Film Impressions

ESSAY: The Curse of the Cerebral Woman

WHERE ARE THE CLEVER WOMEN?

While browsing through titles at a Crossword’s in Mumbai, I came across a book that carried a recommendation by the actress Gul Panag. Now, ordinarily publishers would quote such worthy progenitors of good taste as the New York Review of Books, or the color supplement of The Hindu or even that most prolific of ‘blurbers’—Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. It wasn’t quite a ringing endorsement either. Panag said, of the book, “It’s such a quick read that I’m surprised I didn’t finish it earlier.” Quite cleverly back-handed there, and I’m sure she totally gets the irony, because although celebrities are now ubiquitous at book launches and readings (that’s the sideline that keeps them afloat), they’re usually not the go-to people for literary seals of approval. Not to take anything away from Panag, she is considered one of the few ‘thinking’ actors out there, but that blurb did still seem a little out of whack.

PEOPLE WE LIKE: Nutan

OF INNOCENCE AND FORTITUDE

Had the stoical Kalyani from Bimal Roy’s Bandini (1963) become the prototype for the Hindi film heroine instead of the ever-suffering Radha of Mother India (1957), the depiction of women in our cinema perhaps wouldn’t have been as drab as it is. Kalyani, as portrayed by Nutan, is the embodiment of Indian womanhood. She has the resilience to adapt to every situation, but not with the bearing of a sacrificial lamb. Instead, she takes responsibility for her actions––which include murdering her lover’s wife in a fit of passionate rage––repents her crime and is gracefully reconciled to a life in prison.