Smita Patil’s Bhumika is the celebrity biopic that should have been the blueprint for The Dirty Picture, Mahanati – The Indian Express
The Nineteen Seventies have been the period of the offended younger man in Hindi cinema and by the point 1977 rolled round, Bachchan’s supremacy was effectively established. The best grossing movie of that yr, Amar Akbar Anthony, had a giant star solid however it was well-known that Bachchan’s Anthony was the driving drive of that film. However in the identical yr, Smita Patil starred within the Shyam Benegal movie Bhumika, and whereas she was nothing just like the ‘offended younger man’, she actually channeled the anger of somebody who had been manipulated all her life and was combating a dropping battle towards patriarchy. Bhumika relies on the lifetime of movie actor Hansa Wadkar’s memoir Sangtye Aika. Hansa was an actor within the Nineteen Thirties and Forties and her memoir talked of her experiences in Hindi cinema and Marathi theatre.
Movies on Hindi cinema have developed a set template in the previous few years whereby we see the rise and fall of a film star and their struggles with dealing with their fame. Kareena Kapoor starrer Heroine, and Madhuri Dixit’s Fame Sport adopted comparable beats however Bhumika chooses to discover the lifetime of a film star utilizing her occupation as only a backdrop. The mishaps in Usha’s life aren’t essentially triggered by her fame, however the loneliness that retains swallowing her is highlighted much more after we see her being as profitable as one may be. Vidya Balan’s The Soiled Image and Keerthy Suresh’s Mahanati additionally had their protagonists battling the hollowness of their success however in these too, their loneliness was a direct draw back to their success. In Bhumika, nonetheless, it looks as if Usha would have suffered it doesn’t matter what she did for a dwelling.
The loneliness, we’re advised, will not be the results of her occupation, however a pure development of her emotionally disturbing life the place she has been manipulated by her a lot older husband from a really younger age. Together with her husband Keshav, performed by Amol Palekar, she has been in a poisonous relationship from the time she was a younger baby. He holds her to guarantees that she by no means even made and makes her really feel responsible about not fulfilling them. He lives off her revenue, however makes her really feel indebted to him. Usha, unaware of his manipulative techniques, will get performed, over and over. The numerous loves she encounters in her journey – Rajan (Anant Nag), Sunil (Naseeruddin Shah), and Vinayak (Amrish Puri) don’t appear as dangerous as Keshav at first however upon spending time with them, Usha finally ends up on the similar conclusion. In a big scene in direction of the top, a lady tells Usha that the faces of males would possibly change, however their nature stays the identical.
Smita’s Usha is reckless, till she decides to not be. She bends over backwards to please the boys round her, till she lastly decides to place her foot down and takes cost of her life. Benegal doesn’t observe the favored biography route right here the place her life is marked by the movies that have been hits or flops, however as an alternative chooses to give attention to the experiences that make her character. He additionally doesn’t idolise Usha, or makes her a sufferer of her circumstances, however he underlines her selections, regardless that it’s evident to the viewer that her selections aren’t smart.
Benegal doesn’t shield Usha from the viewers. He makes her unlikable, however you find yourself empathising along with her anyway, and a whole lot of credit score for a similar goes to Smita. The actor, who was simply 22 on the time, put up a mature efficiency the place the subtext of her expressions carries extra weight than her dialogues. Throughout her common outings in a lodge room, the place she goes to flee her nightmarish life at residence, you at all times see her in a distinct mild. Smita successfully communicates what she desires you to know with out utilizing any phrases and also you immediately lend your sympathetic ear to the girl who has not made one of the best selections.
Bhumika is a biopic that works even when you have no clue about the actual story behind it, and like many different biopics it doesn’t make its protagonists the one who was wronged by the unjust world. As a substitute, it reminds you that your selections have penalties and till you select in a different way, the outcomes gained’t change.
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