Dog bite is a class divide in India

 

inam ul rehman

 

I think the last film I reviewed for any newspaper or portal was Vishal Bhradwaj’s Haider. And it was in 2014. One of my colleagues at that time, and one of the brilliant journalists of Kashmir, Mir Hilal, on reading it said that it is a rant rather than a review. I disagreed and published it. Now I agree with what Mir Hilal said.  

Eleven years later here I am reviewing “Songs of Paradise” of Danish Renzu. A Kashmiri filmmaker’s inspirational take on the melody queen of music, Raja Begum. Remember, it is not a historical take, but an inspirational one. It is historically as correct as Salim-Anarkali stories of Bollywood, or Padmawat, the Kashmir files, Chhaava movies. 

Getting sponsors for a female protagonist film is tough. In Indian cinema only a few commercial films have succeeded with a female lead. These have mostly been driven by the star power of an actress. And some even needed male star power to get wide release. Alia Bhat, present superstar among Bollywood heroines, needs Shah Rukh Khan in ‘Dear Zindagi’, Ajay Devgn in ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’. Rani Mukeerji requires her husband’s banner to release Mardaani films.

In such situations, how Danish Renzu managed to get finance and release it on mainstream OTT platform only he can tell. It is a film which is devoid of fights, titillation, romance, not even the Kashmir conflict to sell for. Yet one of the biggest production houses of Bollywood ‘Excel Entertainment’ backed him!  

A film on Kashmir, almost devoid of any political settings, is always a quagmire, particularly when the protagonist herself lived and breathed in politically upheaval times. Here he uses his craftsmanship to avoid this temptation. And it is a wise decision considering he is a filmmaker who has to repeatedly travel to his native land. But you can still find political undertones depending on which side of the fence you are.  

It starts with young Noor Begum crooning a song and as the song progresses, we hear freaking voices trying to break her stupor. The song ends abruptly and cuts to the elderly Noor waking up from this dream sequence. With this the director sets the stage. His film is only about the singing journey of a Kashmiri woman artist, who remains immune to what political changes are happening outside her singing world.  

Set in the early 50s and 60s, it tells a story of a Pahari speaking low status woman whom God has bestowed with special vocal cords. Her Guru tells Noor ‘If no one hears it, it is not the voice but a rumour’. The director uses songs smartly to portray her journey. You always wait for the songs to come up. It is a musical movie like Aashique of 1990. While not many people remember the movie but its songs are still hummed.

The director uses his craft to show inhibition of male dominated society not through stereotypical Muslims but via the Kashmir Pandit’s character who is also director Radio Kashmir, about women singing in public. Imagine a Pandit, representing his progressive community, being shown as regressive toward Muslim women!  While Kashmiri Muslim men are shown progressive.

Another stereotype he successfully buries is to not show Muslim father against the dreams of his daughter. Noor’s mother is the biggest obstacle. Similarly, the director treads away from showing marriage resolves her issues. Marriage only brings the hostility of neighbours to the fore.  

It is a feel-good film with no subplots, or twists. The director entirely focuses on the singing career of her protagonist. It looks like a love letter of Danish for his muse.   

Saba Azad ably portrays a coy and feisty figure in the movie. In some single shots she convincingly brings out both sides. Her transformation from low status Pahri woman to a celebrity singer is smooth and subtle. Zain Durrani’s presence in the movie is a mood lifter. His charm is unmistakable. Surprisingly his voice sounds similar to the famous broadcaster of Radio Kashmir, Ashfaq Lone. Armaan Khera’s character, from being dismissive to being helpful, lends good support.  Surprisingly I found Soni Razdan’s performance middling.  

The songs of this movie are outstanding. Abbay Rustom Sopori has not fiddled with the original compositions.  He has just tweaked them a bit for the modern taste, and man, what a fantastic music he has recreated. All the songs come alive with their own lilt. Playback singing of Masrat Un Nissa is fantabulous, so is Zaratasha Zainab. When credit rolls, we also hear the voice of Shahbaz Gul. Do I need to tell about Kailash Mehra singing as well! Whenever you hear the music of this movie you groove to its tunes. Music is what holds the audience and this film together.     

Since the director himself has written its screenplay, he has kept it simple. Emotions are underplayed, so is the bullying and taunts of the people. He could have gone over the top with patriarchal bullying, but he doesn’t. 

Weaknesses 

Where Danish falters is not taking extra care about the eras. Emotionally I didn’t connect with the bygone era. Maybe if shot in black and white, it may have helped.  While Saba Azad has donned the original burkha of that era, her surroundings including the buildings, bridges of the downtown and costumes of the passersby fail to match it.  

Noor Begum’s first public performance should have been a single take shot to show the emergence and vulnerability of the character. Although it has to be said that Saba Azad beautifully nails the expression. Here also the director forgot that in the 50s photographs were still taken in black and white, not in colour. 

A sleek editing would have done wonders to the film. Cinematography is bland or perhaps the director didn’t want his characters overwhelmed by the beauty of Kashmir.  A few shots seem to have been shot with a low-end camera. There is this irritating word miyan used in the film. One can clearly see women students in uniform moving around in Amar Singh College. 

These are minor detailing errors which in no way ruin this film. These things can be forgiven for lack of funds.

It is good to see musicians Noor Mohammad, the trio of Irfan, Bilal, and Mehmeet Sayeed lending a helping hand. Everything is not about money. Coming together for the sake of art tells a lot about these people. Hope this film will pave the way for more people to make movies and they do set them in political backgrounds as they keep shouting on social media. It is easy to pan a film focused on an artist, but if you ask the same people to crowd fund a movie for Ghulam Hassan Sofi all of them will wash their hands. 

Kashmiris are not art cynosure

Here in our part of the world we are not the cynosure of arts. When Raja Begum died, I don’t remember any newspaper or portal wrote a fitting obituary on her. A few banal lines were buried in inside pages. Here even Ghulam Hassan Sofi, a blind singer, with a mesmerizing voice died a poor man’s death. I remember only Dr Haseeb Drabu’s obituary which made me familiar with what a great loss it is for our society.  

Surprising that this film has not been released in the local cinemas. It would be interesting, if it is released, to see how many Kashmiris will watch it.

This is not a masterpiece cinema, but it is a celebration of music, and more importantly celebration of an artist whom no obituaries were written.