#pakeezah (1972)

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Pakeezah (1972) | dir. Kamal Amrohi

[iamsonia128]

[popsixsquishcicerolipschitz]

Mausam Hai Aashiqana | Pakeezah (1971) | Meena Kumari | Raaj Kumar | Lata Mangeshkar

Song: Chalte Chalte Yun Hi Koi Movie: Pakeezah (1972) Actor(s): Meena Kumari, Kamal Kapoor Singer(s): Lata Mangeshkar, Mohd Rafi Music: Ghulam Mohammed Lyricist: Kaifi Azmi

About

Some voices are immortal because they are just heavenly and magical. However, if there is one voice which has reshaped not only Hindi film music but also India’s popular culture and enriched our lives, it is none other than the great Lata Mangeshkar. Famously known as ‘The Nightingale of India’, Lata ji always mesmerised us with her magical & melodious voice for more than seven decades. Her singing for the beautiful & talented heroines down the years has added much charisma to their silver screen personalities and success of the movies as well. Her career actually spanned the arc of Hindi cinema, right from India’s independence. In 1989 the ‘Dadasaheb Phalke Award’ was bestowed on her by the Government of India and in 2001 she was honoured with the ‘Bharat Ratna’. She may have left us for her heavenly abode but she will live in our hearts forever. We celebrate her immense contribution with this special channel dedicated to ‘Lata Mangeshkar: The Nightingale of India’.

[aashiqeddiediaz]

yeh chirag bhuj rahe hai, mere saath jalte jalte these flames are dying, as they burn alongside me

[Image ID: four gifs of Evan Buckley and Eddie Diaz from 911 2.01, "Under Pressure." The gifs black and white and are positioned on one side of the image, and the other side is a black gradient. In the center of the gradient is pink English translation. On the top and bottom in smaller, white text, are the original Urdu lyrics. The lyrics are from Chalte Chalte, from Pakeezah (1972):

GIF 1: Buck shifting on his heels, irritably asking Bobby, "who the hell is that." The original lyric reads, "yun hi koi mil gaya tha." and the English translation reads, "i met someone by chance."

GIF 2: Eddie tugging his shirt over his torso. The original lyric reads, "sar-e-raah chalte chalte." and the English translation reads, "walking along the path."

GIF 3: Buck ducking his head after Eddie calls him a badass under pressure, saying "really?". The original lyric reads, "wahin thamke reh gayi hai" and the English translation reads, "right there stood still."

GIF 4: Eddie's smile widening as he moves to shake Buck's hand as they agree to have each other's backs. The original lyric reads, "meri raat dhalte dhalte" and the English translation reads, "This night of mine, fading."

/end ID]

[themoonismelting]

Pakeezah (1972), India

[wildcheries]

pakeezah (1972)

[aloneandforsakenbyfateandbyman]

Pakeezah (1972)

[pearlgisa]

qala and the style over substance argument

so, i watched qala (dir. by anvita dutt) immediately when it came out - a story that exposed the music industry and the position of women in it, especially focusing on the toxic nature of indian classical music? it was like they made the film for me (someone who's spent a good chunk of their life trained in hindustani classical music). however, i was sorely disappointed.

in essence, qala, along with other films that did commercially well that came out in bollywood last year, solidified my understanding that the audience of today's generation of movie-watchers genuinely puts style over substance and in fact, uses it as a way to defend their favourite movies from criticism. the recent resurgence of praise for om shanti om of all films, only strengthened this opinion.

my criticisms for qala are in plenty, yet i will choose to expand on the ones that strike out the most to me, all of which range from the lightest to the harshest criticism:

the choice of music

the acting

the direction + writing

the handling of the serious issues that are the main theme of the film

before you read ahead, please know that there are spoilers.

in indian classical music, there are two distinct forms: hindustani (or, north indian) and carnatic (or south indian) music. each have their differences and similarities and even someone who hasn't trained can tell them apart upon listening. within hindustani music - which is the genre of music that qala learns from her mother - you have many different styles of singing, ranging from shastriya sangeet (classical form of singing) to laghu sangeet (semi-classical and sometimes, light music). of course, this categorization also has its roots in religion and caste. shastriya sangeet has forms of singing like dhrupad (the oldest form and a strictly devotional medium), khyal (the most common one, telling tales or speaking of human emotions), bhajan (also a devotional medium), etc.

laghu sangeet has forms of classical music like the thumri, a form of singing popularized and invented by courtesans. the lyrics were sensual, romantic and more explicit. of course, owing to these, they were looked down upon. even the british had a huge role in diminishing the status of indian women performers. the "other woman" concept was specifically one that they propagated and the rise of the "perfect housewife" phenomena began since the seventeenth century. the extreme effect of that? the courtesans lost out on their patrons and were forced into prostitution.

hence, that was the primary history behind qala's mother, urmila, shaming her into never being a performer, i.e, in a more derogatory term, a "singing girl". a courtesan, essentially. which is accurate, considering the film is set in the 1940s. if a girl was too "out there in the world", i.e, her achievements being publicised in newspapers or her getting recognition for her academics, her future marital prospects were ruined. and the "shame" that befell the family if she was learning music or dance was worse. a significant number of the prominent female musicians that emerged from this era of pre-independence to post-independence were unmarried. or they had many patrons and salacious rumours regarding their love life were in plenty. the film pakeezah (1972) explores such themes quite well. and the many renditions and retellings of devdas also serve as a good example of the stature of performing women.

however, it's the music itself where it goes wrong for me. the choice of songs as well as qala's singing (of course, all of qala's songs are sung by the amazing sireesha bhagavatula), is in a style all too similar to laghu singing. the years of egregious training, no matter how much her mother dismissed her, would've developed a voice which would've sounded a lot more like what a lot of classical singers would sound like, unless they were singing a lighter form of singing. and it isn't a matter of pitch or using falsetto. qala's mom is referred to as a master of qawallis, which is a sufi form of devotional singing (and comes well under hindustani music too). even the lyrics of qala's songs, while full of very obvious foreshadowing, do not match the overall orthodox classical upbringing that the film portrays.

while bhagavatula has an amazing voice well versed in classical music (especially since she sings bhajans so often), considering the time that qala was set in, you would've expected a sound similar to something along the lines of noor jehan or even roshan ara begum. instead, it sounds a lot like a mix of semi-classical instrumental with a more pop-based voice. which is easier for our generation to digest and consume, however, it comes at the cost of a sound which is very typical of the 50s-70s era of bollywood.

one that qala does right are the costumes. they do their job well. not the sets as much, which i will get into later. at some points, they are well in line with the rest of the era of the film, other times it just sticks out like a sore thumb. here's where the "symbolism" comes in.

one of the most jarring examples is the song qala sings at the first performance, a very light classical song just by the sound of the vocals. even the song jagan sings is very contemporary at its core. despite the characters having an allegedly strict, traditional schooling of music (jagan's voice is devoid of the typical heavy accent or dialects that those who are from underprivileged backgrounds tends to have), the songs at hand present a very modern take on qawallis, despite bollywood being a flourishing ground for many iconic qawallis. therefore, the compositions sometimes falter at some points specifically because of the vocal choices. choosing to do away with alaaps, especially in qala's part, less aakar and more bariki, are all signficant details that feel jarring to someone who's lived in the world of classical music as long as qala. otherwise, there are some signature sounds retained from the era that the film is set in.

and while still on the topic of singing, a very important issue that i find least addressed is the acting of it. despite there being little vocal variations in the compositions, the actors don't show that they are singing. and in the film specifically revolving around music, that's an extremely important detail that i find amiss. hardly opening the mouth, the movement of the lips, the posture as well as the hand gestures (yes, a very important detail!), are all obvious flaws. a recent film that does that does those details well is the disciple (2020). the first scene of urmila teaching qala singing displays urmila wearing an elaborate piece of nose jewellery that covers half of her mouth, and that's when they're doing rehyaas (practice), not a performance. it's huge details like these that don't sell the film to me.

the acting is quite underwhelming and here is where disagreements with my opinions might enter. i find trupti dimri's rendition of qala extremely, for lack of politer words, exasperating. she tends to show the same expressions for all of her problems, i.e., there is no great difference between her feeling anger or feeling despair or feeling depressed or feeling cheated or just plain exhaustion. qala's character is a complex one and difficult to act, which is a concession i will give, however, the hype around her is a little unnerving when the audience is given such an unremarkable delivery of dialogues and emotion. it comes off as school-play acting at times. swastika mukherjee, who plays urmila, is quite two-note with her acting, which sometimes suits her character and sometimes just feels very low-effort. babil khan has his moments, yet there is such less versatility. you'd think the babil of qala's hallucinations and the one who existed in real life would have some distinct characteristics (which they do), but they never come off as that. it feels so half-hearted at times.

the whole point of symbolism is that it's subtle at heart and not on the face. qala has on-the-face symbolism, which is an irony in itself. the black swan scene, the frosty room in the beginning, the ghostly jagan, etc. almost made me bump my nose into a wall. it comes off as pretentious at best, as if the viewer is stupid. it is also very off-putting in some scenes. for example, the black swan scene - there is very little buildup and it feels very predictable in the sense that "it all goes downhill from here". however, there is one scene which i like, which is the gargoyle one (a very traumatic scene, for those who recall, it is the one right before ghodey pe sawaar gets recorded for the final time). i think that is the most effective filmmaking in the entire film. the best thing about symbolism is always the subtlety. it makes the viewer keep coming back to pick up on something they might have missed in the first watch, it helps them pick up the pieces along the way instead of being able to tell the twists thirty minutes before they are revealed.

and one of the most egregious crimes of the entire film is the direction. here is where we get a little more technical (but just briefly, do not worry). the way it cuts from one scene to the next is like watching a poorly edited reel put out by the team of an out-of-touch marketing firm. the editing could have been better at many places. the writing falls flat specifically when it comes to the characters. i'm pretty sure on paper, the script must've been a delight to read. the story has so much potential - considering that it's based on two books, where there might've been even more depth given to the characters - it isn't new in any way but it offers a different, feminist perspective of the indian music industry. yet, the characters are paper thin on screen - in their ambitions, psychology and sociology. hence, urmila suddenly turning a new leaf in the last ten minutes of the film is something that feels wrong, because all along, she has been portrayed as a heartless mother. qala's actions make sense because her character has nearly always been rooted in self pity and rage. jagan is nothing without music. there is very little dimension to them apart from me summarizing their characters in one sentence with less than thirty words each.

that is why, the film feels even more half-hearted when it speaks of the issues that it centers around. all of these elements add up and make for a tiring watch. i gave qala a second chance, to be fair and omitted some of my pettier criticisms, yet the more serious ones remain. to a certain extent, it does aestheticize depression, which i have a huge issue with. however, baby steps as always with bollywood. it's no dear zindagi considering it is set in a different period with a different ending. however, the writing of the characters could've been so much better. a little more exploration of urmila's intentions would've given her so much depth. a few more interactions between qala and jagan might've given qala the chance to befriend him and not just see him a rival, thus intensifying the decision she took. the characters do not feel human, they are strictly white or black and qala being the anti-hero feels very off since it requires better writing and a stronger plot. and of course, much better acting.

however, qala re-opened up discussion of a nearly-always forgotten discourse - that of the position of women in music. and for achieving that bare minimum, i give it full credit. however, when there have been films with much better writing, characterization and cinematography in bollywood itself, with a similar theme, qala needs to be seen for what it contains than what it displays. just because it glitters, doesn't mean it's gold.

[masalafilmsrevival]

Pakeezah (1972)

[neilperrysme]

yunhi koi mil gaya tha yunhi koi mil gaya tha

यूँ ही कोई मिल गया था यूँ ही कोई मिल गया था

i met someone by chance

sare-raah chalte chalte sare-raah chalte chalte

सर ए राह चलते चलते सर ए राह चलते चलते

while walking,walking around the path

wahin tham ke reh gayi hai wahin tham ke reh gayi hai

वहीं थम के रह गई है वहीं थम के रह गई है

right there it stood still

meri raat dhalte dhalte meri raat dhalte dhalte

मेरी रात ढलते ढलते मेरी रात ढलते ढलते

this night of mine,which was about to fade away

- pakeezah,1972

Lata Mangeshkar | Ghulam | Mohammad | Kaifi Azmi

[inmyworldblr]

Pakeezah (1972) | dir. Kamal Amrohi

[shadesofbrown]

"Teer-E-Nazar"

Meena Kumari in Pakeezah (1972)

[ppsychlone]

Pakeezah (1972) by Kamal Amrohi

[bollywoodirect]

Remembering #KamalAmrohi on his 31st death anniversary (11/02/93).

As a director, he developed a style that combined a stylised direction with minimalist performances. This style was different from the one with expressive acting that was common in the Indian cinema of his period.

Kamal Amrohi was born in Amroha, which was part of British India and is now in Uttar Pradesh, India. He changed his name to Kamal Amrohi later. He was related to two Pakistani writers, Jaun Elia and Rais Amrohvi, as their first cousin. In 1938, Kamal left his hometown to study in Lahore, which is now in Pakistan. There, a singer named K. L. Saigal found him and brought him to Mumbai to work in films. He started his film career at Sohrab Modi's film company, Minerva Movietone, and worked on movies like "Jailor," "Pukar," and "Bharosa."

Kamal Amrohi became a film director in 1949 with his first movie "Mahal," which had famous actors Madhubala and Ashok Kumar. This movie was known for its music. He directed only four movies in total, including "Daaera" with Meena Kumari and Nasir Khan, and "Pakeezah," which took a long time to make and was released in 1972. "Pakeezah" is considered a special movie in India, even though it had some flaws. Meena Kumari, who was a famous actress and Kamal's wife, praised "Pakeezah" as Kamal's tribute to her. His last movie was "Razia Sultan" in 1983. He also started making a film called "Majnoon" but it was never finished.

Kamal Amrohi also wrote scripts for other directors and was one of the writers for the famous movie "Mughal-e-Azam" in 1960, which won him an award. His style of directing was known for being different and unique, focusing more on the visual style and less on dramatic acting.

In 1958, he opened a studio named Kamaal Studios, but it closed after three years. He had planned to make another movie called "Aakhri Mughal" but it was never made. Film maker J P Dutta wanted to make this movie in the late 1990s and again in 2007, but it didn't happen. Kamal Amrohi died on February 11, 1993, in Mumbai, 21 years after his wife, Meena Kumari, passed away. He was buried next to her in Mumbai.

Six days after he died, a newspaper in the UK called The Independent wrote about him, saying he was a big figure in the Hindi film industry for over 50 years.

[themoonismelting]

Pakeezah (1972), India

[wildcheries]

the sets of pakeezah (1972)