Many faces of widows on Indian celluloid

New Delhi, March 11 (IANS) From the pathos of widows of the 1930's India in "Water" to the mystic of Aishwarya Rai as a young widow in "Chokher Bali" ('Sand in the Eye'), fables of ill-fated women have often graced Indian celluloid.

Whether it is the resolute Nargis in "Mother India", the stoically resigned Jaya Bachchan in "Sholay", the forgiving Ayesha Takia in "Dor", the star-crossed Dimple Kapadia in "Rudaali, the rebel Padmini Kolhapure in "Prem Rog", the revenge-seeking Rakhee in "Karan Arjun" (and many others) or the widow-of-today Rani Mukerji in "Hum Tum" and "Baabul", filmmakers have for long played up the inherent tragedy of the character to fill many canvases.

Oscar-nominated "Water" by Toronto-based Indian filmmaker Deepa Mehta that finally released in India this week, is perhaps the most daring depiction of the plight of widows in the country.

"Water" faced opposition from Hindu fundamentalists because they felt that it is anti-Hindu and destroyed the sets of the film in 2000 and also burnt Mehta's effigy. But Mehta was determined to complete the film and finally shot it in Sri Lanka with the cast that included Seema Biswas, Lisa Ray, John Abraham and Waheeda Rehman.

"Water" was sent to the Oscars by Canada as its official entry for the best foreign language film category and secured a nomination. Though it lost the Oscar to a German film "The Lives of Others", it is most relevant to today's India.

The film introducing child actor Sarala as a seven-year-old abandoned widow has garnered rich accolades in India as well.

Though most refuse to accept, but for abandoned widows in Brindavan, known as the "City of Widows", "Water" is a story about their lives even today. Widows seek salvation there either in Varanasi or Brindaban, which is about 120 km away from Delhi.

According to a survey by a social worker, there are more than 9,000 widows in Brindaban and most of them either survive on charity or pension from the government.

Dharan Mandrayar, a California-based Indian director, made a movie "White Rainbow" on the different kind of widow abuse - social ostracism, abandonment by children, rape by in-laws, and financial and sexual exploitation by priests - that is still experienced.

"Many Indians shrug off widow abuse. It's been like this for centuries as the accepted way of life. The husband is called a god and the minute a woman loses her god, she becomes a zero," Mohini Giri, a leading Indian activist for widows' rights, was quoted as saying.

In India, widow-remarriage is still a far cry as depicted in recently released "Baabul" starring Rani, Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Hema Malini and John Abraham.

Films advocating widow remarriage are not new. BR Films, one of the prestigious banners in Bollywood, had tried it in "Ek Hi Raasta" some five decades ago. Similarly, Dharmendra and Meena Kumari starrer "Phool Aur Patthar" and "Subah Ka Tara" by V. Shantaram stressed on the same issue.

Such films have been trying to raise the collective conscience of the society but it is an uphill task. Old customs and belief are still deeply rooted. Another survey conducted by India's national census in 2001 reported that there were more than 34 million widows in the country.

However, many Bollywood filmmakers have refrained themselves from portraying widows reality because Hindi cinema's delineation of the woman had always fitted in with the middle-class mindset and morality. It was the centuries-old concept of woman as goddess, which was reflected with all its glorious obfuscations in most Bollywood films.

A more realistic depiction of the suffering of widows in India may have a lasting impact. Like a study shows how working widows feel the need to continue wearing symbols of matrimony so that they are not harassed by male colleagues and that a majority of the employed widows did not want to remarry for fear of society or losing their economic independence.

Till our filmmakers come up with more realistic portrayals, we will have to be content with Vikram Bhatt's take on widows in this Friday's release "Red" that features Celina Jaitley as an erotic bereaved wife.

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