Gaja Gamini
Encyclopedia
Gaja Gamini also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
: गज गामिनी, translation
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
: One with a walk like an elephant) is an 2000 India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n film written and directed by M.F. Husain and is his ode to womanhood and his muse of the time, Madhuri Dixit
Madhuri Dixit
Madhuri Dixit is an Indian film actress who has appeared in Hindi films. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, she established herself as one of Hindi cinema's leading actresses and most accomplished dancers. She appeared in numerous commercially successful films and was recognised for several of...
, who stars as the lead in the film.
The film bombed at the box office.
Plot
Gaja Gamini, the embodiment of the Indian spirit, inspires artists of all kinds, interacts with and influences the West, and exists through the ages.Made in a mold very similar to that of V. Shantaram
V. Shantaram
V. Shantaram is a renowned Indian filmmaker, film producer and actor. He is most known for his films like Dr...
's films (Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje, Jal Bin Machchli Nritya Bin Bijli), Gaja Gamini is a timeless film that explores the woman. The central figure of the film is represented by a mysterious figure called "Gaja Gamini" (Madhuri Dixit
Madhuri Dixit
Madhuri Dixit is an Indian film actress who has appeared in Hindi films. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, she established herself as one of Hindi cinema's leading actresses and most accomplished dancers. She appeared in numerous commercially successful films and was recognised for several of...
), who inspires, arouses, and confuses the common man. "Gaja Gamini" is the inspiration behind Leonardo Da Vinci's (Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah is an Indian / Bollywood film actor and director. He is considered to be one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. In 2003, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions towards Indian cinema.-Early life:...
) ´Mona Lisa´, Kalidas´ poem "Shakuntala", and a photojournalist named Shahrukh's (Shah Rukh Khan) photographs. The mysterious "Gaja Gamini" appears as four characters, one of them being Sangeeta, a blind girl from Banaras at the beginning of time, who inspires village women (Farida Jalal, Shilpa Shirodkar, and Shabana Aazmi) to revolt against a male-dominated system and carve a niche for women forever. Another character is Shakuntala, who is the subject of Kalidas´ poem of the same name. Shakuntala incites jealousy in the women and love in the men around her, charming humans and animals alike in the forests of Kerala. "Gaja Gamini" is also Mona Lisa during the Renaissance, the object of painter Leonardo Da Vinci's obsession. Finally, Monika, the most confusing sector of the film, is supposed to represent the woman of the New Millennium. Kamdev, the God of Love (Inder Kumar, in a fine breakthrough performance as a hero), walks the earth throughout history, attempting to win the love of "Gaja Gamini", with whom he is in love.
Thrown in to this mix is a large black wall, separating two different time periods, and confrontations between Science (Ashish Vidyarthi) and Art (Mohan Agashe
Mohan Agashe
Mohan Agashe is an Indian theatre and film actor. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1996.-Biography:...
) at different points in history, showing that the world itself can change, but its original ideas will always be permanent. For example, a play by Shakespeare can be written in the 15th Century and performed by actors of that time. The same play will still be performed in the 21st Century, but with different actors. The confrontations between Art and Science also bring about the idea that while Science is firmly set on believing that which can only be proved, the basis for Art is that which can be proved, and an intuitive sense that can be felt. Science uses the brain, while Art uses the brain and the heart. Another interesting facet of the film is a "gathri", a small bundle which a woman carries upon her head, like a burden, with which she must walk forever.
Cast
- Madhuri DixitMadhuri DixitMadhuri Dixit is an Indian film actress who has appeared in Hindi films. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, she established herself as one of Hindi cinema's leading actresses and most accomplished dancers. She appeared in numerous commercially successful films and was recognised for several of...
- Gaja Gamini/Sangita/ShakuntalaShakuntalaIn Hindu mythology Shakuntala is the wife of Dushyanta and the mother of Emperor Bharata. Her story is told in the Mahabharata and dramatized by Kalidasa in his play Abhijñānaśākuntalam .-Etymology:Rishi Kanva found her in forest as a baby surrounded by Shakunta birds...
/Monika/Mona LisaMona LisaMona Lisa is a portrait by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is a painting in oil on a poplar panel, completed circa 1503–1519... - Shabana AzmiShabana AzmiShabana Azmi is an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. An alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India of Pune, she made her film debut in 1974 and soon became one of the leading actresses of parallel cinema, an Indian New Wave movement known for its serious content and...
- Premchand's Nirmala - Shahrukh KhanShahrukh KhanShahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....
- Naseeruddin ShahNaseeruddin ShahNaseeruddin Shah is an Indian / Bollywood film actor and director. He is considered to be one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. In 2003, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions towards Indian cinema.-Early life:...
- Leonardo da VinciLeonardo da VinciLeonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance... - Shilpa ShirodkarShilpa ShirodkarShilpa Shirodkar is an Indian actress who enjoyed a period of popularity in the 1990s.-Early life:Shirodkar is the elder sister of actress and former Miss India Namrata Shirodkar. Shilpa and Namrata started their careers together, but Shilpa started with films and Namrata with modeling; and by the...
- Sindhu - Tej Sapru - Tansen
- Farida JalalFarida Jalal- Career :Farida Jalal, a native of New Delhi, started her career in the 1960s, when she won the United Film Producers Talent Hunt sponsored by Filmfare. She usually played the sister or rejected fiancée of the male lead, but almost never the female lead...
- Noorbibi - Mohan AgasheMohan AgasheMohan Agashe is an Indian theatre and film actor. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1996.-Biography:...
- KalidasaKalidasaKālidāsa was a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language... - Ashish VidyarthiAshish VidyarthiAshish Vidyarthi is an Indian actor who worked predominantly in Hindi films and lately in South Indian films. He has won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for film Drohkaal in 1995....
- Scientist
Crew
- Art direction : Sharmishtha Roy
- Costume Design: Reza Shareefi
- Choreography: Saroj KhanSaroj KhanNirmala Kishanchand Sadhu Singh Nagpal popularly known as Saroj Khan is one of the most prominent Indian dance choreographers in Hindi cinema...
, Jojo Khan - Sound: Buta Singh
- Background music: Anuradha Pal
Reviews
Critic Taran AdarshTaran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh is an Indian film critic, journalist, editor and film trade analyst. He is also a former producer and screenwriter. He is the son of film director and producer, B.K. Adarsh....
said "The film has a very colourful look, with the visuals being eye-catching. But as a director, Hussain fails to convey his thoughts on celluloid. On the whole, GAJA GAMINI is an artistic film which will not be understood by any strata of audience -- classes or masses. Business-wise, the film is sure to spell disaster. A waste of precious celluloid".
Soundtrack
The Soundtrack includes the following tracks and instrumentals,composed by Bhupen HazarikaBhupen Hazarika
Bhupen Hazarika was an Indian lyricist, musician, singer, poet and film-maker from Assam. His songs,written and sung mainly in Assamese by the legend himself, are infused with humanity and universalism, and have been translated and sung in many languages, most notable being Bengali ,Hindi and...
.
| Song | Singer(s) | Lyricist |
|---|---|---|
| Deepak Raag | Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan is an Indian music composer and singer. He is a part of the Shankar Ehsaan Loy trio team that composes for Indian films and a playback singer.-Early life:... |
Maya Govind |
| Do Sadiyon Ke Sangam | Udit Narayan Udit Narayan -Career:King of melody, Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December, 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district , Nepal. His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.Narayan studied at P.B... , Kavita Krishnamurthy |
Javed Akhtar Javed Akhtar Javed Akhtar is a poet, lyricist and scriptwriter from India. Some of his most successful work was done in the late 1970s and 1980s with Salim Khan as half of the script-writing duo credited as Salim-Javed... |
| Gaja Gamini | Bhupen Hazarika Bhupen Hazarika Bhupen Hazarika was an Indian lyricist, musician, singer, poet and film-maker from Assam. His songs,written and sung mainly in Assamese by the legend himself, are infused with humanity and universalism, and have been translated and sung in many languages, most notable being Bengali ,Hindi and... |
Maya Govind |
| Hamara Hansa Gaya Videsh | Kavita Krishnamurthy | Maya Govind |
| Meri Payal Bole | Kavita Krishnamurthy | Maya Govind |
| Shloka - Part 1 | Roop Kumar Rathod Roop Kumar Rathod -Personal life:Roopkumar is the son of the late Pandit Chaturbhuj Rathod, the classical luminary – an exponent of the rare and arguably the oldest style of singing i.e. Dhrupad. He belonged to the “Aditya Gharana of Jamnagar”. Pandit Rathod has trained and groomed many well known names like... |
Kalidas |
| Shloka - Part 2 | Udit Narayan Udit Narayan -Career:King of melody, Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December, 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district , Nepal. His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.Narayan studied at P.B... |
Kalidas |
| Yeh Gathri Taaj Ki Tarah | Kavita Krishnamurthy | M.F. Hussain |
| Yeh Gathri Taj Ki Tarah | M.F. Hussain | M.F. Hussain |
External links
- Gaja Gamini at Bollywood HungamaBollywood HungamaBollywood Hungama is a leading Bollywood entertainment website, owned by hungama.com....