Bandini - a tale of imprisonment

 

Yesterday I happened to watch the old classic movie ‘Bandini’, crafted by Bimal Roy in the sixties. Although I had heard the beautiful compositions of S.D. Burman, I had never watched the entire movie. The movie began to catch my attention after I saw the beginning scenes in which the heroine has an impassive, detached and a blank expression on her face while her inmates were not so friendly to her in the prison. Later the story kept me interested and I watched the whole movie.  I couldn’t help but wonder about love and its bondage - how enigmatic, realistic, and inevitable is the pain of love and how conflicting are the emotions that spring from it? How love imprisons our mind and leads to suffering and how our own mind frees us from bondage. I was left with these thoughts after watching this beautiful masterpiece crafted by the legend director, Bimal Roy. The director has painted the story of a simple village woman caught in the realm of love and dilemma, to choose between her distressing past and promising future.   

Undoubtedly the director understands the intricacies of the emotions of women, their inherent anguish and selflessness as he unravels the story of Kalyani, the protagonist, who endures her destiny for long but later succumbs to her ire. It is not a mundane tale of lost love and separation but an extraordinary saga of purity and suffering and how these two emotions go hand in hand. How the soul purifies by smoldering in the fire of sacrifice! Kalyani, a down-to-earth girl, does not know anything other than caretaking; but with her circumstances, she evolves to realize the human capacity of profound greatness and compassion.

After having committed a crime in a moment of fury she shows the truthfulness to accept her crime and go through the punishment, that too with complete seriousness and humility.  Her selflessness, simplicity, and purity cannot be ignored by the men who fall for endearing beauty, while her prison inmates are jealous of the same qualities. It is difficult to accept that a criminal serving a sentence for a crime as grave as murder can be so virtuous. 

Society is unforgiving. What is really inspiring is that the innocent girl never laments even though she becomes a victim to the righteous society.  Her truthfulness and purity serve as a strong contrast to cruelty and futility of the so-called social norms and the so-called guardians of society, who themselves are corrupted in their thoughts, to bring disgrace to such a virtuous woman. Is it the untainted beauty of her soul that reflects on her face and eyes which makes her the target of unwanted attention and jealousy in prison? Why she spends the rest of her life in guilt and deprivation only for having committed one crime and cannot renounce her past?

The yesteryear actress, Nutan gives a brilliant performance, in fact, a once in a lifetime performance. She has the opportunity to express the intricacies and nuances of a range of subtle emotions felt by Kalyani; from tenderness, love, and innocence to fear, anguish, pain, and suffering. Nutan does that in such a highly understated yet undefeatable manner that it is impossible to separate her existence as an artist from the character. During the entire movie, one cannot remember the celebrated vivacious actress but one is just quietly witnessing the life of Kalyani, the girl who learns to brave her misfortunes.

The most astonishing part of the story is that Kalyani never thinks of ending her life nor does she indulge in lamenting as a victim. She is always ready to pick up the pieces and face whatever life has to offer. Her devotion to life, selfless service, and humanity is justified by the poise and grace expressed by Nutan and her distinct style of emoting through her eyes. She carries herself so elegantly, with so much dignity and poise! It is her understated simplicity throughout the movie that creates a contrast to her destiny. How a pure person has no other path other than the pain of suffering and punishment when one does something that is not righteous.

The fascinating style of symbolism is used at many places. For instance, the prisoners are shown witnessing the onset of spring flowers from the prison windows symbolic of the irony of their lives and how the beauty and hope of spring would not change their lives. Many times, the doctor is shown looking at Kalyani through the window bars. The use of bars and people meeting opposite bars seems to be symbolic of their confinement and sacrifice. The backdrop of freedom fighters also depicts the sacrifice of another kind.  In another noteworthy scene, Kalyani gives in to her passion and poisons her lover’s wife. While she watches through the window bars, the welders’ outside are hammering continuously, symbolic of the hammering that is going on in her mind. The light and dark effects symbolize the conflicts going on in her mind. Nutan’s change of facial expressions from helplessness and tragedy to anguish and vengeance in a matter of few seconds is impeccable.

Kalyani often sits on the shore of the river, quite symbolic of her own life story. The backdrop of river Ganga is effectively used in the climax scene, where the haunting song, sung by S.D.Burman, “Ore Majhi …..mere sajan hain us paar… ….”, plays while  Kalyani is caught up in the decision to choose between her past and future. Here the river portrays the magnanimity of Kalyani. Kalyani like the great Ganga has no achievements, no ambitions, and no aspirations; she just flows to serve selflessly. It also states that life is a circle of events. One cannot escape from the clutches of our deeds and how we are attached to our karmas. How we become prisoners in our own confines through bondage and how we can embrace freedom by giving up all bondage.  Righteousness becomes our only duty and that alone can give us freedom! 

- Latika Paithankar