28July
Hellaro, National Award-winning Gujarati film, is a beautiful ode to female desire and defiance
The arrival of spring in India now guarantees the resurfacing of an annual viral story. The celebration of Holi by the widows of Vrindavan, covered in original reportage and spectacular photo stories, envelopes one’s social media feed with increasing frequency. Sulabh International, an NGO which has worked to provide food and shelter to these women, kickstarted the practice back in 2013, to bring about social assimilation and acceptance. At the time, Bindeshwar Pathak, Sulabh’s founder commented, “As widows do not play Holi traditionally in Vrindavan, the event may need some amount of attitudinal change in the mindset of the society.” While the initiative, now gearing up for its eighth iteration, certainly seems to have overcome the roadblocks of tradition, progressive change is no easy task, as women of a remote Kutch village can attest.
Drought has ravaged the tranquility of daily life. Government and development are abstract concepts. The isolation of their existence is so complete that even the imposition of an Emergency is dismissed in jest. Religion, customs, and history are the only recognised symbols of governance, wielded by the men of the village with a ruthless bureaucracy. The men can perform Garba, the Gujarati folk dance, while women are barred from doing the same. Men offer a prayer for rain and mercy to a Goddess, as much a part of their routine as their mistreatment and neglect of the women in their houses.
Abhishek Shah’s Hellaro draws its central conflict from a Kutch folktale about subjugated women meeting a drummer (dholi) in secret and dancing to their heart’s content. The film’s straightforward story is enlivened by its treatment and nuanced angles. The commentary is not just limited to the horrors of patriarchy but also examines caste-based violence, trauma, and blind-faith. The film not only won the National Award For Best Feature Film (the first Gujarati film to do so) but saw the 13 leading women winning a Special Jury Award; a result of not just great ensemble performance but also a clever break in storytelling.
