“Iss desh ke sab mard dhongi kyun hote hai? Dhokha de sakte ho, toh khane ki bhi himaat rakhiye”, says a helpless Lipakshi to her newly wed husband, Babloo. Qudos to the Ajeeb Dastaans cast for their brilliant performance. Although we are aware about the dramatization in Bollywood cinema, some films often touch those topics that are rarely talked about in an Indian society.
Majnu
The first short story of Ajeeb Dastaans titled ‘Majnu’, is a story of marriage being an alliance to uphold the honour of the family since the father was aware about his sons queer sexuality. Lipakshi, the daughter of a political family was also forced to get married to Babloo in exchange of her father becoming an MLA.
This portrays toxic masculinity since the man is not given a choice of sexuality and has to marry in order to maintain the family’s integrity. It is also quintessential in showing that the woman is always expected to compromise and stay in an unhappy marriage for the sake of her family name.
Even though Babloo does not consummate his marriage, he does not allow any other man to bat an eye on her in order to maintain the ideal ‘respected family’ reputation. This shows his belief to dominate his wife and the household, a typical patriarchy trait.
Toxic masculinity and the power of an influential family, is misused when Babloo’s lover was forced to flee after being threatened by his father. In most parts of the short story, Lipakshi is referred to as ‘Babloo bhaiya’s wife’ by the house-helpers and alliances. This deprives her of her own identity after getting married, another trait of an Indian patriarchal family.
Khilauna
The second story, ‘Khilauna’ is a story of power of the rich and exploitation of the poor. When Meenal begins to work at the society secretary’s home as a domestic worker, she hopes to get in his good books so that he can install the illegal electricity back at her dilapidated home.
She is
aware of the secretary’s male gaze but does not seem to mind hoping that the
electricity will be resumed if he is enticed by her. However, he asks for a sexual
favour in return of the electricity after which he forcefully tries to molest
her. This shows the abuse of power and privilege of the rich and the use of the
helplessness of the less privileged.
Meenal falls into trouble when she the secretary’s baby is killed and it is conveniently blamed on her. Although there is no proof of the same, she is beaten and made to speak the truth but when the police is made aware that Meenal was groped by the secretary, no action was taken against him.
The hypocrisy of men is portrayed when the secretary asks the local laundry man not to allow any women to stand or spend time near his shop to maintain the peace and reputed society image, while he tries to molest a woman, which he does not seem to mind.
Although Meenal tries to gain sympathy through various means, she does it to meet her basic food and education needs for her younger sister. An important point made by her is that a child for a rich family is a toy, a ‘Khilauna’. The only reason they hold their baby is to play with it, the house-helpers have to take care of the rest.
Geeli Pucchi
“Kya defect hai hum mein?” says Priya, the traditional daughter-in-law of a Brahminical household who is struggling to accept her sexuality. This third story, ‘Geeli Pucchi’, is an important story based on discrimination of caste.
Bharti, the only woman working in a male dominated factory, faces discrimination when Priya, a woman of a well reputed Brahmin family is given the promotional job that was denied to Bharti, a Dalit and queer woman.
When Bharti was the only woman in the factory, there was no women’s bathroom. However, when Priya joins the factory as an accountant and asks for a bathroom, it is made immediately. This showcases the respect and power of belonging to a higher class.
Bharti is
not seen as a woman by her colleagues due to her physicality, clothing and
physical work in the factory, an ideal stereotype faced by the queer. This
story highlights the caste differences when Bharti sits to eat her lunch each
day with another Dalit man from the factory or alone. She does not have any
friends and isolates herself from everyone.
When she befriends Priya, she tells her that her surname is Banerjee and not Mandal in order to hide her caste. Bharti is even conscious about eating from the same spoon as her. The manager of the factory asks Priya not to eat lunch with the factory workers since the place stinks and calls the factory workers ‘strange’ which shows the biasness and stereotypes of the privileged class.
When Bharti visits Priya’s family, they question the way she dresses and warn Priya about the friends she maintains. When Bharti admits the truth of her caste, she realises that Priya is hesitant of their friendship and begins to discriminate her too, a distinct example being serving tea to Bharti in a steel cup while they use a glass cup.
Ankahee
“These days people forget what it is like to feel happy”, says Kabir, a photographer who falls in love with Natasha, a mother trying to hold on to her failed marriage. Natasha plays the traditional role of nurturing her daughter and takes all efforts to make her hearing-impaired daughter feel loved and understood while her husband does not take any efforts in childcare.
When Natasha meets Kabir, she makes him believe that she is disabled too and speaks to him in a language that he understands, that is, the sign language. She enjoys having another identity with him since she is loved and understood when she is with him.
Her traditional role is defied when she seeks intimacy with Kabir, the man she falls in love with, but goes back to her unstable family when the daughter finally begins taking an initiative to understand his daughter. She, like all other women, compromises her identity, her love and puts her family first in order to protect herself and her family from a society’s humiliation.
Indian Society Unfiltered
An anthropological film like Ajeeb Dastaans is essential in an Indian society today since it highlights those social issues that are often considered too small to throw light upon. Caste discrimination is practiced in rural and even urban areas till this day in disguised methods which are ignored by most population.
The Ajeeb
Dastaan’s cast has portrayed social problems in India in the most raw form
possible. The story of Babloo, a queer who is not courageous enough to admit
his sexuality gets married out of compulsion which is the case in most Indian
families today. In the story, ‘Khilauna’, the meagre issue of lack of basic
electricity in a poor household is portrayed.
Meenal went through more than she expected to when she was forced to use her femininity to entice the secretary. It portrays the hypocrisy of men who even today, consider the poor women as an object of exploitation. On the other hand, the bold personality of Bharti is an inspiration to those who are silent and ignorant to take a stand for themselves and be brave of their identity.
Most Indian women would relate to ‘Ankahee’ and Natasha since it portrays women who hold on to their toxic marriages due to the future of their children and they compromise themselves in order to give their children a good life, an ultimate sacrifice of a mother.
The
stereotype of women being associated with dark pasts and negative light is
showcased. Post-modern feminists believe that women can have multiple
identities, just like women authors write in white ink, which is what Natasha
does when she calls Kabir’s photo a melancholic one.
Written by
Jerusha Patel
.jpeg)
0 Comments