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November 8th 2006 08:22
In traditional, fundamentalist Hindu beliefs, when a woman’s husband dies, she must live chaste for the remainder of her life. For this reason, women all over India were banished from their homes and families and sent to live in refuges with other widows. Forced to dress in white and shave their heads, in this film, girls are even prostituted in order for the refuge to survive financially.
Many may look at this film and be relieved that this kind of barbarity does not continue today, but look closer. There are still thousands of widowed women in India continuing to live in exile from their communities in impoverished circumstances.
India is notorious for its oppressive views on film-making. Below is a part of a manuscript by Richard Phillips and Waruna Alahakoon that outlines just a portion of the problems Deepa Mehta (Writer/ Director) had whilst trying to make this beautiful and long overdue film in Uttar Pradesh.
“According to Indian law, before foreign films can be shot directors must submit scripts and all production details to the government. If a film is approved, the government appoints a special liaison officer with wide powers to monitor all aspects of the production.
…500 supporters of Sangh Parivar, the alliance of Hindu fundamentalist organisations associated with the BJP, marched to the Ganges River where they destroyed the set. BJP officials, including a state MP, Shyamdeo Roychowdhary, the state branch treasurer, Ashok Dhawan, and Jyotsna Srivastav, the wife of the Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister, led the demonstration.
Among the participants were members of the Rastriya Swayangsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Forum), Shiva Sena (Shiva's Army) and the Kashi Sanskriti Raksha Sangharsh Samithi (KSRSS), an amalgam of several Hindu fundamentalist organisations. After wrecking the set, the mob held a meeting and vowed to stop the film. Police officers made no attempt to arrest any of those responsible. - Phillips & Alahakoon (12 February 2000).”
Written and directed by Deepa Mehta, this story about the struggle of women really needed to be told by a woman, and she told it very well. Funny, heartbreaking and often infuriating, it is a cry in the dark for all the women who have been silenced by oppressive governments and fundamentalist beliefs.
This film is available on DVD and contains a Hindi version and an English version. It runs for 117 minutes.
Full Phillips and Alahakoon transcript can be found at http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/feb2000/film-f12.shtml
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