A TRIUMPHANT DOLL. Review on Gudia

OFFICIAL SELECTION CANNES COMPETITION 1998

CAST pran, mithun, nandana sen

Director  goutam ghose

Duration  140 minutes

released 1998

language urdu/hindi

This forgetten gem from indian cinema was a worthy tribute dedicated to ray by its maker, it works as a political satire but above all its an emotional drama which captivates you with its trivial details .

It is also the last great performance by pran as khan sahib, the great legend who is  one of the most versatile actors on indian screen, along with the great mithun, playing the central character as johnny, this  subcersive political satire becomes an unmissable movie in every context, based on the novel by mahashweta devi, its a devastating political satire dressed as a doll.

It will be an understatement to say sparks fly when the two great actors rub shoulder on screen, the chemistry between the duo is scintillating, to say the least and they are perfectly cast as an aging muslim pathan ventriloquist and a young angry man who comes to be his pupil, learning the trade from the master who has devised a giant sized puppet doll as a showcase for passing satirical comments on politics and religion .

This seems to be inspired by real life theatrical events from mumbaii where the parsi community used to perform these kind of plays and it seems they were very popular at one time as well, I dont know the details however the puppet is dressed and acts like a chaste  young muslim girl, dressed in  virginal white and seems to be a  cultural symbol singing gazals and acting as an umrao jan, its delightful to see it sing and dance as well as mock the society in a subtle way.

The artist who has invented the doll is dying of a terminal illness  and bequeathes his cherished puppet to mithun, who becomes obsessed with the guria, so much so that his girlfriend starts feeling neglected and jealous of the doll, the sequences where nandana sen tries to adopt the look of the doll and act like her to get more attention from her boyfriend are very gripping yet essentially reflect on the feminine nature .

the doll assumes a real identity thanks to the masterful script and the directors skills and its fascinating to see pran and mithun adorably dressing her and decorating her to make her look more beautiful then ever and her mannerisms and the lines she utters are charming, yet devastatingly satirical of our social and political system, johnny reinvents the doll with modern cothes and pop music to attract a wider audience and his efforts pay off in a big way .

nevertheless the act gets frigheningly real with mithun in charge and the local politicians are alarmed by the popularity and start seeing it as a threat to their malicious ambitions, as the doll questions the political morality of our system and her remarks start to stir popular unrest amongst the ordinary people, it almost starts a rebellion with its comments .

This is not acceptable to the beauraucracy and as mithun turns down their bribes to tone down the show they instigate a riot with the help of some local gangsters where the doll is symbolically stripped and raped, while mithun and the audience are beaten mercilessly, the shameless act while comprising the climax  is so relevant to our prevalent culture where nothing except naked greed is sacred .

The scenes where mithun is shown holding the desecrated doll and weeping are memorable as are the dialogues and expressions of this great actor in that sequence alone .

I wonder why despite movies like mrigyaa and guria, mithun never got the acclaim he deserved from hindi cinema, indeed this movie is proof enough that hes second to no one else .

The direction, makeup and background score help to make this a haunting experience and the camerawork with the giant doll and the ventriloquistic detail is a triumph in itself, a difficult act to accomplish but made to look seamlessly natural, thanks to the cast and crew

This is essential viewing for all who enjoy meaningful well made cinema which is entertaining as well as realistic, a  virtue fast disappearing from cinema world over .

The movie was deservedy acclaimed at festivals worldover and is a cult classic

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