FILM REVIEW: CHINGARI (2006)

The last movie I saw about women empowerment was ‘Lajja’ which I really liked because of its excellent story and equally excellent acting done by every character in the movie. This time again I went to see Chingaari because of Sushmita Sen. I was curious to see her in a different role after her brilliant performance in ‘Samay’ and her sexy role in ‘Main Hoo Na’. I would say she didn’t let me down in this movie too. Her acting, her looks (deglamorised), her naughtiness and her fight for her rights, all took my heart to her.

But I was disappointed of Lajmi ’s skills as a director. She possessed a precious stone in Sen and with her abilities Lajmi could have turned the film into a diamond but alas due to some dull points the movie remained so-so.

Warning! If you have the guts to digest some very difficult scenes and some very tacky language, then only go for this movie! The movie has some scenes that might chill you a bit. The starting sequence and the last half an hour of the movie is the most gripping!

Basanti (Sushmita Sen) works as a prostitute to earn bread for her stomach. But even thought she is what she is, she is caring and daring. She does her business from Lalbatti - a house of many other prostitutes, which is run by a kindly madam (Ila Arun). Basanti get along very well with other inmates of the brothel but she is equally humiliated by villagers. She is especially frightened of the village priest Bhuvan Panda (Mithun Chakraborty) and every time he comes to the prostitute house to pay a visit to ravage Basanti, the scenario becomes blood-curdling. Basanti is forced to put up with his violence.

Bhuvan Panda is feared by everyone in the village. People are so terrorized of his power and insane judgments that they worship him equal to God. They cannot go against him.

This frightful village feels the breeze of healing in the form of an educated and polite Postman, Chandan (Anuj Sawhney). He is loved by all because of his laughing nature. He also has no issues meeting the prostitutes of Lalbatti and cracking jokes with them. Basanti get influenced by Chandan charming nature and a turning point in her life comes when she experiences love and respect from Chandan. The priest tries to put a stop to Basanti’s growing fondness for the postman, but when an anonymous letter-writer offers to marry her and accept her illegitimate daughter, Panda goes wild with rage. He cannot see some oppressed woman standing on her feet. To surpass Basanti and in order to destroy her small yet beautiful dreams Bhuvan kills Chandan. He also has some nasty plans for Basanti’s daughter. Basanti fury lights up the chingaari against him that goes on to become a fire where the priest ashes will give way to freedom to other women.

Basanti lashes out at the village priest warning him not to come in the way of her family (her daughter). Also the death of Chandan and the evils deeds of the priest have gone beyond the point that it creates enormous impact on the villagers. Thus comes the blazing climax in which Basanti along with the villagers make Panda suffer for his evil deeds.

It is every bit a Basanti’s story where Lajmi has tried to highlight the ills committed in the name of religion. The film is about fighting oppression and ill-treatment and Sushmita Sen with her unparalleled performance makes it through. Sushmita has given a dramatic performance and her key confrontation with her tormentor and rapist; she has given a new dimension to her acting. Her dialogue delivery is topnotch. Mithun Chakraborty as the evil and hypocritical village priest, looks his part as a frightening villain well. He doesn’t speak much in the film but conveys his feelings through his body language. Without doubt he has pulls off a difficult role with ease.

Some points which should have been the highpoints of the movie didn’t quite gel with it. The romantic chemistry between the prostitute and the postman could have been better. And although overall Anuj Sawhney performance was noticeable his love sequences with Sushmita could not become inspiring enough. His character remained limited to being just charming and didn’t develop as the voice of reform in a village striven by terrorism. The impact of Chandan’s death on the villagers, or their gradual opposition to the evil priest, is not properly explored, so the blazing climax where Sushmita does a Kali-impersonation looks too sudden and phony. Aadesh Srivastava’s music was also a let down and except ‘dank mare’ others were of forgetful variety.

The true setback of the film is its screenplay, which is dull and unexciting. Although few scenes are stimulating and the second half is extremely engrossing the theme of the film isn’t stirring. The story also is too lengthy. Cinematography by Vishal Sinha is good and dialogues by Kalpana Lajmi works well with the movie but might get difficult to digest for regular moviegoers. Ila Arun, Anjan Srivastav and Ravi Gosai are adequate.

This one is for Sushmita. Applaud!

RS Rating: 5/10

Credit: This review was submitted by Ankit Jain of Footprints.in. They run their own movie Blog at DCECinemas. To submit your own review for posting on radiosargam.com please email.