MANJHI- THE MOUNTAIN MAN IN BIHAR: SOME GLARING QUESTIONS -N. Kumar The movie 'Manjhi- The Mountain Man' is out in the theatres. The biopic was in spotlight even before its release. The Director Ketan Mehta has received accolades for engraving on celluloid, the fascinating saga of a common labourer from Bihar. And well-deserved ones. Bihar has seldom attracted Bollywood brains over the years. We have Prakash Jha's flicks like Gangajal and Apharan, but they have mostly focussed on crime and political corruption. Prakash Jha has always shown proclivity to sell the negative contours of the state. The epic saga of Dashrath Manjhi never caught Jha's attention. Or maybe, it never suited his brand of cinema. However, Ketan Mehta is counted among the sensible directors of …show more content…
He gave a sense of pride to the common man of Bihar. It is ironical this common man was deprived from this movie. The government owes an answer to the people of Bihar in this regard. Meanwhile, the response for 'Manjhi-The Mountain Man' was lukewarm in Patna. Perhaps, Ketan Mehta could explain better. Nawazuddin Siddiqui was immaculate in his portrayal of Dashrath Manjhi. But jury is out in the open for Ketan Mehta's treatment of the character. For instance, Manjhi gifts Taj Mahal to his wife in the movie. It is something very difficult for any Bihari to relate to, especially the downtrodden Musahar community of Manjhi. Little did Dashrath knew that his souvenir would one day belittle, even world's foremost monument of love. The movie also portrays Manjhi engaging in pillow fight with Fagunia. There is hardly anyone in the Manjhi community who can identify with this kind of mushy expression of love. Then, Naxalism enters the plot out of thin air, suddenly after Manjhi has completed breaking the mountain. One might ask where were the red ultras for 15 long years when Manjhi was still at his
I felt that this movie was very interesting and entertaining. It was also very sad. I think that the social inequality was the most prevalent thing in the movie because it was clear how the ruling class thought of the Indians. There was also a great gap between the rich and the poor.
Therefore, this is a very essential topic to express with all people. Some people who watch this film might just see themselves like the character of the old man; there are an abundance of people in this world that recognize themselves as an adversary, it is not uncommon for this to happen. The topic that is realized from this film made me look at other people and analyze how they see themselves. As well as looking to other people to see their feelings, I looked at myself to speculate my perception.
Mississippi Masala, directed by Mira Nair, is a movie about an Indian woman and an African-American man who fall in love, despite objections from both of their respective families. The couple, Demitrius and Mina, struggle to maintain their relationship despite their families disapproval. The movie utilizes the mise-en-scene element of color to communicate its themes of conflict between cultures.
Zhang Yimou’s first film as director, Red Sorghum was immensely popular at home and abroad. The film follows a popular novel with its point of view; an off-stage, present-day male narrator whose own life is ancient and minute compared to the family he was grateful to have been associated with. Compared to a classic American Movie this is very much the same. The movie I am talking about is Legends of the fall. In almost the exact same way this movie was made. An older Indian gentleman begins to tell the story he lived. He grew up in a great family, with great traditions. Then he narrates the tale of a family and its struggles through love, war, bitterness, and bad times. Its starts with that voice, on a blank screen: “I will tell you the story of my grandpa and grandma…” In LOTF an older Indian man starts telling the story of “Tristan’s stormy birth” We then see the hero at a very young age, fighting a bear. In Red Sorghum instead of the expected old granny, we see a beautiful, twenty-something woman who, looks very attractive.
In Moses, Man of the Mountain, Zora Neale Hurston unmasks the construction of gender within the African American community. The story centers around patriarchal beliefs on leadership and misogynistic views towards women. She designs the female characters as accessories subordinate to men to highlight the gendered microaggressions that are prevalent among both Black male and female circles. While the novel has moments of female resistance, women’s voices and aspirations are silenced and marginalized throughout. Hurston utilizes Miriam and Zipporah in Moses, Man of the Mountain, to juxtapose female oppression to male leadership. By doing so, she reveals the complex and harmful relationship between gender, religion and leadership in a patriarchal
The movie ELEPHANT MAN is a close pictorial representation of Erving Goffmans stigma that defines the situation of an individual who is disqualified from the social acceptance in a civilized society.
It rips off the rose-eyed lenses that people look at India through, and it exposes the corruption and darkness that occurs within its borders. The character, Balram, is a sort of anti-hero who climbs his way to the top by adopting the methods of those he once and still possibly detested. Through every wrongdoing he does, he is constantly struggling for self-justification in order to have a healthy conscience and enjoy being at the top (Kapur). I think this narrative was successful because the protagonist wasn’t necessarily the “the good guy”. It depicts how good people must resort to bad things because of the limitations placed upon them, and that surpassing those limitations by indulging in questionable practices is the only way to find success in such a situation. Adiga critiques the potential downfalls of a neoliberalist society, for while it benefits those who are successful, it harshly punishes those who struggle to be. By telling the tale of a man who was still technically morally good become the necessary evil that he hated in order to become successful, that Adiga was able to effectively portray the cons of such a free market
The movie Barsaat was directed by Raj Kapoor, who was also an actor of Hollywood industry. This Indian movie combines dual
His character can be defined as unbeatable and ruthless warrior, whose only weakness is women. He is smitten by his king's daughter Ratna Mahadevi, played by Nayanthara. Following a few twist and turns, Raj Nayak kills Ratna Mahadevi's lover, brother and father. And he forcefully marries her. Unable to match his physical prowess, Mahadevi plays a seductress and poisons Raj Nayak. However, it would be a shame for a warrior of his stature to go down without a fight, right? Just before Mahadevi beheands him, he manages to drive a spear into her guts. Just to make sure that their enmity continues for generations to come, Mahadevi stops his soul from going to light casting a
Bollywood has always represented the mood of India. The movie goers of India often say, if you want to see how India is feeling, just randomly pick up a few movies and you will get a taste of India. The “Muslim male”, often misrepresented and thus misunderstood, is an interesting character in relation to the industry because it portrays the ever changing face of the nation since the independence of the country. As India has grown and transformed into an independent nation, so has the character and portrayal of the Muslim male characters throughout the industry; some may argue for the worst and others may claim neutrality. Often in movies we will see them portrayed as “threats of some kind; terrorists, sexual predators, traitors or abnormal in some way, departing from the cherished values of the nation (Hirji, 59).” Meanwhile, The Hindu male is a secular figure, who presents as a level headed male, in control of himself and his destiny and respectful to other religious traditions, ((((((((((((((especially Muslims.))))))))))))))))
By now, R.K Narayan took a turn from his usual way of writing. Moving away from writing books, which were more or less auto-biographical, his exposure to foreign lands would have inspired him to move beyond his world and hone his creativity. Starting right from ‘Mr. Sampath’ (1948) to ‘The Vendor of Sweets’ (1967), this trend was seen in all books written in this period. ‘The Guide’ and ‘The Man-Eater of Malgudi’ is analyzed here, in this context.
Kapoor.” He is the man who will attract the audience to the film as he
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy tells the story of the communist state of Kerala and the forbidden love between two castes, which changes the lives of everyone. In the novel an ‘Untouchable’, Velutha is a carpenter and works at Paradise Pickles and Preserves for much less than he deserves because of his status as an Untouchable in the caste system. Velutha falls into a forbidden love with a divorced woman, Ammu who is associated with an upper caste Syrian Christian Ipe family. Marriage was the only way that Ammu could have escaped this life, but she lost the chance when marrying the wrong man, as he was an alcoholic and this resulted in them getting a divorce. Ammu breaks the laws that state ‘who should be loved, and how and how much’, as their affair threatens the ‘caste system’ in India, which is a hierarchal structure and social practice in India in which your position in society is determined and can’t be changed. Arhundati Roy portrays the theme of forbidden love within the caste systems and shows how they are t...
Zai Whitaker calls it ‘wise and wonderful’. It is India with its timeless chain of caste exploitation; male chauvinism, linguistic strives and communal disharmony. In India, power-hungry politicians control the strings of administration like a puppeteer. Mistry has portrayed the humiliating condition of people living in Jhopadpattis, deaths on railway tracks, demolition of shacks on the pretext of beautification, violence on the campuses in the name of ragging, deaths in police custody, lathi charges and murders in the pretext of enforcing Family Planning, which are all part of India’s nasty
...ing care of Shankar and feels good doing so. He is constantly sacrificing his money and time by helping others This empathy helps him change his life journey by helping him meet new people. Even though helping people delays his own success he does ultimately achieve his dreams.