Jul 30, 2006 11:56 PM
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Thirty years ago, the genre of Bollywood films was : Boy meets Girl – they run around trees singing songs – enter Villain – fight scene – Boy gets Girl.
Aandhi (1976), dealing with the bold theme of marital discord and separation, made by none other than Gulzar, was far ahead of it’s time. A heroine –oriented film, it appears to be inspired by the life of a leading lady politician of India.
JK(Sanjeev Kumar) is a hotel receptionist. Arti (Suchitra Sen) is the only daughter of a prominent,rich businessman who has ambitious plans for his daughter’s future. They meet at his hotel where she stays overnight,when she is too inebriated to go home. While her father expects her to make a career in politics,she falls in love with and opts to marry JK,a virtual non-entity. They settle down and have a daughter,Manu.
However,Arti feels stifled by her life as a home-maker and longs to seek her identity outside the confines of her home. After a scene with her husband, she opts to leave her marital home and devotes herself to politics.
They meet again accidentally, some years later,when she is campaigning as an election candidate.Absence makes the heart grow fonder.This time round,both have mellowed towards each other and love happens again.They meet clandestinely over dinner and moonlight walks.They are spied upon and their liason becomes public knowledge.She is targeted as a loose woman by her electoral opponent, played by Anwar Hussain.
Arti Devi (as she is now known) courageously confesses at a public meeting that she has joined none other than her estranged husband. She goes on to win the election.
Will she now have to give up her political career after reconciliation with her husband?
This film questions certain gender equations within a marriage.
The traditional role of a woman is that of a home-maker and care-giver.
Can a man accept that a wife and mother can also harbour career aspirations?
If men can successfully manage marriage and a career,surely a woman can do likewise!
The film also touches on the (taboo) subject of harassment that career women have to face. Here, the female protagonist is served doped drinks, subjected to lewd advances and her private life is made public .
The film overall, has it’s own charm, thanks to the magical touch of Gulzar.
Gulzar is a shaayar(poet) par excellence of our times.Both his prose and poetry alike, are sublime.His lyrics are strains of soothing music unto themselves.
The song “tere bina zindagi se ko,i shikava,to nahin,….” is paradoxical; the very next line being “tere bina zindagi bhi koi, zindagi,to nahin,….”.
Lata Mangeshkar’s voice will haunt you with “tum aagaye ho,noor aagaya hain….”..
The number “is moad se jaate hain…..” is also memorable.
It hardly matters that the lines do not always rhyme.Their rhythm and meaning more than make up for it.
Veteran actor Sanjeev Kumar is good, as usual. Suchitra Sen comes across as a graceful, talented actress..Her poor Hindi diction hardly mars her performance.A surprise is Om Prakash in a cameo as a wily political party worker (read chamcha)! The film also stars A.K.Hangal as the humble family retainer and Rehman as the father.
There are parts where the film does drag – like the song “salaam keejiye….” as also the scenes depicting politics Indian-style!
Overall,worth watching, least for that Gulzar touch!
