Gulabi Talkies
Encyclopedia
Gulabi Talkies is a 2008 Kannada
film by acclaimed Indian director Girish Kasaravalli
. It is based on a short story by the same name by Kannada writer Vaidehi
.
The film premiered at the Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema
in New Delhi on 14 July 2008, where it won the Best Film and Best Actress awards in the Indian Competition section. Umashree won the National Award for Best Actress
for her performance in the film.
. The impulsive midwife Gulabi (Umashree) is the protagonist, whose one passion is the cinema. She leads a lonely life in an island inhabited by fisher folk. Her husband Musa (K.G. Krishna Murthy), a small-time fish-selling agent, has deserted her and is living happily with his second wife Kunjipathu and their child Adda.
A family gifts her a television with a satellite dish antenna in gratitude after she attends to a difficult delivery (for which they even had to bodily remove her from a movie theatre). The arrival of the first color TV in her small island village heralds great changes in the sleepy hamlet. The women in the village begin gathering at her house once the men leave for fishing. But a few of them stay away, since Gulabi is one of the few Muslims in the village. Yet others prefer to watch from outside her shack, without entering it.
Among the regulars at her home is Netru (singer-actress M.D. Pallavi), a girl with an absentee husband and a domineering mother-in-law, whom Gulabi befriends and becomes a confidante to. But Netru disappears and Gulabi is blamed, leaving her all alone in the village.
The Kargil War
of 1999 and the rise of communalism
in Karnataka provide the backdrop to the film. The communal stereotyping of Muslims following the Kargil War finds an echo in the village. The tension between the small fishermen of the village and a Muslim businessman (who is actually never shown throughout the film) with a growing fleet of commercial trawlers acquires a communal colour.
The disappearance of Netru adds to the mounting tensions. The Muslims in the village flee and urge Gulabi to leave too, but she refuses and stays put in the village. Her house is vandalised and she is forcibly taken to a boat to leave the island. The young men from outside who spearhead the attack assure the villagers that Gulabi's television would remain in her house.
The film ends with a scene in which two illiterate elderly women, who had hitherto refused to enter Gulabi's house, going in there to watch TV (which they do not know how to switch on - they are probably unaware even that it has to be switched on).
, 2008:
Karnataka State Annual Film Awards, 2009
National Film Awards
, 2009
Kannada language
Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...
film by acclaimed Indian director Girish Kasaravalli
Girish Kasaravalli
Girish Kasaravalli is a noted film director, and one of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema in Kannada cinema, who has won the National Film Award for Best Film four times, Ghatashraddha , Tabarana Kathe , Thaayi Saheba and Dweepa...
. It is based on a short story by the same name by Kannada writer Vaidehi
Vaidehi (Kannada writer)
Janaki Srinivasa Murthy , popularly known by her pen name as Vaidehi is a well-known writer of modern Kannada language fiction. Vaidehi is one of the most successful woman writer in Kannada and winner of many prestigious national and state level literary awards...
.
The film premiered at the Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema
Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema
Osian's-Cinefan, the largest film-festival devoted to Asian and Arab cinema, is part of Osian's Film House Division. The festival celebrated its 10th anniversary in July 2008.-History:...
in New Delhi on 14 July 2008, where it won the Best Film and Best Actress awards in the Indian Competition section. Umashree won the National Award for Best Actress
National Film Award for Best Actress
The National Film Award for Best Actress is an honor presented annually at the National Film Awards of India to an actress who has delivered the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film industry...
for her performance in the film.
Plot
The film is set in the late 1990s among the fishing communities around Kundapura, in the southwestern Indian state of KarnatakaKarnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
. The impulsive midwife Gulabi (Umashree) is the protagonist, whose one passion is the cinema. She leads a lonely life in an island inhabited by fisher folk. Her husband Musa (K.G. Krishna Murthy), a small-time fish-selling agent, has deserted her and is living happily with his second wife Kunjipathu and their child Adda.
A family gifts her a television with a satellite dish antenna in gratitude after she attends to a difficult delivery (for which they even had to bodily remove her from a movie theatre). The arrival of the first color TV in her small island village heralds great changes in the sleepy hamlet. The women in the village begin gathering at her house once the men leave for fishing. But a few of them stay away, since Gulabi is one of the few Muslims in the village. Yet others prefer to watch from outside her shack, without entering it.
Among the regulars at her home is Netru (singer-actress M.D. Pallavi), a girl with an absentee husband and a domineering mother-in-law, whom Gulabi befriends and becomes a confidante to. But Netru disappears and Gulabi is blamed, leaving her all alone in the village.
The Kargil War
Kargil War
The Kargil War ,, also known as the Kargil conflict, was an armed conflict between India and Pakistan that took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district of Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control...
of 1999 and the rise of communalism
Communalism (South Asia)
This article deals with the use of the word communalism in South Asia, as a name for a force separating different communities based on some form of social or sectarian discrimination...
in Karnataka provide the backdrop to the film. The communal stereotyping of Muslims following the Kargil War finds an echo in the village. The tension between the small fishermen of the village and a Muslim businessman (who is actually never shown throughout the film) with a growing fleet of commercial trawlers acquires a communal colour.
The disappearance of Netru adds to the mounting tensions. The Muslims in the village flee and urge Gulabi to leave too, but she refuses and stays put in the village. Her house is vandalised and she is forcibly taken to a boat to leave the island. The young men from outside who spearhead the attack assure the villagers that Gulabi's television would remain in her house.
The film ends with a scene in which two illiterate elderly women, who had hitherto refused to enter Gulabi's house, going in there to watch TV (which they do not know how to switch on - they are probably unaware even that it has to be switched on).
Awards and recognition
Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab CinemaOsian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema
Osian's-Cinefan, the largest film-festival devoted to Asian and Arab cinema, is part of Osian's Film House Division. The festival celebrated its 10th anniversary in July 2008.-History:...
, 2008:
- Best Film in Indian Competition
- Best Actress in Indian Competition - Umashree
Karnataka State Annual Film Awards, 2009
- Best Film - Kannada State award
- Best Screenplay - Girish Kasaravalli
- Best Actress - Umashree
National Film Awards
National Film Awards
The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it is administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.Every year, a national panel...
, 2009
- Best Actress - Umashree
External links
Reviews
- "A village on the screen", IndiaTogether.org
- "A masterpiece from Girish Kasaravalli", Rediff.com
- Review on Indian AuteurIndian AuteurIndian Auteur is an English-language e-magazine and website devoted to film criticism. Established in 2009, it is published by NSFI, a New Delhi-based film initiative, involved in organizing film screenings and independent film production....
- Review on VarietyAsiaOnline.com