''Rihaee'' ( Devnagari: रिहाई, English: Liberation) is a

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

Hindi film Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

directed by Aruna Raje, starring Vinod Khanna, Hema Malini,

Naseeruddin Shah Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He is notable in Indian parallel cinema. He has also starred in international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare A ...

and

Mohan Agashe Mohan Agashe (born 23 July 1947) is an Indian psychiatrist and actor. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1996 in theatre. Early life Agashe was born in Bhor, Maharashtra. He studied in B. J. Medical College, Pune for his MBBS an ...

in lead roles. The film dealt with the

promiscuity Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different Sexual partner, partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as pro ...

of male migrant workers to urban India, and also the sexuality of women, left behind in the rural regions. Hema Malini received a nomination for the

Filmfare Best Actress Award The Filmfare Award for Best Actress is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise the female actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first given in 1954 ...

for her role in the film.

Plot

The story is set in a remote village in Gujarat. Menfolk here, like in many other villages across India go to the cities to work, leaving behind their families. Mansukh (

) after working for a long time in Dubai, returns to his native village. This is the village where all the men have gone to work in the cities. The lonely women of the village are all excited with the arrival of Mansukh and many are after him. Especially Sukhi Reema Lagoo. Taku ( Hema Malini), wife of Amarji ( Vinod Khanna) is a woman with an attitude. She is an independent and strong woman, who is different from the group. Mansukh becomes interested in her and he goes after her. After his persistent attempts he succeeds and they start having a relationship. After a while, Mansukh leaves the village. The women Sukhi and Taku later find out that they are both pregnant. How they deal with their pregnancies is the subject of the movie. This is a staggering movie that shakes some of the fundamental rules of Indian society. It talks about equal opportunity to females in all aspects. The movie starts with the introduction of the village characters through a postman ( Harish Patel). Later, the movie targeting the men folk on their attitude towards women, hooks them with a common man's dream story. A man in a village filled with longing women. Then it slowly turns and develops through various threads to tell how women is differentiated in the eyes of the society, what a baby means to a woman and what is real manliness. Jhumkhu (Ila arun) for example, loses her son in a fire accident and is forced to do the funeral without her husband, as he is not able to come to the village. She goes through that trauma all alone. She almost becomes insane on that loss, this character is later used to convey the message that whether it is an accident or an abortion, the trauma of losing a child for a woman is the same. Like Jhumku, there is a story behind every female character, and they have one problem or the other because they are women. The movie puts the double standard followed for men and women through various village characters. Mansukh's father in the panchayat blames the women of the village to be punished, without saying anything about his son who was responsible for everything. The movie also points out the hypocrisy of the society which says it is okay to hide the truth rather than reveal it openly.

Cast

* Vinod Khanna... Amar Ji * Hema Malini... Taku *

... Mansukh * Neena Gupta... Sukkhi * Ila Arun... Jhumku * Reema Lagoo * Harish Patel... Narrator *

* Aditya Lakhia * Sangeeta Naik * Pallavi Joshi * Hilla Sethna * Robin Gupta * Aditya Bhattacharya... Special Appearance

Music

#"Delhi Mein Mera Dil Na Laga" - Udit Narayan, Anupama Deshpande,

Kavita Krishnamurthy Sharada Krishnamurthy, popularly known as Kavita Krishnamurthy or Kavita Subramaniam, is an Indian playback and classical singer. She has recorded 50,000 songs in 45 various Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Rajasthani, Bhojp ...

#"Mitti Mein Mil Jaana Re Bande" - Arun Ingle #"Puchhe Parvati Sawal Jag Mein Kyu Hai" - Udit Narayan, Anupama Deshpande, Arun Ingle #"Teri Meri Bairan Raat Ladi" - Asha Bhosle

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0259541, Rihaee 1988 films 1980s Hindi-language films Indian drama films Films about sexuality Films about women in India Films about adultery in India Indian feminist films 1980s feminist films 1988 drama films Hindi-language drama films