There is that moment in the recent
history of the country: dramatic, delicate, victory in the midst of moaning widows
and wailing victims of rape and loot, the Indian tricolour replacing the Union
Jack. It is this pious tradition filled morally upright India that stands to be
exposed in Srijit Mukherjee’s offering. It is this conflict filled moment that
is so full of opportunity to deal with in cinema but so rarely visited. Yes,
till MS Sathyu’s poignant Garam Hawa (one of the best films ever made in this
country) it was nearly forbidden territory but a few excursions thereafter have
caressed the scenario.
This at the periphery deals with the challenges of a whore house in the hands
of the Cyril Radcliff line that is to divide India and Pakistan even as the
nation heard the rhetoric of the midnight tryst with destiny, but more
importantly the film exposes the huge double speak of a societal order that
even sixty plus years ago showed all the signs of the decay that is blooming in
brighter colour today.
Begum Jaan (Vidya Balan) runs this house in the middle of nowhere but is
reasonably prosperous since men would go the distance to satiate their under
the belly requirements. Then there are the prototypes who are the inhabitants
of the house: the reluctant, the forced, the poor, the exploited. Add to this
those who have been disowned by the family in the midst of the madness and the
typical tales of the initial resistance and the hot scenes with crass
customers.
At one level, it talks about the trials and tribulations of the victims of
flesh trade, their emotions and how time and the profession rob them of the
social niceties we in a bourgeoise sense associate with acceptable social
behaviour. Running parallel with the tale of the hardcore protagonist, the
elder lady (Illa Arun) the young child Laadli (Gracy Goswami), the latest
victim Shabnam (Mishty Chakraborthy). It also deals with the concept of
independence and how it has really no meaning to a pointed section of society.
The bureaucrats (Rajit Kapoor and Aashish Vidyarthi) stick together to ensure
that the inmates are evicted and when the system fails to deliver, they utilise
the services of the local ruffian Kabir (Chunkey Pandey). This results in a
louder wail and a near civil war that ends in complete destruction of the Begum
Empire. The survivor connects it to contemporary India and shows how gender
injustice continues to plague free India as it did to the polity decades ago in
the midnight cusp to freedom.
While the cast is appropriate, the narrative surely belongs to Vidya Balan.
Vidya Balan is in the use and occupation of a niche space. She has ensured that
film makers go to her with roles worth navigating (and raunchy!). She is
clearly different from the glam doll Barbie image perpetuated by mainstream
cinema. Far from perfect, but arguably her best. In emotions unmatched, in
anger wanting. Emotive but a tad short in the rough and edgy moments. If she is
to be compared with Shabana (Mandi) or Sharmila (Mausam) she surely falls
short, but both the instances are too high for compare. In the context of the
day it is award winning performance, and a compelling poignant one at that.
Watch Begum, not for the expected steam but for the more veil tearing appeal.
Rating: 2.5
+: Vidya Balan
-: Very Superficial
L. Ravichander.