By Vishnu Mahesh Sharma
Khara Sona Ya Jevar (Pure Gold Or Jewel)
In Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Satyakaam, there is a conversation between Ranjana (Sharmila Tagore) and Narendra (Sanjeev Kumar). Speaking of Satyapriya (Dharmendra) in high regards, Narendra says, “Sath vahi ka vahi raha. Khare paase ka sona”, to which Ranjana replies, “Vahi to. Paase ka sona sirf sona hi rehata hai, kabhi jevar nahi ban sakta. Jevar ban ne ke liye thoda sa khot to…”
Though aforementioned conversation is about purity of character and its consequences, I would like to extend it to creativity and art. The conundrum “Should art be in the purest of form or it should be made accessible?” is a perennial one. While this debate can go on for eternity, here, I would like to indulge in a discussion about two films, which, by design and deliberation, applied the impurity of accessible and commercial elements to make a ‘Jevar’ out of ‘khara cinema ka sona’. And oh boy! The films actually proved to be jewels in crowns of all creative people involved in respective films.
Jayein To Jayein Kahan? (To Go Commercial Or Artistic?)
Both ‘Sairat’ and ‘Satya Prem Ki Katha’ deal with subjects those are, conventionally, not mainstream. Any film, dealing with caste discrimination and honor killing with realism and artistic approach, would find less takers. The difference between commercial success of ‘Fandry’ and ‘Sairat’ resoundingly puts this fact across.
Nagaraj Manjule (director of both the films) himself admitted in an interview that people got repelled with ‘Fandry’ and its world. Thus, in ‘Sairat’, before showing audiences what he wanted to show, he showed them what they wanted to see. Once the audience was comfortable with the world, he told a story that he actually had wanted to tell. No need to say, the trick did wonders for the film.
The same logic can be extended to ‘Aakashvaani’ and ‘Satya Prem Ki Katha’. Both films deal with crimes against women (marital rape and date rape respectively) which are hard to communicate, even to lawmakers, forget about common audience. However, the glossiness and the lightheartedness of the world presented in SPKK played the same trick that ‘Sairat’ played more than half-a-decade ago. The trick did wonders in this case too.
Thus, I thought it is a good opportunity to compare and contrast two films, which provide interesting study about striking the balance between sensibility of audience and creators. However, this comparison, in no way, qualifies as a qualitative comparison of the two films. Rather, it is an attempt to analyze how both the films use certain tools to convey uncomfortable themes. The essay, neither, attempts to compare style of film makers, instead the attempt is to compare how two film makers of varied sensibilities with varied cast employed a similar approach to convey some hard facts wrapped in silky ribbons.
Hum Saath Saath Hein (The Similarities)
1. Git Gata Chal (The Music):
I never intend to say that music albums of ‘Sairat’ and SPKK are equally melodious and memorable. The purpose is to highlight that both the films use their music to lure in viewers. In the ‘Gujju Patakha’ song of SPKK, a line goes like this- ‘Itna mein cute hun, kanha ki flute hun’. Going by these lines, could anyone have guessed about the movie’s real subject in the weirdest and the most bizarre of dreams? The same goes for ‘Sairat’. The brains, above the feet dancing upon ‘Jhingaat’ beat, could have never imagined what was there in store for the young couple of the film.
Both the films combine their musicality with love stories to give a feel of romantic dramas those can be watched with families. They softly whisper in our ears and tenderly invite us to witness worlds of musical fantasy (In case of ‘Sairat’ though backdrop is rusty but it is shot in fantastical manner, greatly complemented by the music). These films say, “Bone fire is ready. Sing and dance with us”. We, as an audience, buy in this musical setting unaware of the fact that the bone fire is building up a silent volcano.
2. Ek Duje Ke Liye (Love Story Of Opposites):
The setting of both the films is local. For SPKK – a film that casts a young heartthrob and a diva, the couple boats in local ‘Kankariya Lake’ and heroine is reluctant to wear western dress- the setting is as local as contours of commercial cinema can provide. ‘Sairat’ is both visibly and linguistically local. The emphasis is not on vocal for local. Here, the vocals are local.
These settings when used with a trope as familiar as “Opposite attracts”, establish a relatable world. Archie, the girl of ‘Sairat’, is from upper caste and upper class. She is more forthright and candid. On the other hand, Parshya, the boy of the story, is from a lower caste, lower class and, comparatively, reserved. This at first seems a tale of star crossed lovers.
In SPKK, the boy is a jobless fellow from a middle class family. The girls is from a reputed business family and happens to a famous (locally famous) singer dancer. The boy is outspoken while the girl is reticent. The boy has never had any girlfriend whereas the girl waits for her boyfriend only when she first meets this boy. This pair is brought together in a forced marriage to tell a story of how the husband wins over the wife whose soul is absent from the relationship. This is a typical ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ and ‘Namaste London’ template.
When combined with music and local setting it helps us keeping our interest in the lead couples alive. These local musical romantic worlds are both emotionally and geographically relatable. We travel with characters not only from place to place but also from mind to mind.
3. Abhi Na Jao Chchod ke (No Highlights, But Moments):
Of lately, we have been witnessing, in films, scenes do not allow us to stay with characters. They are written and executed as highlights. The screenplay goes from one highlight to other. Nonetheless, these two films invest in moments. How much silly they may be to the larger narrative, they play crucial parts in building the surroundings and making us part of it. There is no rush or haste to jump to next high point. They give us chance to eavesdrop in conversation of their characters.
In SPKK, ample time is devoted to mundane moments of father-son and husband-wife relationships. Take, Katha’s suicide scene, for instance. There is a rhythm to it. A banter between Sattu and the security guard is followed by some Sattu shenanigans before Sattu using stairs to climb up. There also, blood is not the first thing that Sattu notices. He tries to strike a conversation before realizing that Katha is unconscious. The film breathes and allows us to breathe along.
So is the case with ‘Sairat’. We witness comradeship of friends, them pulling each other’s legs. A parallel minor sub plot of a love story ends up with a boy finding his crush’s nails in a paper that he misunderstands for a love letter. This sequence doubles up as foreshadowing and humor.
These moments, apart from developing characters, forges an intimate relationship with audience as well. They make us feel as if we have always been with these people in their journeys sharing their laughter and dreams. This character-audience bond plays a very significant role when eventually their sorrows become our shocks.
However, before getting there, let us see, how different these films are, even after following such a similar approach and why the impact they make is of varied degree?
Ye Dooriyaan (The Differences):
1. Beech Bazari Dange Lag Gaye (The Center Conflict):
‘Sairat’ uses caste as the center conflict while SPKK uses a date rape and its trauma as the conflict. In our social order, caste discrimination is so strongly prevalent that the moment you mention it, the theme is established. Audience themselves fill the rest of the blanks. The system is so visible, discussed and debated in public life that it needs no background or explanation. Thus, when ‘Sairat’ uses caste, as the conflict in the love story, no additional screen time needs to be devoted to educate the audience about the gravity of the matter.
However, In SPKK, the conflict is a trauma of a crime not known to many. The conflict is psychological. It is not visible. This needs some communicating and explaining and thus some screen time in its establishment as a conflict. Katha explaining all that the first base, second base terminology is one such attempt where the narrator wants to highlight that the crime is grave enough to haunt a married couple. Hence, though socially, the core conflict is as strong as caste conflict but its perception, by audiences, differs based on their social and educational background.
‘Sairat’ takes this ‘audience’s background’ out of the equation using caste as friction point, which makes its reach wider as compared to SPKK. This difference in reach in turn plays a huge part in the next and the biggest difference.
2. Mere Mehaboob Quayamat Hogi (And Volcano Erupts):
We all are dancing and singing around a bone fire that actually is a silent volcano-ready to erupt, anytime, on screenplay’s instruction. The timing of this eruption is very critical to shock and surprise the viewers.
‘Sairat’ pulls the rug out from under our feet at the perfect moment. This is where the caste conflict helps big time. Why? Because of the caste conflict, we always anticipate the conflict reaching a tipping point. This anticipation mixes tension with moments of joy. The storyteller know this. He pulls a ‘Jhingaat’ trick from his bag. The most popular Marathi song of the year is used to heighten the sense of joy to the state of euphoria. Joy was mixed with tension but the high of the song makes us forget about the anticipated dread.
This is the moment, the director presses the trigger, volcano erupts, and we are pulled into the other side of the world that the director always wanted us to see. Here on wards, the premise becomes grittier, darker, more real and more violent. Even melody of songs give way to haunting silences.
This is where the more psychological conflict of SPKK fails in comparison. However, the moment SPKK choses to pull the rug is also a moment of euphoria. Katha finally feels attached to Satyaprem. This is the first time we see a romantic and sexual tension building up between them. They have actually taken a journey from being a forced married couple to companions to, now, husband-wife. This is the peak of their relationship. This is the best moment to make the volcano erupt. The film precisely does that.
However, because this is more of a psychological and not-so-visible volcano, the effect of it on different members of the audience is different. It is not as universal as the-caste-volcano. The shock and surprise varies from individual to individual and this scattered effect of the twist restricts the film from venturing into darker spaces as the film is not sure if each audience member will be able to see the truth in that darkness. This results in those effective, but filmy, scenes of Satya Narayan Ki Pooja episode.
The impact of these climactic portions are profound but not as much as that of ‘Sairat’. While ‘Sairat’ ruptures our heart, SPKK applies soothing balm on our wounds; one sinks us into a sea of sorrow and shock, other has to put a smile on our lips; one jolts us out of deep slumber of love story ecstasy, other has to sing lullaby to make us sleep with hope that they will live happily ever after. Both films start in similar fashion. However, the subject they want to address liberates the one from the framework that it willingly chose but restricts the other within the laws of the same framework.
Rote Rote Hasna Sikho (Mainstream As The Carrier):
Whatever the final impact is, both films are testament to the fact that if done correctly, the impurity of an art can become a boon. This use of mainstream template as a carrier, for an issue based drama, provides a far wider reach. This creates a world in which we do not want to shut our eyes in repulsion but want to witness the issue, its affects, its victims and their trauma.
For all its problems, SPKK is a Hindi film, after a long time that gives us something to think, not only in terms of social message but also as a film in general. It cleverly puts smile on our faces and sympathy in our hearts. This art of ‘making art calculatedly impure’ is a tough rope to walk. Nonetheless, if walked upon, it has potential of the end justifying the mean, delivering the message, pleasing the masses. Can the purpose of cinema be better served?