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The four characters belong to the same locality. Each having their own issues. Each thinking the other is having a fun-filled life. Until they decide to cross the boundaries set by the society.
I may not be a movie buff who watches a first-day-first show film, taking a day off from office. But I do love cinema. Being a product of the 80s, I grew up on movies of Big B, Govinda, David Dhawan and remakes of South Indian film ‘hits’. Somewhere along came a Rudaali, a Fire or a Daman.
Sometime back I succumbed to the Netflix and Amazon Prime mania. When you can watch movies within the comforts of your four walls, why bother to drive to a multiplex, pay an obnoxious amount for parking and insipid popcorns?
This was the movie banned by Pahlaj Nahlani, who claimed it was too progressive. I think it was something on those lines. Huh!! As the 2 hour movie came to an end, I wondered – What is the hullabaloo all about?
And then it hit me ! Rehana, while protesting about the ban on jeans, yells at the camera – ” Darte hai yeh hamari aazaadi se.” You hit the nail on the head, gal. Here was a film, with neither nudity nor vulgar gyrations nor suggestive lyrics like ‘Sarkai lo khatiya jhaada lage’.
.. Women from small towns dare to dream. (This movie is set in a lower-middle class locality in Bhopal).
.. Women want to get rid of their Burkhas and sing like Miley Cyrus.
.. Women do not want to get lost amidst identities like ‘Bua ji’.
.. Women want to pursue their dreams and not just procreate.
.. Women want to travel the world and have fun.
The four characters belong to the same locality. Each having their own issues. Each thinking the other is having a fun-filled life. Until they decide to cross the boundaries set by the society. And down they come, crashing !
Pity !? Heck, no !! The women rise up from the ashes of ‘ignominy’ dictated by the patriarchal society, rally around each other, find support in each other and refuse to get shamed for being themselves.
And therein lies the beauty of this movie.
” I am She.
I am a free bird, yet I want to return to my nest.
I have a name, I take your name, but yes, I need love.
I have desires, yet I need a family.
I have wrinkles, yet I look back at my younger self.
I cover my face in a veil, yet I want to dance around in a little dress.
I am She, yet she is so different.
But what I do NOT want is my lipstick hidden under my Burkha.”
Picture Credits: Still from the movie trailer
I am a boring IT professional, lost in the monotonous world of Excel. So, I seek refuge in Word, pun intended. And.. I am a crazy cat person, a badge I proudly flaunt. read more...
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She would serve everyone fresh food and serve herself the stale rice and curries from the previous meal. Some days after finishing the leftovers she was so full she would not even be able to even taste the fresh food.
When I married the first time, my MIL told me that during the Navratri the lady of the house should not eat stale food. ‘Gharatlya bai ni shila khau naye’ — in refined upper caste Marathi.
I was just 26, eager to please, not versed in patriarchy or feminism, and it seemed like a positive thing — respect for the goddess in woman.
But soon I realised she spent the remaining 356 days of her year finishing leftovers. And that I was expected to do the same.
We say that we live in modern times and talk on subjects like feminism, supporting your loved ones, encouraging them to follow their dreams. But how many of us can really say that they actually do that?
We live in a world where there comes times in everyone’s life when one has to make choices which will leave a long term impact in not just their life but on the lives of those attached to them.
Giving the ones you claim to love the freedom and space to make their own choices and the wings to fly is not only the right thing to do but sometimes its also the thing they need the most; without having to face the ‘guilt’ of living the life they want.