art & films

Ram Sarup Ankhi and His latest Gelo
Dr. Jaspal Singh

MALWA region of Punjab after partition of the country in 1947 became very vibrant both politically and culturally. Lahore the epicenter of socio-cultural-political activity before Independence was left behind in Pakistan as the capital of West Punjab. On the eastern side almost all the towns and cities of Punjab were too small to become cultural centers of any significance. In course of time even the stray towns in the outlying regions of the state started flourishing as mini-cultural centers, which in a way goes well with the federal spirit of a newly sprung democratic nation. Barnala, a small Malwa town emerged as an important literary center in the last few decades, since a number of well-known Punjabi writers settled down there. This galaxy of writers lent a pride of place to this remote town on the literary map of Punjab.

Barnala based writers and literary practitioners are known all over the state for their commitment not only to Punjabi letters but also to the Punjabi way of life, ethos and the social concerns of the people of the region at large. Ram Sarup Ankhi perhaps is the tallest among all of them, though Om Parkash Gasso, Inder Singh Khamosh, Pritam Singh Rahi and a few others are well known for their contribution to the Punjabi language and literature.

Many years ago Ankhi got the prestigious Sahit Academy Award for his corpulent novel Kothe Khararhak Singh.  His other much talked about novels are Partapi, Dulle di Dhaab and the latest Gelo which has just hit the stalls. Partapi, Sardaro and Gelo are the novels named after the female protagonists that revolve around the eventful lives of three robust women characters. They may have gone through harrowing life situations but they face the ordeals of life with courage and grit of the native Malwai women.

Gelo is the story of a girl from a marginal Jat family who undergoes all kinds of trials and tribulations that can befall women in such families.  In her adolescence she falls in love with a dalit boy Rama who also attends the same dera school of the village. When Gelo's brother Bachittar learns about her affair, he murders Rama at the first chance that comes his way, on a night when he finds Rama trying to escape from his house after having slept with Gelo. The girl after this incident is packed to her maternal uncle's to save the family from further disgrace. Bachittar is convicted for murder and is sentenced to life imprisonment. Gelo then is hurriedly married off to a good-for-nothing retired solider who is hooked to drugs and drinking and in the process mortgages his four acres of land out of the total eight acres that he owns. Gelo leads a life of absolute penury and humiliation and is abused by Balwant, who makes friends with her husband only to grab their land. Ultimately Gelo is forced into part-time prostitution at Bathinda where she goes on alternative days during the daytime in the company of another such woman of the village. Gelo's daughter Manpreet does very well at her studies in the village school and is adopted by her maternal uncle Bachittar's widow Gurmeet Kaur who now lives on her ten acre farm at the village Chatthian. After her husband's death she had to patronise a Muslim Teli (oilman) boy, Bashira to take care of her every day needs. Bashira proves to be a sincere paramour-cum-housekeeper. But in a car accident both Gurmeet Kaur and Bashira die leaving everything in the name of Gelo's daughter Manpreet who now is happily married to Gurdev, a gentle boy from a neighbouring village.

Gelo, after having gone through veritable hell, now comes to stay with her daughter at Chatthian for the rest of the life. Her own eight acres of land is sold and with that money her son-in-law Gurdev buys a few acres more at his village and becomes an upper middle class farmer, living happily with his wife, child and the mother-in-law. Thus the story ends in the manner of a Bollywood film.

It seems that Ankhi has some problem in maintaining the story line of a narrative. Consequently he has to devise a number of sub-plots in his novels, which may not have any direct bearing on the main plot. Sometimes he does unnecessary padding that confuses the reader. He introduces scores of characters in the tales, who have no significant role to play in the structural development of the narrative. Nevertheless, Ankhi is a master of the Malwai dialect of Punjabi. Almost all his novels vividly portray the large-scale decay and degeneration-taking place in the life of marginal farmers of Punjab. Since this theme is repetitively appearing in his writings, he seems to have run out of ideas. Now is the time to reinvent himself and weave his tales a little more ingeniously if he wants to remain relevant to the modern literary scene.

Patriotism via Entertainment
Delivering Tricolour to those Lost in Denim
Jyotika J. Thukral

OVER the years Bollywood has dished out a host of patriotic films like Upkar, Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Gadar et al based on Pakistan bashing and self-glorification. But here is a movie with a difference that deals with the bigger enemy than Pakistan. It is  enemy within the country, the corrupt politician who wreaks havoc on the nation.

Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s second venture Rang De Basanti- a generation awakens is one such film that is sure to be remembered. And the fact that the movie talks to the youth in their lingo despite addressing nationalism (not of much interest to the youth today) is sure to appeal to the Gen next.  You can neither label it as a patriotic film nor a coming of age film or a serious film for that matter.

In fact one could call it a combo of all the above – funny, hip, restless, inspiring, realistic or in a nutshell, a youthful generation film which traces the journey of a group of college students from total disenchantment with their country to becoming modern day revolutionists. The director has another ace up his sleeve for Rang De Basanti is not a rip-off of some exotic film either but has an original script and a fresh feel to it.

It is a story, which entertains and stirs you at the same time. For even though the film talks about patriotism, the treatment of the subject is novel and woven smoothly in to the narrative. At the patriotic level, it does not bore you with deification of the past. The plot of the movie straddles two diverse time periods – first one is set against a contemporary background revolving around a group of friends and their carefree lifestyle while the second one depicts the pre-independence India, revolving around freedom fighters like Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh and Ashfak que.

If the past shows a group of young martyrs sacrificing their lives to uproot the British from the country, the present has a bunch of college pass-outs clueless about their future. And their transition and gradual awakening as the film progresses like Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev who fought against British rule, these youngsters wage a war against corrupt politicians who rule and ruin the country.

In the movie, parallels are drawn between the characters in the two time periods and as the story reaches the climax, the barrier of time can be seen dissolving as the characters become one in spirit. The credit goes to the director for interweaving the two periods beautifully, which leads to the transition of these five friends from, meaningless to meaningful existence.

The story begins with the young British filmmaker Sue (Alice Patten) who comes to India to make a film on the freedom struggle with young revolutionaries who impressed her grandfather, a jailor during the British Rule in India. In Delhi when she’s busy auditioning for the film she is introduced to Sonia’s (Soha Ali Khan) gang of friends. They represent different sections of the society where Karan (Siddharth) comes from a rich family while Aslam (Kunal Kapoor) is a poet belonging to an orthodox Muslim family living in the Jama Masjid area. Sukhi (Sharman Joshi) is a chilled out guy and DJ (Aamir Khan) plays the perfect Punjabi always cracking jokes. Lastly Ajay Rathod (Madhavan) is an IAF pilot and the man Sonia is engaged to.

But they disappoint Sue initially with their cynicism about freedom fighters and their thoughts on India’s future and prevalent corruption. For them history is limited to textbooks but things begin to change once they begin enacting the historical characters.

The movie, which began on a light note, takes a grave turn before ending on a tragic note. Madhavan is the voice of conscience that rouses these five into action. And the plane crash that leads to his death due to the malfunctioning of the aircraft is the turning point in the narrative.

As the director himself puts it, “It's a young film, very bright and contemporary in terms of language and identity.  It is a story about today's generation, graduates and postgraduates on the brink of life. RDB is a mirror of today's times. There is a large amount of conflict in the story, and it keeps twisting and turning. The genre is drama, so it appeals to basic human emotions. It is not something I'd call patriotic, instead a very proactive, step forward attitude.”

Hindu fundamentalists who claim to be fighting to “uphold the cultural values” of our society are also targeted in the film. Atul Kulkarni who is a youth leader with a Hindu party is initially shown opposed to students partying and dancing on English music. But later he realizes how artificial the cause that he had been fighting for is. His hatred for Muslims is completely unfounded when he develops relationship with DJ and his friends. Kulkarni leaves the Hindu party when he sees them siding with the police in breaking up a peaceful protest against the defence minister who is a Hindu leader for his involvement in MiG 21 spare parts scandal which led to politician’s death. The police and Hindu party workers beat up protesters badly and Kulkarni is told, “How dare you go against the leadership of your own party.”

In terms of performances, they are all brilliant. Especially Aamir Khan except that he doesn't look his character in terms of age.  Moreover seasoned actors like Om Puri, Kirron Kher and Waheeda Rehman have only cameo roles but they leave their mark. But the truth is that everyone in this ensemble cast has something significant to do to the narrative.

The film holds your attention right till the elimination of the defence minister (Mohan Agashe), but the climax, is a bit of a downer. And instead of being a highpoint of the film, it ruins the impact considerably.