Last weekend I watched Hazaar Chaurasi ki Maa. The movie was directed by Govind Nihalanai and it’s based on the novel Hazaar Chaurashir Maa by one of the best writers from India, MahaShwetha Devi.
The movie starts with Jaya Bachchan answering a phone call very early in the morning. The voice on the other side asks her to visit a morgue in near by town to identify a body which they think of her son’s. In fact it turns out to be her son’s and she grows perplexed as she realizes that police department wouldn’t let her to take the dead body of her son. The confusion takes the form of quest to find out the truth when rest of the family disowns her son’s identity and portray him as the obnoxious weed in the family who brought the pride to knees. The journey starts addressing many facets of her son which were never witnessed by Jaya Bachchan. The death of her son gives birth to too many questions that propel Jaya Bachchan to consider herself as one failure mother.
The main plot of the story deals with an exploration of mother about her son’s involvement in 1970 naxalbury agitation in West Bengal. The movie revolves around different characters with Jaya Bachchan being as fulcrum of the whole platform. A mother’s agony to find out some unknown facades of her son after death was stupendously picturized. When police search her son’s room and find out many pro-communist books and banners, Jaya Bachchan’s bewilderment is simply heart touching. She feels she knows each and every aspect of her son’s life but at the end she realizes that she never lit a corner in her son’s heart where he was hiding his thoughts and efforts in the darkness to bring light for others. But the very question that comes to her mind is why? Why did her son conceal a significant chapter of his life? Was she ignored? She sets out on an expedition to find out what and why exactly her son was hiding from her.
Jaya Bachchan did exceptionally good as Mother, Sudha Chattarjee. Nanditha Das steals the show as ever. Seema Biswaas is as good as any normal lower caste, poor and innocent yet knowledgeable house wife. The dialogues of the movie should get a special mention here. They really speak the pain of the character and explain the times and predicament of 1970’s turmoil unambiguously.
Writing a novel of such sensitive and sensible and yet bringing harsh reality of early days of Naxalbury with a thread of mother-son relation requires one special talent, one extraordinary person. But making a novel into a 2 ½ hrs movie needs more than astonishing skill. Govind Nihalani comes up with flying colors in his effort. He makes sure that he clearly elucidates each and every vital moments of the novel in 2 ½ hrs. His characters speak the dialogues which explain the trauma clearly and yet briefly.
A movie that is must watch to understand the pain of a mother of loosing her son, to understand the irreconcilable dilemma of a mother on desertion of her son by her family, society, and to understand the plight that one had gone through during the early days of Naxalbury. Of course, the whole movement has taken many twists and turns after that, but it is important to acknowledge its birth and history.
By the way, 1084 is number assigned to her son's deadbody.
The movie starts with Jaya Bachchan answering a phone call very early in the morning. The voice on the other side asks her to visit a morgue in near by town to identify a body which they think of her son’s. In fact it turns out to be her son’s and she grows perplexed as she realizes that police department wouldn’t let her to take the dead body of her son. The confusion takes the form of quest to find out the truth when rest of the family disowns her son’s identity and portray him as the obnoxious weed in the family who brought the pride to knees. The journey starts addressing many facets of her son which were never witnessed by Jaya Bachchan. The death of her son gives birth to too many questions that propel Jaya Bachchan to consider herself as one failure mother.
The main plot of the story deals with an exploration of mother about her son’s involvement in 1970 naxalbury agitation in West Bengal. The movie revolves around different characters with Jaya Bachchan being as fulcrum of the whole platform. A mother’s agony to find out some unknown facades of her son after death was stupendously picturized. When police search her son’s room and find out many pro-communist books and banners, Jaya Bachchan’s bewilderment is simply heart touching. She feels she knows each and every aspect of her son’s life but at the end she realizes that she never lit a corner in her son’s heart where he was hiding his thoughts and efforts in the darkness to bring light for others. But the very question that comes to her mind is why? Why did her son conceal a significant chapter of his life? Was she ignored? She sets out on an expedition to find out what and why exactly her son was hiding from her.
Jaya Bachchan did exceptionally good as Mother, Sudha Chattarjee. Nanditha Das steals the show as ever. Seema Biswaas is as good as any normal lower caste, poor and innocent yet knowledgeable house wife. The dialogues of the movie should get a special mention here. They really speak the pain of the character and explain the times and predicament of 1970’s turmoil unambiguously.
Writing a novel of such sensitive and sensible and yet bringing harsh reality of early days of Naxalbury with a thread of mother-son relation requires one special talent, one extraordinary person. But making a novel into a 2 ½ hrs movie needs more than astonishing skill. Govind Nihalani comes up with flying colors in his effort. He makes sure that he clearly elucidates each and every vital moments of the novel in 2 ½ hrs. His characters speak the dialogues which explain the trauma clearly and yet briefly.
A movie that is must watch to understand the pain of a mother of loosing her son, to understand the irreconcilable dilemma of a mother on desertion of her son by her family, society, and to understand the plight that one had gone through during the early days of Naxalbury. Of course, the whole movement has taken many twists and turns after that, but it is important to acknowledge its birth and history.
By the way, 1084 is number assigned to her son's deadbody.
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