helps her get on the escalator for the first time. When Bua Ji feels embarrassed about purchasing a swimming suit, Shireen helps her. When Rehana has to go to a party, Leela drives her there. When all of Bua Ji's belongings are thrown by her nephews, no one comes for her help except these other three.

Additionally, the performances by everyone in the film are excellent; however, Ratna Pathak Shah and Konkona Sensharma are simply outstanding. Also, the film, in a few scenes, talked about safe sex practices. Shireen's doctor warned her about the effects of the I-pill. Sometimes, these little scenes help educate and bring awareness to the public.

The film finds its closure in a burkha shop as if making a point that these women have to go back under the veil. A burkha-wearing mannequin head falls from a table, and Rehana picks it up when the four of them are sitting together. Maybe the mannequin is Rosy. Maybe the mannequin is all of them. Rehana tells them that these stories are all lies. Usha counters her by saying that these stories might be a lie, but these stories only give them the courage to dream these lipstick vale sapne. The women of Hawai Manzil will continue to dream, but, like Rosy, they also have to find a way to step out of their cages to make these dreams a reality, and they have to do this on their own because the key to opening the cage lies nowhere but in their own hearts. Pinjare me band sapno ki chaabi aakhir Rosy ke dil ke andar hi thi. 

Books In Movies:

Chinta Haran Jantri

Lipstick Vale Sapne

Other Reading:

1. A One-Dimensional View of Masculinity in ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’—Link
2. Suitcase Sex—Link

Dialogue of the Day:

"Pata hai, Di, hamari galti kya hai. Hum sapne bahut dekhte hain."

—Leela, Lipstick Under My Burkha

Jhilmil Sitaron Ka Aangan Hoga

Jeevan Mrityu (1970), directed by Satyen Bose, is the story of Ashok (Dharmendra) who is falsely implicated for stealing money from a bank. He is sentenced to prison for a few years. After his release from prison, he learns that his own colleagues were the ones who conspired against him to send him to jail. Before his implication, Ashok was supposed to marry Deepa (Rakhee). He finds out that even Deepa left him and married someone else. He gets a new identity with the help of a good Samaritan and seeks revenge for the injustice done to him. The film's story is inspired by Alexander Dumas' novel The Count of Monte Cristo and is the remake of a Bengali film with the same title. One of the film's songs Jhilmil Sitaron Ka Aangan Hoga became quite popular. It is sung beautifully by Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. In addition, the song is wonderfully choreographed.

Jhilmil Sitaron Ka Aangan Hoga is a dream sequence which appears when Deepa asks Ashok about how he sees their future as a couple. The song opens with Ashok making a small house with sand near the sea. His sand house is surrounded by a garden with a rivulet flowing by that has a boat as well. Deepa walks with a watering can and puts some water on Ashok. He, then, keeps small figurines of a man and a woman representing the two of them inside his sand house. This is their dream house in which both of them will live together as a married couple. We then move forward and see them in this dream home. Ashok is sleeping and Deepa brings tea from him. In a lovely moment, she goes near the mirror and tries to clean the smudge of her red bindi. This moment is pointing to sexual intercourse between them as the smudging of bindi has often been used to depict the same in films. They are a married couple and it is natural that sex is part of their marital bliss. They are happy together and enjoying every bit of it. Jhilmil sitaron ka aangan hoga, rimjhim barasta sawan hoga, aisa sunder sapna apna jevan hoga. There will be shining stars over a courtyard; there will be the season of rain; their life will be like a beautiful dream. 

They are, then, in a garden like the one that their sand house also had. The garden has the same umbrellas that were there when they were near the sea side, just that they are larger. Prem ki gali mein ek chhota sa ghar banayenge, kaliyaan na mile na sahi kaaton se sajayenge, bagiya se sunder woh ban hoga. They will make a small house in the street of love. If they don't get flower buds, it doesn't matter; they will adorn it with thorns and make it more beautiful. If they don't find happiness, they will still be together in difficulties (thorns) and make the most of their time. 

Then, the song goes back to the dream house. Ashok is going to work and Deepa gives him a lunchbox. He says goodbye to her and runs into a cow. In an earlier moment in the film, Deepa had mentioned to him that she wants to have her own school. If he goes to the office, she also wants to do something. She will teach school kids. We, actually, see in the song that she is also doing what she wanted. She is teaching a bunch of school children. In this dream world of theirs, her work also finds a place. Her dreams are as important as his.

What is also noteworthy about the song is that it tries to maintain continuity when there is a change of a scene. This happens almost in all scene changes in the song. For instance, early in one scene in the song, Ashok starts kissing Deepa in the bedroom, and when there is a change of scene from their bedroom to the garden, Ashok and Deepa are still kissing as if continuing the same act from before. This happens, again, when Deepa is running behind Ashok as a school teacher, and when the next scene appears in the garden, she is still running after him just like in the scene before. It becomes clearer when one actually sees the song. 

Phir to mast hawaon ke hum jhonke ban jayenge, naina sunder sapnon ke jharonkhe ban jayenge. Man aashaon ka darpan hoga. They say that they will become the gust of wind; they will become the eyes of a beautiful dream; the heart will become the mirror of desires. Perhaps, these lines are hinting at their eventual death. As we saw that there was a boat near the sand house in earlier scenes, a real boat comes up. Deepa and Ashok sit in the boat. Again, it is not only Ashok who rows the boat but Deepa, too. This boat is a symbol of the life itself, where they both are traveling together, each playing his/her part to move it forward. It is a symbol for their marital journey where they are the two travelers. As the film's title says, Jeevan Mrityu, they will be together in this boat of life till they reach the sunset. But as it happens, this is only a dream made of sand castles. Reality had different plans for Deepa and Ashok. 

Song: Jhilmil Sitaron Ka Aangan Hoga 

Movie: Jeevan Mrityu (1970) 

Singers: Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar 

Music: Laxmikant Pyarelal 

Lyrics: Anand Bakshi 

Cast: Dharmendra, Raakhee 

Director: Satyen Bose

Dialogue of the Day:

"Phir to mast hawaon ke hum jhonke ban jayenge, naina sunder sapnon ke jharonkhe ban jayenge. Man aashaon ka darpan hoga."

―Ashok and Deepa, Jeevan Mrityu

Diaries in Hindi Cinema

Franz Kafka once wrote, "One advantage in keeping a diary is that you become aware with reassuring clarity of the changes which you constantly suffer." A diary is a kind of a memoir where the writer records his experiences and significant events of life on a periodic basis. It is the most honest account of the writer's feelings about his/her life. Diaries in films have been as popular as letters. They have been often used as a tool for a flashback to a different story. If diaries did not exist, cinema would have to find other ways of time travel. It is a common saying that one should not read someone's diary; however, it is hardly followed, at least, in films. Diaries are also important for character development as they tell us more about the dreams and the aspirations of a character. And, sometimes, a diary is just a prop. Some films are also a kind of a diary in a way, where the storytellers show us some of the events that shaped them as an individual. However, that is a research topic for some other time. For now, I try to enlist some of the instances of the use of diaries in Hindi cinema. 

A British woman Sue wants to make a documentary film on the freedom fighters of the Indian independence movement in Rang De Basanti (2006). She is determined to make the film that is based on the diary entries of her grandfather who was posted as a jailor in Lahore for the British Indian police. The diary of her grandfather provided real conversations that he had with leaders, such as Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Ramprasad Bismil, Ashfaqullah Khan, and Rajguru.

In Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012), Akira gets to read the diary of Samar after he rescues her from the freezing waters of Pangong Lake. The diary is a flashback to the love story of Samar and Meera, and how Samar became The Man Who Cannot Die. Akira, who belongs to the generation of 'instant make out and instant break-up', is deeply moved by his story and hopes to get a similar kind of love in her life. Flashback to a different story was also seen in Humari Adhuri Kahaani (2015) where Hari leaves a diary for his son which details the story of his wife Vasudha. In Zubeidaa (2001), too, a son finds the journal of his dead mother where he learns about the life of his mother through her poetry and her words. Likewise, in Ankahee (2006), a father Shekhar gives a diary to his daughter Sheena in which he wrote about all the incidents that led him to break up with Sheena's mother. A police inspector finds two diaries, one for the year 2005 and another for the year 2006, when he visits Sanjay Singhania's home in Ghajini (2008). The diaries chronicle the events of the two years detailing the journey of Sanjay from a rich industrialist to a criminal seeking revenge for his dead girlfriend. 

In Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), Rohit keeps a black diary with him; the contents of which Naina is intrigued to know about. The diary plays an important part in the film later when a furious Naina finds out that Aman helped Rohit in setting her and Rohit as a couple. To save the situation, Aman makes up the contents of the diary where he starts speaking about Naina as Rohit, though Rohit did not really write anything like. Through this, Aman expressed his own love for Naina by imagining himself as Rohit. Mere naina meri Naina ko dhoondhte hain. Even in the film's title song, for some moments, Aman pretends be Rohit; if only he could really exchange his places with him. Kaash main tumhari jagah pe hota. Kaash. 

In Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011), a jovial Imran kept a diary with him, and his friends used to wonder about as to what was so secretive about it. It is later that he tells them he writes poetry in his diary, and just before they race with the bulls, he vows to get it published for everyone to read. The aspect of writing poetry was also seen in Udaan (2010) where a stifled Rohan wrote poetry in his diary but it was burnt by his autocratic father, who wanted Rohan to follow his footsteps instead of becoming a writer. Haider, a student of The Revolutionary Poets of British India writes his own poetry in his diary in Haider (2014). His girlfriend jokes with an army officer that he can check that he is engaged to her by reading Haider's diary; all his poetry is written for her. 

In Astitva (2000), Shrikant Pandit writes a daily diary entry. When his wife Aditi receives an inheritance from her dead teacher, who had taught her music decades ago, he becomes suspicious. He goes back to his old diaries, and figures out that he could not have been the father of Aditi's child, whom he raised as his own son. The diary gives him the proof that he was not in the country during the period Aditi could have become pregnant making him realize that Aditi and her teacher had an affair. A courtesan Sahibjaan, by some chance of fate, reaches the tent of forest ranger Salim Ahmed Khan in Pakeezah (1972). In his tent, she reads his diary and eventually finds out that he is the same man who had once met her in a train compartment and had written a couplet on her beautiful feet. Anand (1971) begins with a felicitation for Bhaskar, an oncologist, who has written a book titled Anand. Bhaskar tells everyone that the book is not a work of fiction but taken from his own diary and related to his experiences with a real person named Anand. 

Simran writes about her dream man in her diary in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995). The man is unseen, unknown―andekha, anjaana―yet she feels she knows him quite well. She starts tearing the pages of her diary, after she realizes that she is not even allowed to dream about someone as she is supposed to marry the son of her father's friend. In Europe, she meets a philandering Raj, who strangely uses the same words―andekha, anjaana―to describe the face of his dream girl, reminding Simran of her words in her diary. In Milenge Milenge (2010), Priya also writes in her diary about her dream man who has no bad habits. She goes to Bangkok and runs into Amit, a man who has the same bad habits that Priya hates. Amit steals the diary of Priya and pretends to become like the dream man about whom Priya had written in it. At some point, Priya finds out that he stole her diary and Amit is not really the man he pretends to be, and she breaks up with him. In Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Nandini has three things in her room―yellow flowers, a chandelier, and her diary. An Italian student Sameer comes to learn music from her father and is put in Nandini's room where he reads her diary in which she wished that he gets lost before he reaches their place as she did not want to vacate her room for him.

The diary makes an appearance in the realms of law as evidence in Mera Saaya (1966). Thakur Rakesh Singh questions his wife's impostor Naina that if she is really his wife, where is the diary that his wife Geeta used to write every day. Naina fails to answer, and is, eventually, sent to a mental hospital. The diary is later found hidden in Naina's clothes that Geeta had kept in her cupboard. The diary plays a role in identifying Geeta. In Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh (2016), Vidya says that she loved to write on a variety of topics; after eight years, she felt like writing again. After her accident, Inspector Inderjeet Singh visits her home and finds her diary which he collects it as evidence. He reads her diary and learns about her past where she worked as a government clerk in Kalimpong. 

The first time Sid sees Aisha in Wake Up Sid (2009) is at a party where she is writing something in her diary. She likes to write, and later, her experiences in the city of Mumbai would go on to become a column New Girl In The City for a magazine. In Lootera (2013), Pakhi also wants to become a writer and keeps writing something in her diary. She also writes a heartbreaking letter to Varun about her life being tied to the last leaf of the tree outside her window. Rosie Noronha in Bombay Velvet (2015) writes quotes of Mark Twain and puts pictures of her loved ones in her diary. 

In Bodyguard (2011), a mother leaves behind a diary for her son in which she had written how she had betrayed her friend. Maya marries her friend Divya's lover Lovely who thought she is Chhaya, the girl who was in love with him. After being diagnosed with a health condition, Maya chronicles her betrayal in the diary and dies. Eventually, Lovely finds out Divya was Chhaya when he reads Maya's diary after his son throws it in the dustbin. In Phobia (2016), Mehak finds the diary of Jiah Khurana in an apartment where she temporarily moves after she is diagnosed with agoraphobia due to being sexually assaulted by a taxi driver. The diary entries make Mehak suspicious of her neighbor Mannu as she believes that he killed Jiah.

The diary has also occurred as a medium of identification of past life, as seen in Love Story 2050 (2008). Zeisha, a popular singer in the year 2050, is able to remember her past life by reading the diary of Sana. Zeisha was the reincarnation of Sana, and saw flashes of her past life when she met Sana's lover Karan.

In The Lunchbox (2013), Ila finds an old diary of her grandmother while going through some of the old items she had brought along with her during her wedding. She finds a recipe of tinde (spring apples) which she thinks Saajan will like and sends it to him in the lunchbox. A sensitive Shutu in A Death In The Gunj (2017) writes passages from his favorite books and his favorite words in his diary. He draws frogs in it, and also keeps dead moths in it. The diary becomes his way of sharing and remembering the things he likes, which others in his family don't understand.

A physical diary is usually the most popular form of writing a diary. However, there have been other interesting and non-conventional ways of documenting one's life. One of the most novel ways of chronicling diary entries was seen in Cocktail (2012) where Veronica used to record her feelings in front of a camera every night. She used to talk freely about how her day went and her state of mind at that particular moment. When her friend Meera goes to her room, she can see the projection of Veronica's recorded video entries on the walls. This format was also seen in Dhobi Ghat (2010), also titled as Mumbai Diaries. An artist Arun moves to a new apartment in Mumbai. While unpacking, he finds a small container belonging to the previous tenant. In that, he finds three video tapes, which are video diaries (technically letters; however, taking the liberty to call them as diaries as the film's title says such) of a girl named Yasmin. She has made them for her brother where she shows him her life in the city of Mumbai. Arun watches them and becomes deeply connected to Yasmin, eventually finding out that she committed suicide. In another unique diary format, a newly married wife Sharada enters a strange room where she reads the events of her husband Anand's life on its walls in Red Rose (1980). The room becomes a diary that documented the turning of her husband into a misogynist serial killer of women. Though there has been a proliferation of digital devices in the last decade, there have been only a few instances of digital diaries. In Dil Mange More!!! (2004), Nikhil reads his neighbour Shagun's diary on her computer where she had talked about his love for him. After reading it, he proposes to her. In Always Kabhi Kabhi (2011), a school girl Aishwarya used to write her diary on her cell phone. After an accident, she goes into a state of coma. Her friends receive a 'diary alert' on her cell phone. They figure it out that it was a diary that she used to keep writing on her cell phone all the time. They take a print out of it and read it where Aishwarya had talked about her feelings on her friends. 

Unlike all the other cases, where a diary is primarily the medium of expressing one's personal thoughts, diaries have also played a role in other situations as well. In Don (1978), a red diary of Don plays an important role throughout the film. This red diary contains the names and contacts of all of Don's associates. The diary is a crucial piece of evidence that helps in establishing the identity of the underworld kingpin Vardhan. In Don (2006), the red diary was replaced with a disc. In Gumnaam (1965), a group of people connected to a crime finds a diary while having dinner. In the diary, the writer sends a message to the people that he is going to kill all of them, one per day.

There have been quite a few other similar items that the characters have used to express their thoughts and document their life, though they cannot be called as diaries. In Taare Zameer Par (2007), an artistic Ishaan creates a beautiful flip book in which he draws himself along with his family. While flipping, he becomes slowly separated from them, just like in his life, where he is sent to a boarding school due to his poor grades in school. In Meri Pyaari Bindu (2017), Bubla and Bindu create a mix tape, not of their favorite songs, but of songs that played a significant role in their life, and that remind them of a momentous occasion of their life. In Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013), Bunny records his travels in his memory book. He puts nuggets of information, and pictures of his trips in it, while living his dream of traveling the world. 

As always the usual caveats apply that the above is in no way an exhaustive list, and there are a large number of films that have a diary but are not covered here. These are only a few instances from the vast universe of films, with a bias towards more recent films. As the world adapts to newer technology and with people having shorter attention spans, diaries in the real world are changing to newer formats, such as tweets, blogs, and snaps. It will be interesting to note how our films adapt to these new formats in storytelling. As cinema lovers, we will be watching.

Dialogue of the Day:

"Koi apni diary me jhoot kyu likhega."

—Inderjeet, Kahaani 2