Movie Name : Bandini
Producer : Bimal Roy Productions
Director : Bimal Roy
Music Director : S. D. Burman
Lyrics : Gulzar & Shailendra
Songs :
Mora Gora Ang Laile - Lata Mangeshkar (Lyrics : Gulzar)
Jogi Jabse Tu Aaya Mere Dware - Lata Mangeshkar (Lyrics : Shailendra)
O Jaanewale Ho Sake To Laut Ke Aana - Mukesh (Lyrics : Shailendra)
O Panchhi Pyare - Asha Bhosle (Lyrics : Shailendra)
Ab Ke Baras Bhejo - Asha Bhosle (Lyrics : Shailendra)
Mat Ro Mata Lal Tere - Manna Dey (Lyrics : Shailendra)
Mere Sajan Hai Us Paar - S. D. Burman (Lyrics : Shailendra)
Film Synopsis :
Bandini - yet another classic film from Bimal Roy. A memorable performance by Nutan, of a murderess torn between two lovers - Ashok Kumar, for whom she committed the crime and her reformer Dharmendra, who wants to marry her. Also, Asha Bhosle makes a comeback with the memorable 'Ab Ke Baras'.
- g Magazine - The story continues ... - 11th Anniversary Issue 2000 (Vol. 12 No.3)
In the same year that Rajendra Kumar was spewing ornate love declarations at Sadhana in H S Rawail's Mere Mehboob, Ashok Kumar was seducing Nutan with revolutionary rhetorics.
Bandini is a romance rooted to a native ethos. If we must designate a theme flower it shall have to be the cactus flower (just like it shall have to be tulips for Silsila and mogra for Chandni). Love's not about fulfilment but pain, separation and sacrifice. Bimal Roy puts across his 'flaming-grey' passions with passages of lingering silences slicing across the tension charged milieu as Kalyani (in the gender reversal of the love smitten radio journalist in Mani Ratnam's Dil Se) is willing to follow her fighting, ailing, damned and futureless beloved Bikash Ghosh (Ashok Kumar) to the end of the world.
Roy designed the product as a showcase of shadowy emotions. From the virginal yearnings of 'Jogi Jab Se Tu Aaya Mere Dware' to the physically alive longings of 'Mora Gora Ang Lai Le' to the rebellious repudiation of comfort and security for a life of reckless romance in the arms of her dying lover as S D Burman warbled 'Mere Sajan Hai Us Paar' - the music of Bandini was the music of the heart. Even shot within a studio sequences such as Nutan girlishly shaking her legs while reading her lover's letter in bed or Kalyani's final dilemma between love and security as she makes the critical crossover from the train (carrying her to marriage) to the ship (carrying her to love) capture every shade of emotion of a woman's heart hopelessly tangled in love.
- Movie Magazine - The 25 Greatest Romantic Films - December 2000
Nutan's best-known film is set in the women's ward of a pre-independence prison. The story is based on a book by Jarasandha, a former Alipore central jail superintendent who wrote fictional versions of his experiences (Louha-Kapat, 1953; Tamasha, 1958; Nyaydanda, 1961). The gently inmate Kalyani (Nutan), imprisoned for murder, appears determined to serve her full sentence, resisting the kind overtures of the prison doctor (Dharamendra). Her past is told in flashback. In a 30's Bengal riddled with revolutionary terrorists, she had become involved with the anarchist Bikash Ghosh (Ashok Kumar), and tries to save his life by claiming to be his wife. Her father insists that for her honour's sake she must really marry the man. Bikash disappears and Kalyani later learns that he has married another woman. To avoid her father's dishonour she leaves the village and becomes a servant in a nursing home where she encounters a particularly obnoxious patient who is revealedto be Bikash's wife. Regarding her as the cause of all her and her father's suffering, Kalyani poisons the woman and assumes her guilt. The sentimental story, which suggests a straight link between terrorism and patricide, is redeemed by the most accomplished cinematography Bimal Roy ever acheived and by Nutan's performance, perhaps the only consistent expression in Indian film of female guilt.
- Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema - Ashish Rajadhyaksha& Paul Willemen - New Revised Edition 1999-
Recently we held a screening of Bandini at our workshop. Everyone present, including some of today's directors, were moved to tears. Such was the impact
- Rinki Bhattacharya - Film Maker - Daughter of Bimal Roy
Bandini is perhaps the last complete motion picture directed by Roy. Is it his best? I avoid such questions, but Bandini is certainly a candidate. And considering that Roy is one of the best directors from India, "Bandini" is arguably the best of the best. It can certainly be considered as a classic case study of the genre - Indian social drama.
Since it's such a
well-known film, most of us would have already seen it. So I am
not going to worry about avoiding any spoilers so to say. If you
haven't seen the movie, you may want to see it before reading
further.
On the outset, "Bandini"s storyline is not complex. A
young, simple woman (Kalyani, played by Nutan) is serving for
murder in a 1934 prison. There she comes in contact with a
doctor, (Deven, played by Dharmendra) who wishes to marry her.
She respects him, but is afraid of her ill fate, the society etc,
and declines his love. The jailer, who is a family friend of
Deven tries to persuade Kalyani. She then tells him the story of
her past. Kalyani comes from a family in which "simple
living, high thinking" is not just an empty slogan. Due to
some unforeseen circumstances, she has to become a messenger for
a freedom-fighter. Only once. But a friendship develops between
her family and him, (Vikas, played by Ashok Kumar). Vikas and
Kalyani love each other and due to a difficult situation Vikas
has to proclaim Kalyani as his wife. Before the actual ceremony
can take place, he has to leave the town, but promises to come
back. But he doesn't. Naturally, the family has a difficult time
in a small village, and Kalyani finds no option but to leave her
home. She starts working in a hospital, where she learns that a
difficult woman patient she is serving, is actually the wife of
Vikas. This happens on the same day of her father's death. Unable
to cope up with such extra-ordinary circumstances, she thinks of
the woman as the reason of all her troubles and kills her.
[ Roy once again brilliantly used imagery in what perhaps is his best executed scene - when Nutan wilfully murders Ashok Kumar's shrewish, neurotic wife. A welder is at work in the background, his sparks indicative of Nutan's state of mind. When beaten by the constant hammering of circumstances her hands close around a bottle of poison, while a play of light and shade frames the scene. - Jamal Akbar September 9 1998 ]
Hence she finds herself
in prison. After reading this story, Deven's mother decides to
accept her as daughter-in-law. Kalyani gets an early termination
of her sentence. On her way to Deven's home, she meets Vikas, who
is terminally ill. Vikas's friend tells her about Vikas's life
and how he had to marry someone else etc. In the final climax,
she decides to go with Vikas.
Melodramatic? May be. Predictable? Possibly. It's still a strong
plot and the treatment from the director just takes it to a level
not attainable to mediocrity. The secret of this treatment lies
not in the technology, (found in any Hindi cinema today) but in
the technique, which is rarely found. A technique strong in
simplicity and subtlety.
Through out the movie, Roy avoids cliche. He doesn't burden any
scene with heavy symbolism. There are many places where an
ordinary mortal would have given to the temptation of overusing
the prison metaphor, the plight of women, a preaching about
patriotism. But Roy avoids such pitfalls and maintains a strong
focus on narrating Kalyani's story in an often silent way and
most undoubtedly in an unhurried style. This is a style which is
almost impossible to find these days, and one yearns for.
A strong focus does not mean absence of subplots. There are some.
There is after all Deven's love, with which the movie begins.
There is a mention of Kalyani's brother, his life and his death.
There is a freedom-fighter in the prison who is hanged. There is
a small recollection of Vikas's part in freedom struggle. Here
and there. But all these are secondary and Roy does not let the
attention and concentration of the viewer to be diverted. Right
from the beginning, the viewer is tied up to the main character.
It's impossible not to fall in love with that character, to root
for her, to respect her.
Everywhere in the movie, brilliance abounds. There are many
frames worthy of praise. The obvious are the scenes where a
jailer cuts the flowers of a plant and one can see Kalyani in a
small angle. Or the one when Deven's horse-carriage is going away
outside the prison and Kalyani follows the sound from the other
side of the wall. My favorites include the brief long shot of
Kalyani's friend trying to persuade her. And the one in flashback
where Kalyani is watching ducks in rain. Pure brilliance. Some
choose a flipping calendar to show that days are passing by. Roy
chooses a Kalyani with an empty stare and a few ducks in the rain
to show that days are not easily passing by. Of course, there are
many great scenes, and one has a rare freedom of choice to pick
the favorite one. How about the scene where the jailer, when he
receives Kalyani's notebook, instead of just opening it and
starting to read, keeps it aside and reads later ? How about the
scene where Deven comes back home, sees his mother busy in
'pooja', and turns away, and his mother still hears him, talks to
him briefly and tells him she will be right with him after the
'pooja' is over ? That's what I meant when I said the style of
narration is unhurried. There is no rushing in. There is
absolutely no rushing in.
The movie is certainly not short on talent. How it can be ? One
measure is to say that two people later pronounced as genius by
their fans were assistants here ! I am talking about Gulzar as an
assistant director and R.D.Burman as the assistant music
director. Music of "Bandini" deserves a review of its
own. Is it S.D.Burman's best ? As I said, I avoid such questions,
but it's certainly a candidate. "o panchhi pyare" and
"ab ke baras
bhej" by Asha Bhosle and "mora gora rang" and
"jogi jab se tu aayaa mere dware" by Lata Mangeshkar
are enough to put the music of this movie on a higher pedestal.
The lyrics of all but one song are by Shailendra and ably support
the movie. A well known trivia is, Gulzar wrote his first lyrics.
As another trivia, there is a flashback within a flashback in
this movie. Is this a first such instance in an Indian movie ? I
do not know. But perhaps a not so well-known trivia is, the actor
who played Kalyani's father is Raja Paranjape. A director
himself. Undoubtedly, one of the best of Marathi cinema. He also
acted in many of his movies.
That brings us to the acting. Almost everyone gives a good
performance. Ashok Kumar, Tarun Bose as the jailer and Dharmendra
as the doctor. Dharmendra is not a great actor, but does
remarkably well in such roles. "Satyakam", "Naya
Zamana" for example, where he again plays a high-principled
man.
But as everyone knows, this is a Nutan's movie. It's difficult to
praise such acting without using the overused phrases. "It's
worthy of many Oscars", "She outshines everyone
else" and so on sounds too trite. It seemed as if she is not
acting, she is living Kalyani's character. The way a flicker of
an expression comes to her face and she tries to control it is
absolutely amazing. I am talking about the scenes when she hears
the bad news about her father, or the last scene when Vikas
apologizes to her. The way she sits on that bench, the way she
walks after meeting Vikas in the final scenes is an ample proof
of her natural talents. Such artists are born great, one cannot
learn it. Nevertheless Nutan is a school of acting which every
aspiring actor/actress should attend by watching her, by studying
her.
In short, Nutan plays this character perfectly in this perfectly
crafted movie. I am not saying this movie has no flaws or no
goofs. But I don't believe such a movie has been made. In
practicality, this is as perfect as a movie can get. One obvious
complaint can be that, most of main characters are too nice,
destiny being the real cruel villain.
And that's the theme. The title "Bandini" actually
refers to a person who is a prisoner of her fate more than the
man-made jail. She is just tossed from one situation to another
by her destiny. She has very little control and is just going
along with what life demands from her. She is a
"bandini" of her fate, of the decisions made by people
around her. But in the final moment of climax, when Shailendra's
poetry strikes in the magical voice of
S.D.Burman, during my best song of the movie, ... "main
bandini piyaa ki, main sangini hun saajan ki .." comes the
moment of realization. She can take matters into her hand, and
she can refuse to be just a prisoner of fate. So she decides and
chooses to go with Vikas. She again becomes a prisoner, a
prisoner of her lover, but a happy one, and by her own choice, by
her free will. That's the true "Bandini".
Rating (on a scale of 0 to 10) : 9
Alternative rating (* to ****) : ****
Recommended highly to all the cineastes.
- Abhay Avachat, September 9 1998