A Potpourri of Vestiges Review
By Murtaza Ali Khan
Featured in IMDb Critic Reviews
By Murtaza Ali Khan
Featured in IMDb Critic Reviews
 |
| Bidita Bag with Reshma Khan |
Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay is quite easily one of the
biggest films ever to have come out of Hindi cinema—often popularly referred to
as Bollywood. As a matter of fact, Sholay
is often described as the quintessential Bollywood film. Sholay, which is primarily an action film, not only set the tone of
the 1970s Bollywood but also the decades that followed. The best way to
describe Sholay is as a Curry
Western—a rather unconventional blend of the elements of Indian dacoit films,
Italo-American spaghetti westerns and the Japanese samurai cinema. Whenever one
talks of Sholay one is automatically reminded of its larger-than-life
characters: the ferocious bandit Gabbar Singh, the brave anti-heroes Jai and
Veeru, the dutiful and resolute Thakur, and, of course, the feisty and
talkative Basanti, among others. During a famous scene in Sholay, Basanti (essayed by Hema Malini) tries to escape Gabbar’s
men while riding her horse-cart. The very scene serves as the opening scene for
ZEE5’s The Sholay Girl—a biographical
film based on the life and struggle of Reshma Pathan who is said to be India’s
first stuntwoman. Body-doubling for Hema Malini in Sholay, Reshma suffered a
leg injury while shooting the aforementioned scene but it didn’t stop her from
finishing the scene only a few days later.
Pathan started her
career as a stuntwoman at a young age of 14 in the year 1968 and went on to
body double for the biggest names in the industry such as Hema Malini, Sridevi,
Dimple Kapadia and Meenakshi Seshadri. In those days the Movie Stunt Artists
Association didn’t accept women members and so for a long time she had to work
on a junior artist’s pay which was hardly just, especially given how she was
putting her body at risk day in and day out. But the association finally
relented as Pathan was officially inducted as a stuntwoman. Sholay proved to be her big break as it
gave her the opportunity to impress the industry giants with her courage and
daredevilry. At a time when male stunt artists were employed as body doubles
for both male and female actors, Pathan’s entry into the industry was nothing
short of a revelation. Earlier whenever a male stunt artist used to body double
for a female actor he had to dress up as a female while also trying his best to
act as one. Of course, it had many limitations which greatly reduced the
shooting possibilities but with Reshma in the mix the filmmakers and
cinematographers had a lot more to play with. By putting her life at risk
Reshma allowed filmmakers to go the extra mile.
 |
| A Still from The Sholay Girl |
Directed by Aditya
Sarpotdar, The Sholay Girl is based
on a screenplay by Faizal Akhtar and Shrabani Deodhar. Bidita Bag, who
previously starred opposite Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, essays the eponymous role in the film. The film seems to ooze with the delectable melodrama
of the ‘70s most evidentially seen in the films of Manmohan Desai. But the
film’s retro look and feel appears to be a bit forced at some places,
apparently owing to some budgetary constraints. The overall period detailing
however looks just fine. Remember, the film is never meant for a theatrical
screening. It’s strictly made for an OTT platform and the small screen has its
own pros and cons. So naturally the writing is the strongest part of The Sholay Girl. Undoubtedly, the film
does a brilliant job of capturing Reshma Pathan’s incredible journey as Hindi
cinema’s original stuntwoman.
 |
| Bidita Bag with her stunt double |
Coming from a
conservative Muslim family it wasn’t easy for Reshma to work in the film
industry. But abject poverty forced her to take the plunge despite her father’s
strong opposition. The Sholay Girl
takes us to the early 1960s wherein a young Reshma courageously confronts a
police officer who is seen arresting her mother for illegally selling rice.
Next she chases the police jeep all the way to the station and stoically sits
there for the next two days, refusing to leave without her mother. Impressed by
the young girl’s resolve, the police officer finally shows mercy and releases
her mother. It is the same resolve that Reshma would show while confronting all
those who look down upon women. Later on in the film, a fully grown up Reshma gets
accosted by a bunch of thugs while returning from an exhausting shoot. When
they refuse to back down despite her repeated warnings she single-handedly
beats them to a pulp. While the scene may look a bit exaggerated, Reshma was
actually strong enough to take down men twice her size as confirmed by Bidita,
who spent a lot of time with Reshma while preparing for the part. Even today
Reshma is quite active and can be seen playing minor parts in films of Rohit
Shetty.
 |
| Bidita Bag with Reshma Khan |
The Sholay Girl is a great reminder of how Reshma dealt with the powerful men
in the film industry who stepped out of line. Today, the #MeToo movement has
empowered the women the world over but at a time when the working women were
most vulnerable, Reshma not only brought dignity to her profession but also
gave other women the courage to stand for what is right. No wonder The Sholay Girl was released on the ZEE5
platform on the occasion of International Women's Day.
Rating: 7.5/10
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your valuable thoughts are highly appreciated!
People who liked this also liked...
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for sharing for valuable opinion. We would be delighted to have you back.