Shyam Benegal’s BHUMIKA (1977)
BHUMIKA(The Role)
Does a man’s philosophical perspective change with time?Does a man’s convictions change with time?Does a man’s view towards a piece of art change with time?.. for all the above questions my answer would be YES because few days ago i watched Shyam Benegal’s BHUMIKA for the second time,
the first time i watched it was a couple of years ago when i was in my third year of engineering when i was watching it for the second time i could not resist myself from viewing every scene with a microscopic eye.The first time was a good watch with the sense of feelings of diversion from the mainstream cinema,a wonderful and screenplay,remarkable performances and good direction.The second time was a little different ,the shots and scenes are like bubbles in a hot water which just come for few moments and vanish before the other ones are ready to come .
BHUMIKA is a story about a film actress who undergoes through various stages and various situations in her life which have been challenging throughout her life.The untypical narration of the film which moves to and fro with the flashbacks and the present and the thought provoking screenplay makes BHUMIKA a masterpiece.Instead of writing the plot and my views on it i would rather go by few moments,resemblance, symbolism and characters of the film that made me feel BHUMIKA a distinct film of the 1970’s-1990’s era.
The film starts by shooting of a song which stars Usha (Smita Patil) and after the shooting she waits for her car but eventually Usha gets into Rajan’s (Anant Nag) car and after that we see a movie poster ‘Agni Pariksha’ being moved by some men which hints us at the life of Usha.The film title is used in many instances of the film.The next scene in which we see Keshav Darvi (Amol Palekar) and Usha arguing on some issue and we hear the dialouge from Usha
“Meri Kamayi ki zarrorat hai isi liye hain na?”.
After this dialogue i was expecting a slap from Keshav Darvi instead he lights a cigarette with a furious look and continues his dialogue.In the next scene Benegal at a time involves 4 characters Usha,Usha’s Daughter,Usha’s Mother and Keshav demonstrating encapsulation and capturing the emotions and feelings of all the characters within less time.If the previous mentioned scene was to be directed by a normal mainstream director he would have perhaps made Usha meet every character then show her emotions and then leave the house.
In the flashback which is in Black and White where Ushas mother beats Usha for being rude and after that to show the love between the Mother and Daughter he uses only one scene in which Usha comes towards her mother and sleeps beside her.Shyam Benegal infuses some humor and comedy too,the scene where Usha goes near her grandmother and test her breathe whether she is alive or dead.The scene in which the heroine of the film tells that she has been selected and leaves in her car the next scene is the car scene in which Usha leaves the house.
To show the relationship between Usha and Rajan Benegal uses very smart visuals like the shooting a sword fight scene in which Rajan refers to the character as Usha and the portrait of Rajan and Usha hanging on a wall,throughout the film we hardly find any desperate dialogues between the characters.The screenplay is built in such a way that the viewer unconsciously gets into the mood of the characters.
Sunil Verma (Naseeruddin Shah) and Usha (Smita Patil) :
Sunil Verma is the most distinctive role played by Naseeruddin Shah.Sunil Verma is a film director who does not believe in Emotional and Sentimental issues, he sees life as a job and nothing else.The most interesting dialogues come through Sunil Verma’s tongue,when he uses his daughters death as a excuse to not to play HOLI which actually uses it as a trick.He feels that Reincarnation,soul,etc… are bullshit.
“Apne is desh mein dimak se koi sochta nahin hain,Dil se sochte hai sab.”
“Haqeeqat ko nazar andaaz karna hum logo ki qasiyat hai Usse bhi mann nahi bahla to Aatma.Punar Janm ki baton se mann behlayenga”.
“Accident mein marna mujhe pasand nahin hai,mein maroonga to khud kushi karke,Aatma Hatya,lekin us waqt nahin jab mein gambhir and mayoos hoon,kushi aur itminaan ka lamha chunoonga”.
“Zindagi ke hakeeqat to tune hamesha rangeen chasmo se dekha hain”.
After talking all the above nonsense eventually he gives us a surprise leaving Usha in the state of dilemma.
Vinayak Kale (Amrish Puri) and Usha (Smita Patil):
The first encounter of Usha with Vinayak Kale (Amrish Puri) was a rough one in which Vinayak Kale exudes his disrespect towards actresses but later Usha is comfortable being a pampered mistress of Vinayak Kale.The character of Vinayak Kale is filled with masked evil.At the first meeting itself he tries to dominate Usha by showing his disrespect without any fear and later when they are on their way to Vinayak Kale’s palace he says
Vinayak Kale :Woh dekho mera Beta.
Usha:Tumhara Beta ??Usha:Tumhe muje kabhi bataya nahin…
Vinayak Kale :Usha? Maine tumhe bataya nahin ya tumne mujse poocha nahin… ya ..yeh baat hi nahin nikli..yeh sab mumkin hain
…………….
……………..abhi bhi waqt hain. agar tum wapas jana chahti ho to driver tume wapis drop kardega.
After stepping into the house of Vinayak Kale when she comes to know that she cant step outside the house and her life is confined to the palace she approaches for the help of Keshav.The scene in which Keshav comes with the police and takes Usha away from the palace,the scene is shot without any dialogues and the camera is placed at a crazy angle which hardly any other director would attempt to do it but it has a profound impact.
BHUMIKA has high technical values like the Cinematography, large part of the film is shot in Black and White, i have never seen such a wonderful Black and white Cinematography.The Screenplay is the greatest asset of the film which is written by Satyadev Dubey , Shyam Benegal and Girish Karnad for which they won the National Award,the screenplay is simple with some powerful expressions.There is a scene in which Smita Patil faces the Mirror which reminded me of a scene from Wim Wenders ‘Wings of Desire’,i am not trying to say that Wim Wenders copied from BHUMIKA,those are few hints which one could find from a directors work to guess that he is great director.
The above written stuff may be a little exaggerated to many readers but this is something really true which i have witnessed after i watched it for the second time.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Krishna – You have something special in your narration. You made me think a lot. You are watching things at close quarters. I think you’ve got it in you and you should give your passion a try very soon.
Talking about the screenplay – Satyadev Dubey , Shyam Benegal and Girish Karnad. Should be just excellent!!! And those were the days when National Awards spoke of the talented and progressive…
Good write-up, Krishna. Bhumika is one of my favorite Indian films of all time. And it’s a testament of the fact of Benegal mastery not just over “storytelling” but how (form) actually helps us see things in the film. This is one of the most important films in terms of representation of women will or sexuality onscreen in Indian Cinema. And the final scene when Smita Patil moves from the left to the right hand of the frame and her gesture to keep down the phone is remarkable, speaks not just about the film but the way Benegal handles the lights, camera, movement of actors offers us something more than the narrative.
And the analogy of the shot with Wenders is defintiely interesting. Sometimes few shots or scenes in cinema can unconsiously resemble two master who may have never been influenced from each other.
For eg: Hou Hsien Hsiao way of shooting films can be traced to Ozu. But he never was influenced by his films or the director shooting methods.
Best of Shyam-babu by a mile! Period.
One of the most significant aspect of Bhumika was “Smita Patil”.. What a performance.. She lived that character which was based on real life actress of 30s and 40s.. Hansa Wadkar.. The film was a fictional account of her journey (and exploitation) in Hindi and Marathi film industry (in 30s and 40s) and Shyam babu took a lot from her biography and made an exceptional film…
Thanks for writing!
I remember catching this movie in zee cinema in my holidyas.An absolute wonderful movie and excellent write-up.
Great review of a masterpiece. When I saw Bhumika 20 years when i was 15 ..i just couldnt relate it to it..
I saw it again recently, it is a masterpiece. The detailing, the layers, performances, direction. It is powerful. Mani Ratnam i remember reading felt that Bhumika was his benchmark while making period cinema like Iruvar.
What is so strange is that Naseerudin Shah in a recent interview discounts all of Shyam babu work except Manthan. Infact he discounts the 70’s new wave film makers.
I also love Trikaal, Kalyug, Sardari Begum and Making of Mahatman
Suraj ka Satwan Ghoda was too layered for me!..maybe at 45, i will discover that one
This article couldn’t have come at a better time. I am currently reading Hansa Wadkar’s autobiography and its refreshing how uninhibitedly she writes about herself and people around her. As I read, I am amazed at how Smita Patil played her character on screen! She just becomes Hansa Wadkar…
I had the good fortune of meeting Shyam-Babu a few days in succession when a retrospective of his films was held (amongst which, was Bhumika). He shared with us the psychology of Usha’s character.
I love Shyam Benegal’s films, because they are simply told, but leave a deep emotional impact.
By the way, did you see Om Puri in a blink-and-miss role in Bhumika? Shyam Babu said that it was his first ever film shot
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@Sridhar Mayur
I am glad that you liked the article,i don’t know if i had the passion till i read the comment of yours,but now i am very much confident that your comment did increase my passion.
Very soon i will be writing on ANKUR and NISHANTH.
THANKS A LOT !
@Ebrahim Kabir
THANKS!
The way Shyam Benegal portrayed women of india is perfect . Even though we have the legacy of such directors,every aspirant director wants to be like KARAN JOHAR but not SHYAM BENEGAL.
@PavanJha
thanks
@cinemausher
THANKS
@ ram
I did not know that MANI RATHNAM was inspired from BHUMIKA
@Debashri
I have a request for you,ask SHYAM BENEGAL ji to read this one and let us know his opinions.
I think i do remember watching OM PURI
Krishna, do write about Sardari Begum too.
and, nice post..
@ nadi
thanks for the request you made,i will write about Sardari Begum..
hi.. i too have tried my hand writing about bhumika. It’s no doubt a masterpirce of Hindi cinema