''Bhavni Bhavai'' ( gu, ભવની ભવાઈ; ''The Tale of the Life'') is a 1980

Gujarati film Gujarati cinema, also known as Gollywood or Dhollywood, is the Gujarati language film industry. It is one of the major regional and vernacular film industries of the cinema of India, having produced more than one thousand films since its inc ...

directed by

Ketan Mehta Ketan Mehta (born 21 July 1952) is an Indian film director who has also directed documentaries and television serials since 1975. Early life and education Born on 21 July 1952 in Navsari in Gujarat, Mehta did his schooling from Sardar Patel V ...

, starring Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Smita Patil,

Mohan Gokhale Mohan Gokhale (7 November 1953 – 29 April 1999) was an Indian film, television and theater actor who has worked in art films such as '' Sparsh'', '' Bhavni Bhavai'' and '' Mirch Masala''. His father was a senior journalist and Editor of the w ...

, Benjamin Gilani. It tells the story of

untouchability Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimin ...

through folklore and Bhavai. ''Bhavni Bhavai'' was Ketan Mehta's debut film and received a critical acclaim. Mehta won the prestigious

Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration The Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of ...

, while Meera Lakhia won

National Film Award for Best Production Design The National Film Award for Best Production Design is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awar ...

at the

28th National Film Awards The 28th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1980. Ceremony took place in Ap ...

. The film was selected for a festival at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

and received UNESCO Club Human Rights award at the

Three Continents Festival The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau.Harijan Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...

s migrating to a city and pausing for a night. An elderly ( Om Puri) starts narrating the story of King Chakrasen. King Chakrasen ( Naseeruddin Shah) badly wants an heir, but neither of his two queens conceives a child. One day Chakrasen smells a foul odor at his darbar. Upon investigating he is told the place is not cleaned because bhangis are on holiday for a wedding. Angrily, he summons them immediately and orders their

flagellation Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...

as punishment. Meanwhile, his spy brings the information that his people are conspiring against the king. On the advice of his prime minister ( Benjamin Gilani), he decides to declare a war against the neighbouring state, as a distraction. Unknown to the king, his prime minister is having an affair with his younger queen ( Suhasini Mulay). Before the king can declare a war, the neighbouring king decides to attack for the similar reasons. Chakrasen's army wins the war but suffers major brutality. At the same time, the king receives the news that his elder queen is expecting a child. Hearing this news, the jealous young queen and prime minister conspires with the royal astrologer and tells the king that if the king sees the face of the newborn, he will die immediately. Fearing for his life, the king orders killing of the newborn. The soldiers, ordered to kill the child, have a change of heart. They put him in a wooden box and let go of him in the river. One of the bhangis, Malo Bhagat ( Om Puri), finds the box and decides to raise 'Jeevo' with his wife, Dhuli (

Dina Pathak Dina Pathak (née Gandhi; 4 March 1922 – 11 October 2002) was an Indian actress and director of Gujarati theatre and also a film actor. She was an activist and President of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW). A doyenne of Hindi a ...

), as his own. While in the kingdom, the royal astrologer suggests that if the king wants a child, he must build a

stepwell Stepwells (also known as vavs or baori) are wells or ponds with a long corridor of steps that descend to the water level. Stepwells played a significant role in defining subterranean architecture in western India from 7th to 19th century. So ...

and the king agrees to it. Years pass by, the work on

continues, but they can't find the water. Jeevo (

) grows up and falls in love with gypsy girl, Ujam ( Smita Patil). The royal astrologer accidentally discovers that Jeevo is the son of the king and tells the king that the king must sacrifice 'Batress Lakshano Purush' (a man with 32 qualities), if he wants water in the stepwell and Jeevo is the only eligible man besides the king himself. The army sets out to capture Jeevo, but he runs away. Ranglo (

jester A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and ...

) (Nimesh Desai) learns the truth and decides to inform the elder queen. Before that, the prime minister captures him and puts him in jail. Jeevo makes a plan with Ujam and tells the king that if he agrees to end the

of his caste, then he'll surrender — else he'll kill himself and the king won't be able to complete the sacrifice. After consulting his ministers, Chakrasen reluctantly agrees to the demand. On the day of the sacrifice, Ranglo escapes from the prison and tells the king that Jeevo is his own son, to which king is delightful and aborts the execution. The stepwell suddenly starts filling up with water. As the story approaches the end, one of the

Harijan Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...

s stops the elder and tells him not to lure the children with false 'happy endings' and narrates his own

alternate ending An alternate ending (or alternative ending) is an ending of a story that was considered, or even written or produced, but ultimately discarded in favour of another resolution. Generally, alternative endings are considered to have no bearing on t ...

. In the alternate ending, Ranglo doesn't arrive to tell the truth and sacrifice proceeds as planned, but there is still no water in the stepwell. Unable to bear the shock of their son's death, Jeevo's mother dies and Malo curses the king and commits suicide in the stepwell. Upon Malo's death, stepwell gets over-flooded, killing king and his ministers with him. The final sequence is interspersed with the footage of violent protests of

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

Production

Development

After graduating from the

Film and Television Institute of India The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is a film institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India and aided by the Central Government of India. It is situated on the premises of the erstwhile ...

, Ketan Mehta was working for a satellite channel. Through his travels in villages, he came across the problems faced by rural population, specifically

. He also came across

Dhiruben Patel Dhiruben Gordhanbhai Patel ( gu, ધીરુબેન પટેલ) is an Indian novelist, playwright and translator. Life Dhiruben Gordhanbhai Patel is born on 29 May 1926 in Baroda (now Vadodara, Gujarat) to Gordhanbhai Patel, a journalist ...

's play ''Bhavni Bhavai'', — which back then was performed as a '' Bhavai'' — and decided to turn it into a movie. He was also inspired by ''Achhutno Vesh'', a Bhavai performance. For production, the people associated with had formed a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

, the Sanchal Film Cooperative Society. The film was made on a meager budget of , with funding from NFDC. Most of the actors, including Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Smita Patil agreed to work without any compensation Naseeruddin Shah initially declined the role, because of his previous experience of working with Ketan Mehta, when the latter directed

Eugène Ionesco Eugène Ionesco (; born Eugen Ionescu, ; 26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre in the 20th century. Ionesco inst ...

's play '' The Lesson'' for him. Ketan Mehta persisted and Naseeruddin finally agreed to do it because of his liking for the film, though he was hesitant about playing the role of a "Bumbling Raja".

Filming

Ketan Mehta filmed ''Bhavni Bhavai'' with

distancing effect The distancing effect, also translated as alienation effect (german: Verfremdungseffekt or ''V-Effekt''), is a concept in performing arts credited to German playwright Bertolt Brecht. Brecht first used the term in his essay "Alienation Effects in ...

and the use of comic characters. Hence, the film is dedicated to

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

and Goscinny, the creator of

Astérix ''Asterix'' or ''The Adventures of Asterix'' (french: Astérix or , "Asterix the Gaul") is a ''bande dessinée'' comic book series about a village of indomitable Gaulish warriors who adventure around the world and fight the Roman Republic, wi ...

. It is also dedicated to the inventor of the Bhavai, Asaita Thakar, who was a Brahmin outcast and lived among the lower caste communities. The Bhavai evolved into one of India's most energetic folk music and dance-dramas. The final sequence of the stepwell and sacrifice was filmed at the

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

, Rani ki vav in

Patan, Gujarat Patan () is the administrative seat of Patan District in the Indian state of Gujarat and is an administered municipality. It was the capital of Gujarat's Chavda and Chaulukya dynasties in medieval times, and is also known as Anhilpur-Pata ...

. The chief theme of the film is struggles of

Harijans Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...

. The film also presents a medieval story in modern ways. Instead of linear story, it has a circular structure.

Cast

* Naseeruddin Shah as King Chakrasen * Smita Patil as Ujam *

as Jeevo * Om Puri as Malo Bhagat *

as Dhuli * Benjamin Gilani as Prime Minister * Suhasini Mulay as Younger Queen * Nimesh Desai as Ranglo * Gopi Desai as Rangli

Soundtrack

''Bhavni Bhavai'' songs were composed by Gaurang Vyas and written by

Critical reception

''Bhavni Bhavai'' received a wide critical acclaim and is considered one of the best Gujarati films of all time. It was considered path-breaking for dark humour and satire because most of films of the time were based on

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

and religious stories. The film was also praised for then-novel technique of 'breaking the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

'. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described it as "Enhanced by interesting costumes and incisive dialogue, the fable combines comedy and social commentary as it moves through its classic tale." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called it "A delightful didactic fable with sharp Brechtian influences that works on practically all levels."

Khalid Mohamed Khalid Mohamed is an Indian journalist, editing, editor, Film criticism, film critic, screenwriter and film director. He formerly worked for the ''Hindustan Times'' and was the lead editor for ''Filmfare'' magazine. He is the son of Bollywoo ...

of ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...

'' said, "like a lightening red ''Bhavni Bhavai'', the Gujarati Film is very special – inventive, moving and fine grained – the film is so simple, song filled and entertaining that it is well along its way before you recognise it as a tour do farce it actually is." American film critic

J. Hoberman James Lewis Hoberman (born March 14, 1949) is an American film critic, journalist, author and academic. He began working at ''The Village Voice'' in the 1970s, became a full-time staff writer in 1983, and was the newspaper's senior film critic ...

called the movie "the finest film I saw in India" and described it as stunningly photographed and universally accessible. Director

Sudhir Mishra Sudhir Mishra (born 22 January 1959) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for directing the films '' Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi'', '' Dharavi'' and '' Chameli''. Mishra has had a 30-year career, with his work recognised by the Gover ...

has said that ''Bhavni Bhavai'' was one of the films that inspired him to take up filmmaking.

Accolades

Mehta won the prestigious

, while Meera Lakhia won

at the

. The film was selected for a festival at the

and received UNESCO Club Human Rights award at the

Three Continents Festival The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau. The film was presented at the New Indian Cinema festival held in London along with 22 other films.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* * {{Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration 1980 films Films directed by Ketan Mehta Films shot in Gujarat Films set in Gujarat Films about the caste system in India Films whose production designer won the Best Production Design National Film Award Best Film on National Integration National Film Award winners 1980 directorial debut films 1980s Gujarati-language films