Movie on anguish of women

The pain and anguish of being a woman in a male-dominated world can never be communicated through words. But sometimes it so happens that a cinematic treatment to a subject like this can hope to open people's eyes. Director Rajkumar Santoshi proved it with ``Damini'' that had Meenakshi Seshadri playing the role of a woman who dares to speak out.

With a script inspired by the rape of a woman in Bawanipur two years ago -- a news item that agitated the conscience of Mr. Santoshi when he read it -- the director has now put together a string of voices of anguish, of liberation, of trying to break the male cordon. What has resulted is ``Lajja'' or ``Shame'' which releases in theatres across the country this coming Friday.

A story told in mainstream commercial format, ``Lajja'' is Rajkumar Santoshi's attempt to present what he calls the anguish of Sita in today' world. His characters, ``Vaidehi'', ``Ram Dulari'', ``Janaki'' and ``Maithili'' played by Manisha Koirala, Rekha, Madhuri Dixit and Mahima Chaudhary are all women of today. Each one has an ``angst'' that is woven into a film with a strong woman-oriented message.

``When I read the news item about the rape of Sia Darbari in Bawanipur, I felt a stab of pain in my heart. But then there are so many Sia Darbaris in the country. This is what inspired me to make the film,'' Mr. Santoshi told presspersons at a preview here today.

Present on the occasion were Rekha, Manisha Koirala, Madhuri Dixit and Ajay Devgan. All the three female protagonists revealed that they were in full agreement with the theme of the film. ``When I narrated the script to all three, they immediately said they wanted to do the film,'' says Mr. Santoshi. `I wanted to reach the masses and that is why I took a popular star-cast -- accepted faces that could reach every nook and corner of the country''.

While the pain shared by Lajja's women is the same, each one undergoes a different turmoil. Vaidehi wants to run away from her husband in New York because he is a male chauvinist. ``This is the reality of women in our country,'' rues Manisha who plays Vaidehi in the film.

As an owner of a theatre company, Janaki's struggle is to live life on her own terms. Of course, Madhuri Dixit, who plays Janaki, would more than identify with her character. Rekha plays Ram Dulari, an oppressed Dalit woman who becomes a victim of gangrape and as she puts succinctly: ``I am Lajja and Lajja is me''. Mahima Chaudhary, the fourth woman in Santoshi's tale is a dowry victim, whose echo can still be heard in the streets of Delhi or Mumbai.

With a strong gender-oriented theme, Mr. Santoshi is confident that the film would do well. ``I have not portrayed all the men as villains,'' he says. While Jackie Shroff plays a typical male chauvinist in the film, Anil Kapoor plays a thief who is always around to offer help to women. But it is Bulwa, Ajay Devgan's character that brings hope. ``I play a rebel who believes in women's empowerment,'' says Ajay.

Mr. Santoshi would have come out a winner but for his enthusiasm to retain the commercial format that has resulted in two item numbers by Urmila Matgaonkar and Sonali Bendre -- scenes which dilute the seriousness of the film. ``I did not want to preach or give lectures and that is why I made it into an entertaining film,'' is the defence that the director, who is keeping his fingers crossed, offers.``The bottomline is that it is a bold attempt to present woman's struggle for respect and dignity all over India.''

By K. Kannan

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