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peep into the child’s world IF sex and single parentage were subjects commonly dealt with at IFFI 31, so was the relationship between elders and children and the three films that readily come to mind are Majid Majidi’s The Colour of Paradise, Jahnu Barua’s Pokhi and Amol Palekar’s Kairee. But they were also studies in contrast.
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| Actually the film has a weak beginning and
a poor end but a strong middle. The enlightenment of the
girl is graphically brought out. When she makes a success
of her life and becomes a writer, the point was well
made. That is where it should have ended. Bringing the
writer to distribute prizes at her old school is too
melodramatic and could well have been avoided. A simple
name-board saying that she became a writer would have
worked wonders. The trouble is we cannot do without the Hindi-film formula and we have to tell things in detail and with melodrama. But little do we know that in the process we divest the film of much of its sting. Jahnu Barua’s Pokhi is more candid as it deals with little Pokhi’s lonely life and her final rapprochement with the local merchant Dayananda, a repulsive character who doesn’t have a good word for anyone.
But around the same time Dayananda is having trouble with the villagers who have now got wise over his money-lending exploits and want to get even with him. It is at this crucial moment that Dayananda is susceptible and here’s when Pokhi, with her simplicity and honesty is able to forge a sort of understanding between the two sides.. But all this is narrated with strength and against the backdrop of the countryside where we see her catching fish and doing the simple things that constitute rural life and it is done much more naturally than in Kairee. May be the pace is a bit halting but at no moment is it even remotely boring. It is Barua’s understanding of children as well as the subject that allows him to be so much at ease. What’s more, he is able to convincingly make his point without any waste of footage and this makes the impact even greater. It is the format one must consider. After all in any work of art there is a beginning, a middle and an end and there must be a good mix of form and content. But quite often filmmakers seem to get lost in their subject and a sort of subjectivity creeps in and this is detrimental to the work as a whole. In that respect Majid Majidi’s The Colour of Paradise is most impressive as it deals with the plight of Mohammed, a blind boy who is left to the mercy of his dad, who being widowed recently, is keen on remarrying but it is the grandma (his mother) who tries to make the man aware of his responsibility towards his son. Majidi is known to make excellent films on children and The Colour of Paradise is no exception. It begins very impressively with Mohammed waiting for his father to pick him up at school and take him to his home in the mountains. To begin with, the father asks the school authorities if they can keep him during the summer vacation and is promptly told "this is a school, not a welfare institution." This is the first hint of the father’s disinterest in his son. Then Mohammed also tells him "I know, you don’t love me." We are then acquainted with Mohammed’s sisters and his loving grandma. We also see how Mohammed is able to do so much despite his blindness — he has a sixth sense which most handicapped folks possess. And one cannot help but think of the saying "there are none so blind as those who have eyes and do not see." Mohammed’s dad seems to come under this category and his remarriage seems to be a way of avoiding his responsibility. He sends his son as an apprentice to a carpenter but here again it is fate that plays a hand. Majidi decides to imbue the film with suspense and the countryside is just the place to do it in. It is tragedy that stares him in the face and it is only then that the father decides to act. Actually the film is Thomas Hardian with the "flies to wanton men are we to the Gods, they kill us for their sport" philosophy. But just when one is ready for the worst the ray of hope shines through and rounds off the film most convincingly. Excellent performances by Moshen Ramezani and Hoosein Mahjub help Majidi no end. They are extremely natural and at no time does one feel that Mohammed can see. But it is Majidi in his familiar milieu that makes for such a powerful story and of the three films The Colour of Paradise comes off best. That it captures a riot of colours further embellishes this poignant, heart-warming story which was one of the best films of IFFI 31. |
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While Palekar’s Kairee did
well to project the experiences of a child who grows up
in the countryside and is gradually enlightened about the
intricacies of adult life. However, the manner in which
it goes about unravelling these "home-truths"
is far from natural. In fact, when she is shown around
the village places, it seems to be a sort of guided tour.
It should have been more natural, that is, connected with
incidents. Even the classroom scenes are somewhat stagey.
But the liaison between her uncle and his maid is done
quite sensitively.
It is a
story of how circumstances change things and when
Pokhi’s parents decide to move to the city, she is
left in the care of this wealthy merchant and his wife.
It is the wife who is very close to Pokhi but then fate
often plays it hand and it is the wife who dies, leaving
Pokhi at the mercy of the repulsive merchant.