Weekly Classics: Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam
Based on a novel written by Bimal Mitra, which is set in 19th century Bengal during the days of the British Raj, it tells the tale of a servant, who through his perspective, narrates the story a long suffering wife who is constantly neglected and mistreated by her landlord husband. With such a sad and poetic plot, who better to play the starring roles of the brooding servant and the angst-ridden wife then the enigmatic Guru Dutt and the equally legendary Meena Kumari, whose own real life drama reflected the pain portrayed in the film.
Guru Dutt, who had already made a name for himself as a talented film maker in Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz ke Phool (1959) was the producer of the film and according to some may even have helped in directing some of the sequences in the movie. This time he plays the lead role as Bhootnath, a young man who arrives in colonial-era Calcutta to seek work which he gets at the residence of a family of landlords. He becomes fascinated by the decadent environment of the feudal lifestyle and is slowly drawn towards the beautiful and tragic Chhoti Bahu (Meena Kumari) who seems to be an almost neglected statue, longing for the love and acceptance of her uncaring husband Chhote Sarkar (Rehman).
Through Bhootnath’s eyes we see the downward spiral that Chhoti Bahu’s life goes through and how all her attempts to woo her husband’s love fails. The husband is almost a warped mirror of the wife. Whereas, he is indifferent to her love and remains stone cold, she is constantly there and brokenhearted at being neglected. The husband prefers to indulge in the company of dancing girls and alcohol and views his wife as a doormat that he can walkover whenever he wishes. In a desperate act to gain acceptance, Chhoti Bahu takes to casting away her dignity and starts to drink and dance for him. All throughout this tragedy Bhootnath becomes a confidante of Chhoti Bahu and witnesses her self destruction. Slowly he develops an almost platonic love for her and is repelled at the way she is treated.
The cinematography of the film reflects the brooding and sad environment of the story, as does the beautiful dialogue and music. The axis, around which the movie revolves, apart from the superb script and direction, is the performances of the lead actors. Rehman, a longtime favorite of Guru Dutt, gives his finest performance as Chhote Sarkar. The contempt with which he treats his wife and the general cold nature of his character is portrayed to perfection. As for Guru Dutt himself, the part of the brooding and sensitive Bhootnath was tailor-made for him. They say that the eyes are the channel to the soul, and Dutt’s eyes in this film tell the tale for us, with their intense soulfulness.
But the standout performance in the movie is that of Meena Kumari. She more than deserves her title as “The Tragedy Queen” for her work in this film. As one film critic rightly commented, she gives ‘perhaps the greatest performance ever seen on Indian screen’. Its one of performances that stays with you long after the movie has ended, almost as though you were seeing poetry in motion. Chhoti Bahu’s longing for love and craving for sexual satisfaction are played to perfection by Meena Kumari. In one standout scene from the film, she breaks down and lashes out at her husband and tells him that she had virtually prostituted her dignity and self-respect to satisfy him but to no avail. Its one of the most moving and powerful sequences you are ever likely to see in a motion picture and perfectly shows the pain of not having your love for someone reciprocated.
Sadly for Meena Kumari, this movie was also an eerie case of art imitating life. The role of the sad, neglected and eventually alcoholic Chhoti Bahu may have been all too familiar to her. Towards the end of her life, Meena Kumari had endured failed love affairs and ended up never having her feelings reciprocated. As an escape from this torment, she ended up taking the false comforts of the bottle, and in writing poetry which reflected her pathos. In the end she died of liver cirrhosis; brokenhearted and virtually bankrupt.
This film is one classic that is required viewing for any lover of classic movies. It’s also a perfect example of commercial cinema meeting artistic genius. Although, this is not the most spirit lifting movie you are likely to see, it does however serve as a testament to the power of the medium and the brilliance that it has to offer.
Because this blog is weekly we will continue to highlight one classic a week, including foreign-language films, as well as local classics, so check back same time next week to see our next weekly classic!
View Dawn.com’s weekly classics archive here.
Raza Ali Sayeed is a journalist at Dawn.com