The director Pan Nalin,’s biography itself was quite interesting. And in the movie, all vital aspects of movie-making present a completely absorbing movie experience. The premise is not out of the world, but realistic. The cinematography is stunning, convincing performances by the lead actors, backed by an unusual story line.
But what made me come back to blogging after a hiatus is the message I imbibed from this movie…through an unexpected monologue by the female lead. She talks about the plight of women in history and how the deeds of males are usually eulogized and respected…taking specific mention of Budhha and his wife Yashodha. (many people might recollect only as an afterthought that he was married and sired a son before leaving on his path of enlightenment)
Women in history are almost like ‘extras’ in Bollywood flicks…like also rans. While there ARE few mentions of women heroes, their overall weightage in history is pretty abysmal. While individually each women has done much, we tend to take them as granted…motherhood being the most obvious one.
Male chauvinism is as much anthropological as it is historical. While we probably have moved a lot ahead in terms of empowering women, it occurs to me as a complete reversal in evolution. It might take years to come before we give women their due. And then history classes will be a lot different and people might even think of calling it HERstory.
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