Abodh (1984)

In a recent video celebrating 36 years of her Bollywood debut Abodh (1984), Madhuri Dixit mentioned how it was during the shooting of this film that she got bit by the acting bug, and for that alone, I appreciate this movie with my whole heart. Plus, everyone on the set made her feel super comfortable and gave her chocolates every day, which I'm sure must have added to her falling in love with acting. Enough of the narrative that only suffering can produce "good" art. (I'm looking at you, SLB, stop torturing your actors.)

Coming to the movie itself- Abodh is a simple story about a young innocent ("Abodh" literally translates to "innocent") girl and how she matures into a grown woman, or rather, a wife. Gauri (Mads) starts off as being completely oblivious of the concepts of emotional and physical intimacy- she doesn't know the significance of the wedding night and would much rather play with her husband's kid brother than spend time with him. However, by the end, she has "matured" quite a bit, and understands that she is no longer in her natal home, and must compromise and be a good wife to her husband. I say "matured" because I do not necessarily agree with the film's central motif that women need to shed their earlier selves when they enter the marital home (for that matter, I don't really believe in the institution of marriage either, but thanks to my desi upbringing, I have thought about its nuances more times than I can count). I also do not mean to justify child marriage (the film never explicitly tells us Gauri's age, but it's very obvious that she is still a child) but I do appreciate how the film tries to move beyond a black and white representation of the topic. We see Gauri surrounded by a marital family who loves her and cares for her just like her natal family did, but the unsaid things disturb us nonetheless- how she has been deprived of opportunities, how she remains confined within the domestic sphere, how she must prioritise her new relations in favour of her old cherished ones, and how she must ultimately become a "wife" in order to be happy and content in life. 

However, even within this traditional patriarchal framework, the movie seeks a sense of equality by showing Gauri's husband Shankar (Tapas Paul) having his own trajectory of growth. He isn't the perfect man by any standards, but there is a moral crisis that he must confront and truth be told, he comes off rather well compared to other heroes from that decade. He is shown to be struck by the words his wife says to him, and even though there are no explicit monologues, one can't help but feel as if he is decidedly ashamed of his behaviour. Maybe the absence of monologues points to the lack of language he has in which to express his anguish- he does seem to genuinely love his wife, but because of traditional boundaries, he expects things from her that she is just not ready to give. It is important that he only returns to her when her best friend tells him that she is miserable without him- it shows that he has realised that she needs her own time to reciprocate his feelings and get ready to begin a proper relationship with him. 

I must say I was pleasantly shocked to discover that this movie was actually quite progressive in its own way and gave me a lot to think about. However, I must also add the disclaimer that this movie is probably not for everyone. It is very much a product of its time; plus, I feel that one needs a lot of cultural context to watch this movie- without knowing certain things, it might be easy to ignore that at its heart, this is a simple romantic drama which happens to take place in a particular time and place. I'm not trying to gate-keep or anything, but it is what it is.

Finally, let me quickly talk about how good Madhuri was in this movie. From the first frame to the last, she stole the show and had I not known, I probably would not have guessed that this was her first movie. I mean, of course she has grown as an actress over the years, but she seemed well on her way to being one of the most unforgettable stars Hindi cinema has ever seen in her debut movie itself. I like her even more now, and I can't wait to watch more of her movies soon. <3

PS- I am still laughing at how I didn't realise that Mads was wearing a wig throughout the movie.