Dec 23, 2004 04:53 PM
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(Updated Dec 24, 2004 02:56 PM)
Based on an Urdu novel of the same name by Rajinder Singh Bedi, this 1986 movie narrates the tale of a widow who is forced to marry her young brother in law. However, what could have been a powerful tale narrated from a feminist angle is reduced to a mere depiction of the travails of the rural woman who ultimately reconciles to the dictates of society.
PLOT:
Rano, a mother of two children, slogs all day in her rural household. She has her husband, Triloka who although very kind hearted, is addicted to alcohol and comes home drunk every night. Rano cannot tolerate his drunkenness and has regular quarrels with him on this count. Her mother-in-law, Zinda, constantly berates and taunts her for her inadequate dowry, even after so many years of marriage. Only her father-in-law, Hazur Singh, an old blind man, is kind towards her but can do little to change her plight. Mangal, the younger brother of her husband, is sympathetic towards her and tries to intervene in their quarrels.
Outside of her domestic setting, Rano is a feisty rural woman enjoying the pleasures of the neighbourhood women singing and dancing gaily in their spare time.
Mangal is unemployed, flirting with the village girls and finally romances Rajee, a tribal girl. There is just one tonga in the house which is used by Triloka to ply passengers from the station into the village. He gets many customers for the Dharamshala ? in return for which the Dharamshala owner supplies him with his favorite liquor.
One night Triloka finds a young girl at the station. Her brother has been left behind at the previous station. Since the next train is only on the next day, Triloka offers to take her to the dharamshala. That night, Triloka returns home with a full bottle which becomes the cause of one more of his fight with Rano. The young girl at the dharamshala becomes the victim of the lust of the dharamshala owner and the evil Swami residing at the place.
Next morning, Triloka is asked to carry the girl to the hospital as she is unconscious. Unaware of the reality, Triloka complies but encounters the girl?s brother, who discovers that his sister is dead. In a fit of anger, he attacks Triloka and in the process, kills him. The police arrest both the girl?s brother as well as the dharamshala owner.
After Triloka?s death, the household is very desolate. Mangal begins to ply the tonga to earn some money for the family. He continues to meet Rajee and they both dream about their future. However the local Panchayat insists on marrying Rano to Mangal as it is a prevalent custom (or ''chadar daalna'' from where the title is derived).
Both Rano and Mangal are shocked but cannot go against the Panchayat?s verdict. Rano is virtually in a trance as she is married off. The inability of the newly-weds to relate to each other as husband and wife is quite apparent. However, during a depressed moment, Mangal too comes home with a liquor bottle. Rano objects and they have a tiff. The familiarity of the scene brings them closer and they eventually have a emotionally charged reconciliation towards their new relationship.
POSITIVES:
1) Brilliant scene taking: One must applaud the director in making some of the scenes quite memorable. The transferring of an event from book to celluloid is quite a tricky affair and needs consummate cinematic skills in terms of screenplay, cinematography and background music, not to mention able performances. Some of the scenes worth mentioning:
The station scene: As soon as a train arrives, all the tongawalas make a beeline to the station gate looking for customers. The scene shot from a vantage point shows the desperation and the fierce competition for business
The husband-wife quarrel scene: The verbal clashes and the occasional thrashing of Rano by her husband are very poignantly depicted. The tension fills the air literally with brilliant performances by both Hema and Kulbhushan.
The death scene of Kulbhushan: The jubilant Rano sees the police taking the evil Swami and the Dharamshala owner in custody and rejoices, thinking that these people who were indulging her husband with liquor, are now in jail. A few moments later, the joy turns to shock as she sees some villagers bringing in her husband?s body. She simply refuses to acknowledge the death. Once again, brilliant mood changing and terrific performances.
2) Performances:
Hema Malini literally breathes the role of Rano, despite the character being quite complex with some challenging scenes. Every scene in which she appears, she captures your attention. For a Tamilian with a pucca South Indian accent even when she speaks Hindi, Hema seems to have worked hard on transforming herself into a rural Punjaban with almost the right lingo to match. The body language, the tone of character, the stressing of syllables etc are near perfect.
Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Triloka is a perfect foil to Hema. The scenes between the two are quite something to watch. Despite some grey shades to his character, he manages to make Triloka appear quite endearing.
Rishi Kapoor as Mangal is the chocolate hero in the first half, romancing the young heroine. But in some of the later dramatic scenes, he comes into his own and impresses.
Other commendable performances include that of Poonam Dhillon (Rajee), Dina Pathak (Zinda), A.K.Hangal (Huzur Singh) and Geeta Kak.
NEGATIVES:
Bland ending: The film loses its grip in the last 15 minutes after the couple (Rano and Mangal) reconcile to their new status. The granting of pardon to her husband?s killer looks a bit contrived.
Rajee?s character: Apparently, in the novel, this character is shown just in passing. However, in the movie, the length of this role is elongated to provide some romantic angle. The girl is actually a nomadic gypsy ? hence her aspirations of settling down with a householder look quite odd.
Music: Quite obviously, Annu Malik in the 80s hadn?t yet found his feet. The setting could have been used to provide some inspiring Punjabi music. Instead we have some forgettable numbers. Even the dance numbers are quite boring. The only song worth watching (not listening) is the first song ?Mar gayi mar gayi? ? more because of Asha?s energetic singing and Hema?s brilliant Bhangra dancing.
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