Some expert some time said that cinema is an important art-form that acts like a history book of the contemporary society. If no one has actually said it earlier, I take this chance to make that profound statement. But cinema is not just a history book. It is something more. To take a page from an old chemistry book, cinema and society are in a constant state of dynamic equilibrium. In simple English, it means there is a lot of steady give-and-take happening between the movies and society. There is always a two-way impact. Over the past few days I happened to watch a couple of movies across English, Malayalam, Hindi and Tamil. Three of them stand out - Chinna Veedu (Tamil/K.Bhagyaraj/1985), Shuddh Desi Romance (Hindi/ Maneesh Sharma/2013) and Marupadiyum... (Tamil/Balu Mahendra/1993). I am astonished by the history-book aspect of cinemas. These movies have been made in different decades and the history they tell us is pretty interesting.
Chinna Veedu ("Mistress"), a box-office hit, is about a middle-class bachelor with beautiful and lofty dreams about his future wife - getting married to a normal-looking lady. He hates her. She cares for him. He insults her. She is generous. One fine day in spur of the moment she asks him to find a mistress to suit his taste. The intelligently done script, laced with nice humour, makes the audience accept this bold proposition. We don't sit back and think about this great attack and plunder of our ancient culture. "What?! An India/Tamil wife asking her husband to have an affair? No way!". But it happens and the husband naturally ends up having a sensuous mistress. (No. Silk Smitha has not done this role.) He has a good time with her. He enjoys; his wife cries. As the plot unfolds the other lady is shown to be a fraudster. She earns her livelihood by honey-trapping such easy targets. Then lots of troubles befall both the man and his wife. Finally the wife - with the help of her father, brother and the outside support of her in-laws - frees her husband from the mistress' cage. The husband has learnt his lesson. He is reformed. The couple have babies and - with the blessings of the elders - start a happy married life.
Marupadiyum... ("Once again...") is a critically-acclaimed movie by the master film-maker Balu Mahendra. Revathi as Tulasi and Nizhalgal Ravi as Muralikrishna have done the leading roles. Tulasi is a home-maker; Krishna, a small-time film director. (He is more of the art-types and less of the box-office-types. Bottomline - he does not earn in millions.) The couple have been married together for quite some time (But they don't have a kid). Tulasi's parents were against the wedding and she had left them to live with Krishna. But for the average income level, they live goody-goody lives till that day - when Krishna reveals that he has been having an affair with a film actress, Kavitha. Tulasi is too shocked to know how to react. She even pleads with the actress to leave her husband. Tears flow and things happen. Tulasi does not have anywhere to go; anyone to fall back. In the mean time Kavitha, skillfully done by Rohini, presses Krishna to wed her legally. Tulasi agrees to Krishna and signs the divorce papers. But she loses hope on life. Now enters Gaurishankar - a budding singer and a perfect gentleman. He helps Tulasi get back the hold on her life. She improves. But Krishna's downfall begins. Kavitha's guilt of destroying a happy family makes her mentally unstable and wild; Krishna gets to bear the brunt of it. Soon, Kavitha drops the wedding plans with Krishna and asks him to leave her home. Around the same time, Shankar proposes a wedding with Tulasi. Thrown out of house, Krishna gets back to Tulasi. He begs her to accept him. The final equation - Kavitha - unstable and single by choice; Krishna and Shankar - waiting for Tulasi's nod; Tulasi - back to life and two offers at hand.
As per the tenets of our deep-rooted culture, what should be Tulasi's move now? During such a testing time how should a married woman carry herself? Come on! This is a no-brainer. Of course, she should definitely forget that while she was inconsolably weeping, her husband was having an exciting time with a cinema artist. She is supposed to just forgive her husband - just like the women folks of our land were said to have done over thousands of years. The institution of family will have to endure such tests. <<//DETOUR BEGINS>> K.Balachander is a legend. He is known to be a radical film-maker. He is also known to place his characters at the centre of mazes created by confusing and peculiar human relations. Even he had taken the time-tested Indian route in Sindhu Bairavi (Tamil/1985/three national awards). Here the wife does not stop at just forgiving everything and falling at her husband's feet - she goes a step further and even makes a tempting offer to her beloved husband. She asks him to marry his lady-love or mistress or whatever we may label her. The wife is comfortable being a co-wife along with the mistress under the same roof. The husband appears to be (secretly and naturally) happy about this proposition - but here is the twist. Unexpectedly, the lady/mistress does not approve of this set-up. Come on! This is too much! In spite of everyone around convinced and comfortable about the idea, the mistress just refuses to be a co-wife or for that matter a wife. She gives a long, traditional and moral lecture to justify why she should not marry the man. Everything else is quite fine sir; but marriage? No, No! I hate the M-word. Oh! Then? Instead, as if tradition and our popularised values have not been upheld enough, now the director goes one more step further. The mistress - in the presence of a whole lot of people and the family members - presents the wife with a beautiful gift. The wife is moved to tears; she is not able to find any word to thank the mistress. She is just dumbstruck. Everyone is happy about the gift. The movie is almost over. The audience is happy. By the way - this is the gift - the baby born out of the illicit relation between the mistress and the wife's husband. Wow! <<//DETOUR ENDS>>
Back to Marupadiyum...(Recently, got to know that this was a remake of the 1982-Hindi movie Arth), okay, firstly what is Tulasi supposed to do with the person who salvaged her out of the quagmire? As we see it, such people are real gentlemen and they do not mind if their offers are rejected. They move on anyway. So she can easily decide on Shankar's proposal; as expected she rejects it with immediate effect. With her reformed husband, we expect her to forgive, forget and resume the family life complete with kids. But against all precedents of our land of the seven rivers - she decides to ignore him. She does not forgive him. She does not forget the wrongs of her husband. More than that, she is confident enough to lead a life without a male support. She prefers to stay single. Now, that is like a breath of fresh air! We got to know even such an option exists for a married lady. But just to be in touch with the tradition and provide some kind of continuity to the system of family - the script creates some situations that makes Tulasi end up adopting a girl. So in that sense she is not alone. She has a girl to look after and that would make her experience motherhood - the supposedly ultimate goal of any woman. But yes, it was like a breath of fresh air.
Coming to SDR that got released only a few months back. The bottomline of the plot - enjoy life; but avoid the M-word. The question of forgetting and forgiving the adventures of husbands does not even arise - as there is no concept of Marriage in the first place. The guy is about to get married. But he does not seem to be comfortable with the idea of a wife and a family. Just before he garlands the bride (Girl No.1) he falls for another, equally attractive girl (Girl No.2) in the crowd. So he quietly escapes from the wedding place. He follows his heart. After painstaking pursuit and times spent living together, the boy and the Girl No.2 decide to get married. They are in love with each other. But history repeats and the boy gets jittery just on the day of this wedding too. But it is of no use as by then - the Girl No.2 had escaped from the wedding hall. The boy is devastated. His life was coming to a full circle. He experiences what it means to be ditched by someone on the day of wedding. Soon, Girl No.1 gives a re-entry in the boy's life. Very soon, this girl and the boy start roaming with each other. They kiss and things happen. Then they decide to get married. At this point, their jobs take them to a wedding function. As life would have it, the Girl No.2 too comes for the same wedding. The boy initially avoids her. But soon they meet up and old passions start flying again. But the Girl No.1 appears on scene and spoils the party. Confused! What next?
Then both the girls sit together and reflect on their lives and what the boy has done to both of them. They are about to decide something. As per our tradition how should the story end now? Does the boy belong to Girl No.1 (to whom he was originally supposed to be married) or Girl No.2 (for whom he had ditched his original bride). Soon Girl No.1 decides to leave. Probably that is understandable given the premium we place on the characters who follow their hearts. So Girl No.1 is out of the equation. Things are simpler now. Only the Girl No.2 and the boy are left. So they decide to get married. All are happy. At last, after many hiccups, someone is about to marry someone! Here is the final twist - the crowd realises that the boy and the Girl No.2, who were about to get married, have gone missing! The girl and the boy have once again escaped from the wedding venue. Come on! Enough!
No solution in sight yet. Everyone is fed-up by the drama. The escaped girl gets back to her home - only to realise that the boy has been waiting there for her. They both love each other. They decide to resume their commitment-free relation where the doors are always open for anyone to move out. Movie ends. This is something on the lines Salaam Namaste (Hindi/Siddharth Anand/2005) but for glaring fact that the relations have got more fluid and the changes are happening - not far away somewhere in Australia - or not even in the cosmopolitan and cutting-edge Mumbai - but of all places - in the forts-filled town of Jaipur.
What next? I am waiting to turn more pages of this history book. In the mean time someone can remake SDR in Tamil. The movie can be set in Thanjavur.
Marupadiyum... ("Once again...") is a critically-acclaimed movie by the master film-maker Balu Mahendra. Revathi as Tulasi and Nizhalgal Ravi as Muralikrishna have done the leading roles. Tulasi is a home-maker; Krishna, a small-time film director. (He is more of the art-types and less of the box-office-types. Bottomline - he does not earn in millions.) The couple have been married together for quite some time (But they don't have a kid). Tulasi's parents were against the wedding and she had left them to live with Krishna. But for the average income level, they live goody-goody lives till that day - when Krishna reveals that he has been having an affair with a film actress, Kavitha. Tulasi is too shocked to know how to react. She even pleads with the actress to leave her husband. Tears flow and things happen. Tulasi does not have anywhere to go; anyone to fall back. In the mean time Kavitha, skillfully done by Rohini, presses Krishna to wed her legally. Tulasi agrees to Krishna and signs the divorce papers. But she loses hope on life. Now enters Gaurishankar - a budding singer and a perfect gentleman. He helps Tulasi get back the hold on her life. She improves. But Krishna's downfall begins. Kavitha's guilt of destroying a happy family makes her mentally unstable and wild; Krishna gets to bear the brunt of it. Soon, Kavitha drops the wedding plans with Krishna and asks him to leave her home. Around the same time, Shankar proposes a wedding with Tulasi. Thrown out of house, Krishna gets back to Tulasi. He begs her to accept him. The final equation - Kavitha - unstable and single by choice; Krishna and Shankar - waiting for Tulasi's nod; Tulasi - back to life and two offers at hand.
As per the tenets of our deep-rooted culture, what should be Tulasi's move now? During such a testing time how should a married woman carry herself? Come on! This is a no-brainer. Of course, she should definitely forget that while she was inconsolably weeping, her husband was having an exciting time with a cinema artist. She is supposed to just forgive her husband - just like the women folks of our land were said to have done over thousands of years. The institution of family will have to endure such tests. <<//DETOUR BEGINS>> K.Balachander is a legend. He is known to be a radical film-maker. He is also known to place his characters at the centre of mazes created by confusing and peculiar human relations. Even he had taken the time-tested Indian route in Sindhu Bairavi (Tamil/1985/three national awards). Here the wife does not stop at just forgiving everything and falling at her husband's feet - she goes a step further and even makes a tempting offer to her beloved husband. She asks him to marry his lady-love or mistress or whatever we may label her. The wife is comfortable being a co-wife along with the mistress under the same roof. The husband appears to be (secretly and naturally) happy about this proposition - but here is the twist. Unexpectedly, the lady/mistress does not approve of this set-up. Come on! This is too much! In spite of everyone around convinced and comfortable about the idea, the mistress just refuses to be a co-wife or for that matter a wife. She gives a long, traditional and moral lecture to justify why she should not marry the man. Everything else is quite fine sir; but marriage? No, No! I hate the M-word. Oh! Then? Instead, as if tradition and our popularised values have not been upheld enough, now the director goes one more step further. The mistress - in the presence of a whole lot of people and the family members - presents the wife with a beautiful gift. The wife is moved to tears; she is not able to find any word to thank the mistress. She is just dumbstruck. Everyone is happy about the gift. The movie is almost over. The audience is happy. By the way - this is the gift - the baby born out of the illicit relation between the mistress and the wife's husband. Wow! <<//DETOUR ENDS>>
Back to Marupadiyum...(Recently, got to know that this was a remake of the 1982-Hindi movie Arth), okay, firstly what is Tulasi supposed to do with the person who salvaged her out of the quagmire? As we see it, such people are real gentlemen and they do not mind if their offers are rejected. They move on anyway. So she can easily decide on Shankar's proposal; as expected she rejects it with immediate effect. With her reformed husband, we expect her to forgive, forget and resume the family life complete with kids. But against all precedents of our land of the seven rivers - she decides to ignore him. She does not forgive him. She does not forget the wrongs of her husband. More than that, she is confident enough to lead a life without a male support. She prefers to stay single. Now, that is like a breath of fresh air! We got to know even such an option exists for a married lady. But just to be in touch with the tradition and provide some kind of continuity to the system of family - the script creates some situations that makes Tulasi end up adopting a girl. So in that sense she is not alone. She has a girl to look after and that would make her experience motherhood - the supposedly ultimate goal of any woman. But yes, it was like a breath of fresh air.
Coming to SDR that got released only a few months back. The bottomline of the plot - enjoy life; but avoid the M-word. The question of forgetting and forgiving the adventures of husbands does not even arise - as there is no concept of Marriage in the first place. The guy is about to get married. But he does not seem to be comfortable with the idea of a wife and a family. Just before he garlands the bride (Girl No.1) he falls for another, equally attractive girl (Girl No.2) in the crowd. So he quietly escapes from the wedding place. He follows his heart. After painstaking pursuit and times spent living together, the boy and the Girl No.2 decide to get married. They are in love with each other. But history repeats and the boy gets jittery just on the day of this wedding too. But it is of no use as by then - the Girl No.2 had escaped from the wedding hall. The boy is devastated. His life was coming to a full circle. He experiences what it means to be ditched by someone on the day of wedding. Soon, Girl No.1 gives a re-entry in the boy's life. Very soon, this girl and the boy start roaming with each other. They kiss and things happen. Then they decide to get married. At this point, their jobs take them to a wedding function. As life would have it, the Girl No.2 too comes for the same wedding. The boy initially avoids her. But soon they meet up and old passions start flying again. But the Girl No.1 appears on scene and spoils the party. Confused! What next?
Then both the girls sit together and reflect on their lives and what the boy has done to both of them. They are about to decide something. As per our tradition how should the story end now? Does the boy belong to Girl No.1 (to whom he was originally supposed to be married) or Girl No.2 (for whom he had ditched his original bride). Soon Girl No.1 decides to leave. Probably that is understandable given the premium we place on the characters who follow their hearts. So Girl No.1 is out of the equation. Things are simpler now. Only the Girl No.2 and the boy are left. So they decide to get married. All are happy. At last, after many hiccups, someone is about to marry someone! Here is the final twist - the crowd realises that the boy and the Girl No.2, who were about to get married, have gone missing! The girl and the boy have once again escaped from the wedding venue. Come on! Enough!
No solution in sight yet. Everyone is fed-up by the drama. The escaped girl gets back to her home - only to realise that the boy has been waiting there for her. They both love each other. They decide to resume their commitment-free relation where the doors are always open for anyone to move out. Movie ends. This is something on the lines Salaam Namaste (Hindi/Siddharth Anand/2005) but for glaring fact that the relations have got more fluid and the changes are happening - not far away somewhere in Australia - or not even in the cosmopolitan and cutting-edge Mumbai - but of all places - in the forts-filled town of Jaipur.
What next? I am waiting to turn more pages of this history book. In the mean time someone can remake SDR in Tamil. The movie can be set in Thanjavur.
3 comments:
Lovely commentary. One observation I had - Directors take an easy way out by making one position weaker; Like in 'Chinna Veedu' what if the mistress was not a honey trap, what if in 'Marupadiyum' Kavitha didn't go crazy. The plot would have got even more interesting but sadly I feel even talented directors somehow succumb to the stereotypes; Adding to this list what if in 'Mudhal Mariyadhai' Vadivukarasi's role was not a bad character. Breaking stereotypes and going beyond the obvious can make it even more interesting
Well said..
Thanks da,
Yes! One party is made weaker and that brings the good v/s evil tradition too into the equation. It gets solved easily that way, as you have said.
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