Another powerful movie by Shyam Benegal, Sardari Begum, touched my heart for the subtle complexity and sincerity in its story. All performances are splendid and make the plot so real that the movie actually achieves its purpose of keeping you thinking for hours. Music is phenomenal, as demanded by the screenplay. The movie beautifully conveys how imperfection and hypocrisy are part of every human being and it is silly to blind yourself to the dark side of your heroes.
We all live by some rather hollow ideals, mostly subconsciously. Sardari, for example, even in her in desperate financial need refuses to sing in concerts and doesn't accept the money from her brother, while she comfortably accepts money for organizing weddings for fugitive lovers. She willingly helps her people in need but doesn't shy away from highlighting her sacrifices or favors. Most strikingly though, despite having lived her life on her own terms, she is no less impervious to the desires of her daughter than her father was to hers. Even as she dies, she binds her daughter to the tradition that she has built only after breaking the tradition of her own family. But all her outward confidence and drama, it appears, is perhaps just a facade to hide her deep insecurity and discontentment.
The film raises questions on the objectivity of our ideals and beliefs. Is a life lived on one's own terms worth it if it has taken away everything other than one's first love? Is pursuit of perfection or contentment any more than an illusion? Is there no meaning at all in leading a life defined by others? And is accepting an external piece of advice any inferior to following your heart?
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