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Kalank is a patriarchal narrative driven by aesthetics and heightened emotions but with that, it indeed has some strong women characters.
After watching the visually delightful trailer and the beautifully choreographed song Ghar More Pardesiya, Kalnak was a movie that a lot of people were looking forward to watch.
*Alert: minor spoilers
The story, which is a love triangle, pretty much revolves on the background of the Partition and the Hindu – Muslim divide. The movie is a visual delight, though the narrative of the film is complicated and tangled, especially as the script moves between realism and fantasy, often confusing the audience about which side to lean on. The visual effects are not always pleasing, limiting this movie to a one time watch.
But despite all of this “khichdi”, one can’t ignore how well the three major women characters are portrayed by Sonakshi Sinha, Alia Bhatt and Madhuri Dixit.
This entire plotline is given its starting shape by our first female lead Satya played by Sonakshi Sinha.
Satya is the “aadarsh – sanskari” daughter-in-law of the rich and reputed Chowdhary family. She is dying of cancer, but is even strong enough to search for a second wife for her husband Dev.
The character of Satya is shown to be selfless, and the ‘sacrifice’ that she does for love makes her admirable in the patriarchal society that she is a pillar of – it is shown that it’s her duty that her husband stays happy even after her death. This raises many questions about the type of society we live in.
The second strong female character in the film is Roop played by the very elegant Alia Bhatt.
Roop is the second wife of Dev. She is young and feisty but is emotionally blackmailed into a loveless marriage, but despite this dependent position, she imposes her will on the rich Chowdhary family to learn music.
The character of Roop portrays the idea that marriage is not the end of life for a woman. She falls in love with a man outside of her marriage, and her struggle with the choices breaks societal norms. She asks many questions about things that a lot of women face – about choosing what their heart desires, baseless societal norms, the happiness of a woman, and most importantly why is falling in love with someone outside of marriage a ‘Kalank’ only for a woman.
Bahaar Begum who is played by Madhuri Dixit is the third strong character in this film full of beautiful people and exquisite clothes. She is a courtesan who stopped dancing due to some reason and now gives singing lessons. It is later revealed in the movie is that she fell in love with a married man, and conceived a child from him, whom she decided to bear. Unfortunately, when he did not ‘accept’ her, she abandoned the child.
We feel a connection with Begum and the mistakes that she does. Bahaar Begum is a beautifully written character which encourages the ladies out there to accept their mistakes and forgive themselves.
I read, I write, I dream and search for the silver lining in my life. Being a student of mass communication with literature and political science I love writing about things that bother me. Follow read more...
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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