Gangubai Kathiawadi

#Gangubai Kathiwadi is a biopic based on the life of a brothel owner and leader from the 1960s. It celebrates the bravado and badassery of Ganga who became #Gangubai in Kamatipura, Mumbai. This famous red light area has gained popularity in Bollywood as the mecca of Mumbai's underbelly.  In the quintessential Sanjay Leela Bhansali style the sets, costumes, and the grandiose of Kamatipura, catch your attention and stay on till the last frame. The subdued backgrounds from the 1960s are in sync with the tone of the depressing lives of prostitutes then. And #AliaBhatt in white is the shining glimmer of hope, the grand hero of the film dominating every dark frame in spotless white saree. The film revolves around Gangubai and her grandiose, over two hours, making her the Amitabh Bachan of Kamatipura.

The film depicts the depressing lives of prostitutes in the 1960's who faced exploitation, abuse and were shunned by society at large. Gangubai rises like a phoenix to fight it, giving sex workers an identity and claim. She fights for their safety and dignity as their leader and champions for their civil rights. Why should a woman who is stripped of her dignity and respect withhold her tongue? Why should a woman who relieves a man of his lust be ashamed of what she does when he isn't? Why should she carry the burden of morality when it is actually the men who are losing it ? Fearless and unabashed, Gangubai makes men dance to her music, beating them in their own game with cocky one-liners; kicks, and punches even.  The dialogues and their delivery are the cornerstones in the entire story, delivered by the godmother of thousands of sex workers.

 The single obsession with Gangubai can be a drag but there is some respite in Alia's performance. I was convinced that choosing Alia for Gangubai was a big mistake. How can someone so pretty and clean justify the role of a harsh, tough sex worker? But she has proved to not just give a striking performance but also fill up the gaps and inconsistencies in the story. 

Rating ; 3.5 / 5

Panghrun

#Panghrun means a blanket in Marathi, symbolically used at the end of the film that changes everyone's lives. Laxmi is a child widow who loves ballet and wants to marry a British officer in his shining uniform. Alas, she is remarried to an elderly widower priest so she can take care of his daughters.  Set in a small village in Konkan Maharashtra during pre-independance period this film is a poignant narration of the desires of a young girl suppressed and asphyxiated by #misogyny and #patriarchy.  She is supposed to be happy for being remarried and have her hair intact (widow's heads were shaven). It didn't matter that her older husband was still mourning his dead wife and showed no interest in Laxmi.

In such a scenario discussing the carnal desires of a woman is unthinkable. Is she supposed to suppress her desires and emotions?  Shouldn't a woman desire a man, her own husband in fact, as much as any man who desires a woman? And what will the consequences be when she can't control her urges ? 

#Panghrun deals with these dense, complicated (man-made) issues beautifully through slow-paced heavy narration. Every scene carries a heavy burden of the intense conflict between desire and morality. Adorned by meaningful kirtans, carrying a message for every incident, the film carries a soulful and ethereal tone throughout. Though it may seem slow to most of us living in the digital age, every scene and frame carries so many dimensions to it conveyed perfectly by radiant acting and picturization. I have never experienced such burden within the undertones of every scene in any film. It had to be slow to be able to absorb all of it frame by frame and dialogue by dialogue. Gauri Ingavle's performance has left me speechless. She has conveyed Laxmi's turmoil creatively, while Rohit Phalke does great justice to his role. The dramatic ending made me very emotional. One can expect this only from a #Marathi film. 

Rating - 4 / 5

Badhai Do

 

Badhai Do is another valiant effort for acceptance of the LGBTQIA++ community by cis het folk.  This film is based on the concept of Marraige of Convinience often considered as a means of hoodwinking the hetero society to escape homophobia and the gross discrimination and hate that follows it. A queer man and a woman decide to get married to satisfy the socio-cultural hetero norms to please their family, community, and society outside their bedrooms. They live their seperate homosexual lives so as to create this "win-win" situation so all parties are happy. 

In this premise, Badhai Do uses the unusual arrangement and the events that occur within it to create humor and entertainment. The film makes most of the situation by bringing out difficult details of two individuals with different mindsets trying to make it work for everyone outside their lives but themselves. The conflicting gender based roles within the construct of a hetero family, the sharing of expenses, answers to be given to the society at large for their partners, and the pretense of being a couple to look "normal" and be accepted: it's all there.

 No doubt the script is sharp with perfect dialogues timed immaculately. But personally, I felt a strange sense of melancholy throughout the film. Issues like the effort, mental and psychological trauma, the acting and pretense, and denial to be oneself of the two gay people are just not taken into account. Both the lead actors are straight, obviously, so that sense of deprivation, suffocation and suffering is just not being realised. It's as if a straight guy and straight girl are sharing an apartment. This is deeply disturbing because the film uses humor at the expense of two lives that are not really living and breathing as they should. Also, even in such an arrangement, somehow, god knows how, but somehow, the woman is suffering more than the man. Though both of them are queer, patriarchy will not let go no matter what the circmstance is.

I dont see why there is such a monumental effort,yet again, in another queer hindi film, to beg for acceptance. The arguments of commercial viability and social entertainment seem important. But will a straight man live and pretend to be gay and stay with another straight man ? Will two cis het women be able to do it ? If that can't even be imagined, then how is it possible for two queer individuals ? Exactly when is this toxic nonsense going to end ? And the grand ending of acceptance and happily ever after is infuriating.

Good effort by the cast and bla bla bla .............Whatever.....No Badhaai here..... 

Its high time India knows everything it has to about LGBTQIA++ and moves on to live and let live. They don't get the luxury of getting convinced. Enough time and effort has gone into this. ENOUGH.