Bawander fails to hit the theaters as Censors play villainy
09th Mar 2001
19.55 IST
By ApunKaChoice Bureau
Bhanwari Devi, a gang-rape victim in Rajasthan, has to wait further to see her story on celluloid.
Bawandar (Sandstorm), despite winning international acclaim for narrating the trials tribulations of a 50-year-old woman in a male-dominated society, is yet to be cleared by the Censor Board.
The Board has suggested two major cuts. The victim and her husband were held down by men as she was raped, in quick succession, by an elderly uncle and his nephew. The faces of these two men are shown in Bawander through Sanwari’s (Bhanwari Devi’s name is changed in the movie) or any raped woman's eyes—on top of her. The Board, it seems, do not like this realistic view, nor it likes the forcing apart of the victim’s legs during the despicable crime.
The other important deletion is the visuals suggestive of masturbation by a police officer. The Censors have no reasons to cut this scene as they have cleared the suggestion of masturbation in some other films.
Yet another reason mentioned by the Board is that they are unable to view the film as their theatre is not in a working condition.
Nandita Das plays Sanwari in the film directed by Jagmohan Mundhra. She got an international award for her role in the film. Raghuvir Yadav plays her husband’s part. Lillette Dubey is the social worker dealing with warped system. Gulshan Grover is Bhanwari's lawyer. Ravi Jhankal is the police inspector who statistically makes her remove her 'ghagra' for evidence without offering her any other cover.
Deepti Naval plays a composite of all those selfless woman who supported Bhanwari at that time. She got wide acclaim too, particularly for her performance in a scene where she broke down in the courtroom after the rapists were acquitted.
National award winning critic Deepa Gahlot says that Bawander is not a better-finished product and is jerky at times. “The film turns caricaturist at points, which is unnecessary. This scene at the police station where the policewomen appear almost comic in their menace. Women, who have suffered at their hands, know the chilling fear when they see policewomen aping the worst in their male colleagues.
Since Bawandar has a direct theme, the festival audiences admire the film. It’s audiences who accept or reject a film. The Censor Board should not deny their legitimate right to see the film.
Whereas in real life Bhanwari Devi is still pursuing the case in a judicial system corrupted by sexism and political opportunism. She was gang-raped in 1992. Her medical examination was conducted 52 hours after the rape; two years later the trial began in a lower court, several judges were changed and finally in 1995 the last one found the accused not guilty.
She lives in the same village where her five upper-caste rapists roam freely. Even a victory rally in Jaipur for the five who got away was organized. The woman's wing of a political party attended the rally to call Bhanwari, among other things, a liar.
In 1994, the rapists offered her compensation to withdraw the case. Her reply was, "Tell our village elders you raped me, restore my dignity." The rapists refused. Her brothers felt she should have settled and they broke all ties with her. Even her older son and daughter-in-law, as well as her in-laws, followed suit. Her husband supporting, warm and caring took time to accept his family falling apart.
Bhanwari, despite all those bravery awards bestowed on her, is just a woman asking her country to be just. She hopes the wheels of justice will turn in her favor.
Bhanwari Devi, a gang-rape victim in Rajasthan, has to wait further to see her story on celluloid. 