Apni Kahaani Chhorh Ja (Movie Review: Do Beegha Zameen)
The 'Haath Gaadis' of Calcutta were haunting me much before I could see one in real...!! The intricacies of a relationship, flagging and still strong, familial and still strange, painful and still pleasurable, were troubling me even before I could cross the proverbial age of understanding them..!! The words and tune of 'Mausam Beetaa jaaye..' followed me into my youth and I am sure, will follow me into my next birth, if I successfully complete this one.
'Do Bigha Zameen' was more of a fascination and less of a film for me and I still can't place what I liked the most when I first watched it at the age of 10. The successive attempts though made the answer a bit easy for me. It would have been the honesty of the theme and poignancy of the story, never to forget,done with the magical touch of Bimal Roy, that made its way through a heart as crude as the small town of UP I lived in. The story of Shambhu Mahto (Balraj Sahni), who comes to the Big City 'Calcutta' in his pursuit to earn money and save his 'Do Bigha Zameen' (10 feet of land) from Zamindar's ill intentions was a take on the contemporary problem of Serfs in Bengal. A socio-economic issue weaved into a story of a struggling father-son duo in the big bad city, while the lady-of-the-house struggles back in the village had some memorable performances by Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy, Master Ratan and Nana Palsikar (as the grief-stricken old man of the family).
The last scene of the movie, where the Mahto family stands across a mesh-wire with the horror, of losing their land to the Industry being built at the same place, writ large and wide in their eyes is one of the most frightfully piercing shots in the Hindi film History. The old man's (Nana Palsikar) lunatic laugh as his hut is being bullzdozed by the landlord brings instant tears to the heart and says a loadful about the plight Industrial revolution brought for the common gullible farmer in less developed parts of the nation. Salil Da's music and Shailendra's lyrics added beautifully to the pain and perfection of this 1953 classic. Though people say, 'It's the tale and not who tells it', but in this case, it mattered a lot that Bimal Da was at the helm of affairs and the tale would never fade...
'Do Bigha Zameen' was more of a fascination and less of a film for me and I still can't place what I liked the most when I first watched it at the age of 10. The successive attempts though made the answer a bit easy for me. It would have been the honesty of the theme and poignancy of the story, never to forget,done with the magical touch of Bimal Roy, that made its way through a heart as crude as the small town of UP I lived in. The story of Shambhu Mahto (Balraj Sahni), who comes to the Big City 'Calcutta' in his pursuit to earn money and save his 'Do Bigha Zameen' (10 feet of land) from Zamindar's ill intentions was a take on the contemporary problem of Serfs in Bengal. A socio-economic issue weaved into a story of a struggling father-son duo in the big bad city, while the lady-of-the-house struggles back in the village had some memorable performances by Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy, Master Ratan and Nana Palsikar (as the grief-stricken old man of the family).
The last scene of the movie, where the Mahto family stands across a mesh-wire with the horror, of losing their land to the Industry being built at the same place, writ large and wide in their eyes is one of the most frightfully piercing shots in the Hindi film History. The old man's (Nana Palsikar) lunatic laugh as his hut is being bullzdozed by the landlord brings instant tears to the heart and says a loadful about the plight Industrial revolution brought for the common gullible farmer in less developed parts of the nation. Salil Da's music and Shailendra's lyrics added beautifully to the pain and perfection of this 1953 classic. Though people say, 'It's the tale and not who tells it', but in this case, it mattered a lot that Bimal Da was at the helm of affairs and the tale would never fade...
posted by Varun at 9:56 AM
1 Comments:
hi
you were supposed to get in touch. i think your mobile number's changed. my number is the same - 9892375523. get in touch and leave your contact details. you can also email at arunimahoskote@hotmail.com.
arunima
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