Hari Bhari- a film review
By- Sunanda Vashisht

Director: Shyam Benegal His films like Ankur (1973), Nishaant (1975), Bhumika (1976), Manthan (1976) and Junoon (1979) delved into complex human issues and garnered critical hosannas. Benegal's cinema also brought to the limelight actors like Shabana Azmi (Ankur), Smita Patil (Bhumika) and Naseeruddin Shah (Nishaant), who went on to become the acting icons of a generation. Cast: Shabana Azmi, Nandita Das, Surekha Sikri-Rege, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Alka Trivedi, Meghna Kothari, Murad Ali, Abhay Chopra

I always await Shyam Benegal's films with great excitement. I believe he has successfully lived up to his fine reputation of being one of the finest and sensitive Film makers of our times. From Ankur to Zubeida he has always dealt with issues that are important and relevant to our society.

I recently watched Shyam Benegal's Hari Bhari and liked it immensely. Hari Bhari is about a very basic issue, the importance of family planning and the reproductive health of women. It is very difficult to categorize a movie like Hari Bhari because it is neither your routine masala film nor is it a heavy arty film brooding over existential issues. It comes very close to being categorized as a Docu-Drama although that wouldn't be absolutely accurate either. It is a very simple film, which uses simple narrative technique to discuss the basic problem in India that hasn't been tackled so far especially in rural areas where illiteracy still is prevalent among women.

The story is about five women from a Muslim rural family. The issues tackled include family planning, Talaq, the urge for an independent home, and the medical dangers of early marriage and childbirth. Benegal traces life of five women in three generations to spread this message. Surekha Sikri who plays the grandmother, her daughter played by Benegal favorite, Shabana Azmi and her two daughters in law played by Alka Trivedi and Nandita Das, represent two generations. Rajeshwari Sachdev who plays Shabana's daughter represents third generation. The film depicts individual episodes dealing with the various crises faced by each of them.

Hasina (Surekha Sikri) is an ailing matriarch in a joint family who we get to know by the end of the film is severely sick. Her elder son Khaleel (Lalit Tiwari) and his perpetually pregnant wife Najma (Alka Trivedi) run the family. Her second son Khurshid (Rajit Kapur) works in Meerut but his wife Afsana (Nandita Das) lives in the same house with her three children. The film opens with Ghazala being driven away from her home yet again by her husband Munir (Srivallabh Vyas) who holds her responsible for not giving him a son.

Treated episodically, Hari Bhari has it all - issues of family planning to girls' education in conservative India. While watching the film I was struck with the level of ignorance that exists in our society even today. It is really a shame that our society still holds a woman responsible for not delivering a son although it has been proven scientifically that a woman has nothing to do with the sex of the child. It is very difficult for us to even comprehend such matters but the fact of the matter is that such issues do exist even today and thousands of women are being mistreated for not producing a male child. The story brings to light the plight of women in rural India who, even in this day and age, have little control over their bodies. They cannot use contraceptives and most important, the men in their lives are callous to their suffering. In most cases women are treated as childbearing machines and as long as they can bear children and that too male children they are treated well but if they fail to do so they have no right to exist. The film explores the tussle between tradition and rational questioning, and shows how women in many instances are their worst enemies.

Throughout the film one thought that persistently nagged me was that while we are fighting at a larger level for effective representation and empowerment, the simple uneducated women of rural areas at a very mundane level are fighting a much bigger fight. And they are battling alone without any help. To make the matters worse women instead of bonding with each other over common issues are attacking each other out of ignorance. In this film when Najma decides to go for hysterectomy because she cannot withstand childbirth anymore there is a major protest from other women in the family. Her mother-in-law flares up and is extremely angry with her. Her sister-in law, Afsana, emerges out of a room and viciously interrupts to say that "Allah" will never pardon a "sin" like this. Incidentally Afsana is the only woman in the family who is educated till Fifth grade. Goes on to prove that no knowledge is better than little knowledge. It is really heartening to see Najma's husband standing by her in this difficult moment and actually approving of what she has done.

We go hoarse talking about the need for population control in conferences and debates but we fail to realize that empowering women at a very basic level might really be the solution. Women are key to population control. If a woman has complete control over her body, it is quite likely that she will have only that many children she desires, rather than what the man or the family wants. When Najma says that she will be happy looking after her two children to the best of her ability she echoes the sentiment of most women who wish to have a small family.

Afsana (Nandita Das) symbolizes fundamentalism at its worst and she is a perfect example of people who misunderstand religion and misinterpret everything out of ignorance. She thinks that it is her duty to produce as many children as she possibly can and going in for any form of birth control is a sin. She is shocked when she gets to know that her husband had gone in for vasectomy without her knowledge. She doesn't forgive him and actually walks out of the house only to return later. She is an example of how little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. She has a vicious tongue and is responsible for much of the problems in the family.

Ghazala played effectively by Shabana Azmi has returned to her parent's house after her husband has driven her out of the house for not delivering a male child. It is interesting to know that her husband is willing to take her back if her brother agrees to give him a Color Television. We also get to know that on several occasions before this when he drove out his wife to her parent's house he takes her back only when her brother gives him the money. One wonders about the plight of Ghazala and is disgusted by her husband's behavior. However, finally Ghazala does take a strong stand and refuses to go back to her husband's house and in her little way wants to raise her daughter differently than she herself has been raised. Although, she is not a weakling and does put up a fight, the system around her is so oppressive that it gives cause for pessimism. One is forced to think that how much can a woman who is not educated and has no means of earning a livelihood fight against the oppressive system.

Although she and Najma together do plan to get Salma married off but Shabana does realize her mistake soon. She allows Salma to continue with her education in fact that is the positive message that the film conveys that there is hope as long as mothers treat their daughters with equality and fight to give them equal privileges as those of their male siblings there is hope. Hasina, the grandmother played by Surekha, towards the end of film is diagnosed to be terminally ill because too many children at a very young age has affected her womb and she could have developed cancer.

Shyam Benegal effortlessly moves three generations while telling us their stories and their independent struggles and pain and anguish associated with living.

I strongly think that art should have a bigger purpose than mere entertainment and I think Hari-Bhari will go a long way in educating women about their reproductive health, which is so grossly neglected in India. In fact, it has been estimated that almost 80 per cent of the women never see a doctor except just before or during childbirth. Yet, the number of Indian women dying of pregnancy-related causes in a week is higher than that put together in all of Europe for a whole year. It is a sad state of affairs, particularly so, because maternal mortality is entirely preventable. And it is a message film like Hari Bhari, which will go a long way in educating women rather than conferences and meaningless discussions, which are just a waste of time and resources.

Shyam Benegal as usual has meticulously taken care of all the details. He has extracted best performances by all his actors. The dresses worn by women, the creation of a sleepy laid-back village and the dilapidated house, which is the center of most of the action, is more than accurate. Special attention is paid to language spoken by characters which is crude and at times little offensive but it goes with the ambience of the film and the background of the characters. The music by Vanraj Bhatia is very appropriate and in keeping with the subject of the film. I particularly liked the song sung by Shabana Azmi in the beginning of the film.

I am aware that this film caters to a very selective audience, however I would recommend this movie to every sensitive person out there. At least we can spare a thought over these major issues that are such a stigma in our society. India will progress only when all sections of society progress together, progress does not involve select few, everyone has to contribute to it, and everyone has to move ahead together.

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