Bandini Movie Review: Bandini: For love's sake

Bimal Roy and Nutan were a combination par excellence. Together they gave us cinematic gems like Sujata and Bandini. The term 'sensitive' was probably coined for the two of them. One of most sensitive directors ever that Hindi screen has seen, Bimalda could not have found a more sensitive actress in his time for Bandini or Sujata than Nutan. Today's directors probably envy Bimalda. The man was a reservoir of talent himself and attracted the same. He had the capacity to draw out the best from all those who worked with him. Who can forget Balraj Sahni in Do Bigha Zameen, or Salil Chowdhury's music in Madhumati or for that matter Lata Mangeshkar's famous Aaja re pardesi or Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala in Devdas? Each a legend in their own right.

But coming back to Year 1963 and Bandini, Bimalda had by now finished with Parineeta, Do Bigha, Biraj Bahu, Devdas, Madhumati and Sujata. His cinematic genius was at its peak. He had already bagged the Filmfare Best director award three times-in-a-row with Madhumati, Sujata and Parakh. He won it again for Bandini, (best film and best director). But this was to be his last as he never directed a film after this. (He passed away in 1966).

Bandini also won the Filmfare for best screenplay. The story was by Jarasandha, a former jail superintendent, who wrote fictional accounts of his experiences with prisons and prisoners. Bandini is the story of one such prisoner Kalyani (Nutan). The entire film unfolds from her perspective and is revealed in flashback.

Set In pre-independence India, Kalyani is languishing in the women's ward of a prison and is very set on serving out her full term. Her dignified demeanor catches the eye of the kind prison doctor Deven (Dharmendra), who wishes to marry her. Kalyani resists his overtures as she is scared of her past catching up with her.

Kalyani's past is revealed in flashback. She is the daughter of the village postmaster. Into this village comes an anarchist/freedom figher, Bikash (Ashok Kumar). Kalyani is attracted to him and the two fall in love. Bikash proposes marriage and even talks to her father as well about it. Bikash, who is in hiding, leaves the village, promising to come back and marry Kalyani. But he never does. Later, Kalyani learns that he has married someone else. She and her father become the butt of ridicule.

Fearing for her father's honour, Kalyani walks out of the village one night. She finds work in a hospital and is assigned a particularly bitchy and obnoxious woman patient to take care of. She discovers to her horror that the patient is Bikash's wife. At the same time, her father who has come to the city in search of her, dies in an accident. Kalyani believes the woman patient to be the cause of all her suffering and poisons her. Deven is still ready to marry her and his mother too accept his choice. But just as Kalyani is on her way to his house, she bumps into Bikash again. This time, he is terminally ill. She finally hears his side of the story, the compelling circumstances behind his marriage, and finally decides to go with him. That in a nutshell is the story. But it is in the rendering, that this story is raised to the heady level of a classic.

Bimal Roy uses the flashback technique in this film rather extensively. But the flashbacks always have Kalyani, either in a position to have seen or heard the circumstances, or being present on the scene itself. It is her story, told in her words and brings the viewers that much closer to understanding her and her motives. The story is highly melodramatic and in the hands of a lesser director would have made for great B-grade fare. But Bimalda brings his subtle touch to the events and they are as if transformed. He skillfully uses imagery and sound to convey the moods of Kalyani. The most remarkable being the scene where Kalyani murders Bikash's wife and you can hear the hammering of the welder in the background, adding to the tension and drama in the scene. The use of imagery continues with the Kalyani and Deven story. Once the good doctor has proposed to the prisoner, we see them always with some sort of a barrier between them, quite often the door, or a barred window.

It is not just in the telling that Bimal Roy excels but also in the manner in which he depicts his female protagonist. The title is Bandini. But in the end, even though Kalyani goes back to the man she loves, she does it finally out of choice. We have a precursor to the modern Indian woman here, who dares to choose, right or wrong is a different matter. Bimalda gives Kalyani that space and lifts the film out of the ordinary.

And finally, no talk about Bandini is possible without raving about Nutan. She was a special actress in more ways than one. Probably the only 'thinking' actress of her time, she didn't need dialogues. She conveyed as much with a look or a glance. To talk of that murder scene again, who can forget the myriad expressions which cross her face before the deed? A master at underplaying it, Nutan turns in perhaps her best performance ever in this film. Her Kalyani is calm and dignified on the surface, with a volcano raging below. One can feel the depth of her feelings. (The murder scene again). She is ably supported by Ashok Kumar and Dharmendra. But it is Nutan all the way.

The music by SD Burman is haunting. Worth mentioning are Lata Mangeshkar's 'Mora gora ang, 'O jaanewale ho sake to' sung by Mukesh and Ab ke baras by Asha Bhonsale. But it is Burman's himself who steals the show with his 'Mere saajan hain us paar'. The song is used superbly in the climax of the film, with Kalyani torn between Bikash and Deven.

Bimalda's films were very complete in themselves. Every department, be it music or acting, was geared to move in the same direction, the direction determined by the director. The director's vision as it were, is ably supported and unleashed by cinematographer Kamal Bose too. His superb use of light and shade, and his sense of framing add to the poetical quality that the film acquires in places.

Bimalda rightly reserved his best for the last!