Bibi, Begum aur Patni

Well, I've had a mammoth film viweing day of three classic hindi films depicting the social life of Indians in three different periods.

1. Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam (1962)

2. Shatranj ke Khiladi (1977)

3. Katha (1983)

Although Sahib Bibi and Shatranj were set in a time older than their year of release, I found certain similarities and observations on the role of men and women in Indian society in all three of them.

Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam: Meena Kumari's character is of a woman who is married to a rich landlord of Calcutta (pre-independence) who is given to heavy drinking and womanising at the kotha. But she is not like the other women in the house who quietly ignore these antics of their husbands and as according to her sister-in-law even support it as a 'manly' activity. She wants to spend time with her husband, or what else does she have to do the entire day! Her Husband is like a God, and she must serve him at all times, so much that she will drink liquor and sing for him (blasphemy in those days). I really liked her performance, it was powerful and conveyed the dichotomy of her situation very well. The song, "na jao sayian" is haunting with her drunk presence and Alvi's camera movements. But why does she have a deep devotion for her husband who clearly does not care for her? Was it a survival technique for women in those days who could not be economically or socially liberated? Or was it in some sense a powerful effort on her part to claim her husband back to where he belonged?

But there is only a slight retribution for her at the end, as her husband lies bedridden and she drunk....an ironic role reversal.

Waheedas's character on the other hand is of a woman who is also taking charge of her life, even though it is within archaic child marriage rules.

Shatranj ke Khiladi: Shabana Azmi is Sanjeev Kumar's wife who has clearly lost interest in her to his chess board. Here too, Azmi's character tries to connive Kumar's character into spending time with her. She is desperate and even sexually deprived. But the man here is not interested in being physical. On the other hand, Jaffrey's wife (a robust Fareeda Jalal) is cheating on him with his nephew and clearly expressing her sexuality. I found these to be brilliant characterisations.

Katha: Deepti Naval's character is easily attracted to the "bad-boy" Farooque Sheikh. While on the other hand Naseeruddin is never able to express his love for her till the last moment nor does Deepti's character guage his emotions. But what struck me was when Farooque's character asks her if she is 'modern and liberated'. As soon as she admits she is (hesitatingly), he finds it easy to canoodle and get her into bed. But even after facing humiliation from him, Naseer's character accepts her in the end as who she is.

All in all......I'm trying to place how women are portrayed in Indian Cinema through the ages. Why is a woman portrayed to be begging for a man's affection? And yet, they are infinitely free and powerful. It says something about our patriachal society, which has been, and still is going strong, if not directly but subtly.