Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Wounded, yet roaring
|
From a hardened criminal, Seema Parihar turns actor in Wounded
|
PHOTO: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
REAL ON REEL Seema Parihar: `Women don't choose to become dacoits'
Accused of murder, kidnap and loot, she reigned from Etawah through Auriya to Kanpur. She carried a reward of Rs. 20,000 on her head. Today, Seema Parihar is the lead actor in Krishna Mishra's Wounded. Seema Biswas played Phoolan Devi in Bandit Queen but in Wounded, Seema Parihar, a dacoit released on bail, plays herselfRight from its inception to its completion, Wounded has had to fight courts and the censors. It was shot despite the threats of Parihar's husband, the notorious dacoit Nirbhay Gujjar.
The hand that once held country guns is decorated with mehendi today. Still she is intimidating, with her reputation and presence. The ruggedness of the ravines is furrowed in her expression and demeanour. Clearly not used to following orders, she snaps, "Aise?" to photographers' requests to pose. A maroon stick-on bindi sits on her forehead, leading to a severe ponytail. But her smile is a surprise: it lights up her face.
Parihar's story is the stuff of movies evoking as it does both pathos and distaste. The media and her own publicity machine elevate her headcount, but Ashok Jain, the SSP of Etawah District, says she is accused of 20 crimes.
Abducted at 13 by dacoits because her father refused to marry her off to a powerful Rajput, she endured all sorts of horrors in captivity. Her father's land was confiscated. Seeking retribution, she turned into a dacoit. Making only the most fleeting eye contact, her euphemism for a dacoit is "Jungle mein rehna". When the public sees the movie, it will get the message, she insists, adding: "Ki mahilaye shauk se jungle mein nahi jaati hain?" (Women don't choose to become dacoits.)
Her director, Krishna Mishra, asserts that the movie does not glamorise violence.
Seema complains: "Mere sir mein tension ho rahi hai," (I am getting tense) and threatens to leave. She walks with legs slightly splayed as if to cover as much ground as possible and relents only when pacified by her coterie.
She at first she turned down the movie because "filmi duniya mein bahut nangapan hain." (There is a lot of nudity in the film world.) But on the advice of friends in the jail, decided to meet Mishra, later agreeing to act in the movie on condition that it be shot in the Chambal ravines.
Acting in an autobiographical work means reliving previous experiences. Asked if she found this difficult, she says with a smile: "Jab insaan apne bhavishya ko badalna chahta hain, fir koi tension ki baat nahi hai." (When a person wants to change her future, then there is nothing to worry.)
Life has changed in tone and texture. Previously, she could only speak in expletives; now the four-letter words are absent.
Politics has often rehabilitated criminals in India. She has no political aspirations but confesses that she had considered the Shiv Sena.
She did not find acting hard though. On the first day of shooting, the lights blinded her but soon she grew accustomed to them. Slapping her knees and leaning forward she says: "Acting me koi problem nahi hai."
Is she a victim, victimiser, criminal or an actor? She won't say.
Wounded is slated for release next month.
NANDINI NAIR
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
|
