Customer Reviews

Bhumika

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

BHUMIKA (The Role) 1977 Eagle Entertainment DVD (Blaze Production): Shyam Benegal's third film is first of three film's he will make on the lives of female movie actresses/singers in Indian society (later: "Sardari Begum" 1996, and "Zubeidaa" 2001).

However monumental the first two pictures he made are (Ankur, Nishant) Benegal makes his first really brilliant film in "Bhumika": script, character development, cinematography, editing, fine mis-en-scene in every area of the recreation of this earlier era.

Benegal supercedes Satyagit Ray's memorable child character, Apu's older sister in Pather Panchali, with the young Usha in the B&W section of the fashback sequences of the film. Young Usha practically steals the show in these early sequences that establish the history of the main character.

This is also Smita Patil's first brilliant leading role. Her isolated, struggling persona becomes a part of Smita's entire career to follow. Anant Nang, Naseeruddin Shah and Amrish Puri all are finely written. Amol Panekar in particular act as a powerful foil and opposition, the most slippery-slimey character, a pit of dependent user characteristics.

Govind Nihalani (cinematography) GIVES A LIQUID PORTRAYL OF NIGHT like no other on film! It lasts only four minutes or so, but looks magical on a large flat screen TV with absolutely dead-neutral blacks.

The script follows a biographical style that does not give you any summation of any part, but saves that for the viewer in totalling his/her consciousness of the totality of the parts shown, literally. Those who found this film gloomy, unfinished, inconclusive or hanging at the end (Wikipedia article) have totally missed the brilliancy of the structure of the script, the title of film as a clue, and all of the buoyant phychic and social content of inspiration and action in artistic life.

In short, this is definitive portrait of the mainspring in an artistic life.