M. F. Husain is a very important and influential figure in the Indian art world. He also wrote and directed three films: Through the Eyes of a Painter, which I have not seen and so will conveniently ignore, Meenaxi: Tale of Three Cities, which I quite like, and tonight’s film, Gaja Gamini (2000), or as I like to call it, “The Fantastic Adventures of Madhuri Dixit’s Bum Through Time and Space.”
I am, of course, being very flippant. Gaja Gamini is an art film with a capital ART, an extended meditation on art and love and the essential nature of Woman, not an excuse for long, loving, lingering shots of Madhuri’s posterior. (The long, loving, lingering shots of Madhuri’s posterior are just a bonus.) It’s also very different from our usual fare here at the Gorilla’s Lament, and thus very hard for me to review. I’m half tempted to just say, “Good, if you’re into that sort of thing,” and call it a night. Still, duty calls and all that, so I shall press on.
Madhuri plays Gaja Gamini, who is a sort of embodiment of Universal Womanhood. Gaja assumes various incarnations throughout the film, though a brief dialogue with a bicycle seat makes it clear that it’s actually Madhuri becoming Gaja becoming various incarnations. (Yes, it’s that kind of movie.) Gaja is loved by many men over the years, but her two most persistent admirers are Kamdev (Inder Kumar), the God of Love, and Leonardo Da Vinci (Naseeruddin Shah.)
And that’s all the plot I can wring out of the film; it’s more like an interpretive dance performance than any sort of conventional narrative. More to the point, it’s more like a series of paintings than a conventional narrative; characters appear onscreen and embody abstract concepts for a while, then we move on to the next canvas.
The film is certainly visually compelling, using painted stage sets rather than location shooting. It’s clear that the film was created by an artist. The costuming is also generally quite well done, lending the dance numbers an almost dreamlike quality.
The dialogue is another matter, though. It is for the most part very serious and symbolic and profound and could not be more stilted if it were delivered by the nefarious Stilt-Man. Things improve considerably when Shahrukh Khan makes a special appearance as a traveling photojournalist named Shahrukh. It’s the usual SRK shtick, but it provides a much needed infusion of humor and genuine, non-symbolic emotion, and there’s a relaxed charm to his scenes with Madhuri. When he was called away by the Media High Command participate in Operation Black Moon orbit, I was very sorry to see him go. (And that’s a movie I really want to see. You hear me, M. F.? Gaja Gamini II, all about Shahrukh the swashbuckling space photojournalist and the brave boys of the Media Air Force, keeping the world safe for their girls back home.)
In all seriousness, this is a very carefully crafted and highly artistic film, and I have to respect any filmmaker with the good sense to cast Farida Jalal as the symbolic incarnation of motherhood. Still, the film isn’t as profound as it wants to be. There’s a bit of dialogue about Science trying and failing to comprehend the mysteries of Art which struck me as silly and self serving. More seriously, while the movie seems to want to be about the nature of Woman, it has much more to do with the perception of Woman; in one scene there’s a gathering of five characters who each represent different aspects of womankind, and each and every one of them is defined by her relationship with men. The intended symbolism is still there, it just gets a bit muddled.
All of which is a long-winded way of saying that while the dialogue is off, and there’s no narrative thread to speak of, Gaja Gamini is good, if you’re into that sort of thing.
I am, of course, being very flippant. Gaja Gamini is an art film with a capital ART, an extended meditation on art and love and the essential nature of Woman, not an excuse for long, loving, lingering shots of Madhuri’s posterior. (The long, loving, lingering shots of Madhuri’s posterior are just a bonus.) It’s also very different from our usual fare here at the Gorilla’s Lament, and thus very hard for me to review. I’m half tempted to just say, “Good, if you’re into that sort of thing,” and call it a night. Still, duty calls and all that, so I shall press on.
Madhuri plays Gaja Gamini, who is a sort of embodiment of Universal Womanhood. Gaja assumes various incarnations throughout the film, though a brief dialogue with a bicycle seat makes it clear that it’s actually Madhuri becoming Gaja becoming various incarnations. (Yes, it’s that kind of movie.) Gaja is loved by many men over the years, but her two most persistent admirers are Kamdev (Inder Kumar), the God of Love, and Leonardo Da Vinci (Naseeruddin Shah.)
And that’s all the plot I can wring out of the film; it’s more like an interpretive dance performance than any sort of conventional narrative. More to the point, it’s more like a series of paintings than a conventional narrative; characters appear onscreen and embody abstract concepts for a while, then we move on to the next canvas.
The film is certainly visually compelling, using painted stage sets rather than location shooting. It’s clear that the film was created by an artist. The costuming is also generally quite well done, lending the dance numbers an almost dreamlike quality.
The dialogue is another matter, though. It is for the most part very serious and symbolic and profound and could not be more stilted if it were delivered by the nefarious Stilt-Man. Things improve considerably when Shahrukh Khan makes a special appearance as a traveling photojournalist named Shahrukh. It’s the usual SRK shtick, but it provides a much needed infusion of humor and genuine, non-symbolic emotion, and there’s a relaxed charm to his scenes with Madhuri. When he was called away by the Media High Command participate in Operation Black Moon orbit, I was very sorry to see him go. (And that’s a movie I really want to see. You hear me, M. F.? Gaja Gamini II, all about Shahrukh the swashbuckling space photojournalist and the brave boys of the Media Air Force, keeping the world safe for their girls back home.)
In all seriousness, this is a very carefully crafted and highly artistic film, and I have to respect any filmmaker with the good sense to cast Farida Jalal as the symbolic incarnation of motherhood. Still, the film isn’t as profound as it wants to be. There’s a bit of dialogue about Science trying and failing to comprehend the mysteries of Art which struck me as silly and self serving. More seriously, while the movie seems to want to be about the nature of Woman, it has much more to do with the perception of Woman; in one scene there’s a gathering of five characters who each represent different aspects of womankind, and each and every one of them is defined by her relationship with men. The intended symbolism is still there, it just gets a bit muddled.
All of which is a long-winded way of saying that while the dialogue is off, and there’s no narrative thread to speak of, Gaja Gamini is good, if you’re into that sort of thing.
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