Over to Punds, for his take on "Piya ka ghar", in his usual inimitable style.
Piya ka ghar (1972): My idea about Mumbai in the movies was not about showing heroes dancing on the road of Mumbai but showing the "never say die" spirit of Mumbai in the movie. Before Sai Paranjpe's "Katha", Basu Chatterjee "Piya ka ghar" in 1972 tried to capture the life of the common Mumbai folks. The movie told the story of Mumbai that every Mumbaikar would identify with.
Mumbai is big and I mean really big but still space always has been the biggest problem. A city where the middle class lived in a 10 x 10 feet house, privacy was literally non-existent. "Piya ka ghar" explores this very issue of privacy. While "Katha" explored the chawl life, PKG explored the problems of a family living in a chawl.
Jaya Bhaduri plays a village gal Malti, who lives in a big house in her native village. She gets married to Anil Dhawan, Ram, coming from a good family in Bombay only to find out the whole family lives in a small house further divided into smaller cubicles to accommodate everybody. The kitchen of the house becomes the bedroom of the newly-wed.
Malti finds it difficult to adjust to the reduced space but surprisingly finds the rest of the family members living a happy existence. The efforts of the couple to find privacy, intimacy and love in that cramped space forms the rest of the story.
Its been a long time since I have seen the movie but I always remember the one character in the movie. I don't know the name of the actress but she plays Anil Dhawan's sister-in-law. She is the ever smiling woman who teases, makes fun and at the same time supports the newly-wed. Married to Ram's brother for a long time she had made the small house her home with ease and still keeps the romance alive with her husband stealing intimate moments with him.
She represents the true spirit of Mumbai. Sure we have problems and sure life is not easy but we learn to smile in troubles and we try to be happy.
The song of the movie summaries every thing about Mumbai -
Yeh Jeevan Hai, Is Jeevan Ka
Yahi Hai - Yahi Hai - Yahi Hai Rungroop
Thode Ghum Hain, Thodi Khushiyan
Yahi Hai - Yahi Hai - Yahi Hai Chaon Dhoop
Recap - Reel Life Bombay was a free-wheeling series on Bombay in movies and life in Bombay, as seen by my guest writers (Filmiholic, Macushla and Punds) and myself. Here are the earlier posts
Part 1 - Filmiholic on "Salaam Bombay"
Part 2 - My take on "Satya"
Part 3 - Macushla on "Main Madhuri Dixit banna chahti hoon"
Part 4 - Punds on "Katha"
Part 5 - Macushla on "Bhoot"
1 comment:
I remember that "bhabhi", from the movie, too. Besides the spirited potrayal by her, of the cheerful housewife, I remember she was much prettier than Jaya Bhaduri too..:)
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