Bazaar-e-Husn: Banking on nostalgia
— By Johnson Thomas, July 19, 2014 12:04 am
Film: Bazaar-e-Husn
Cast: Reshmi Ghosh, Jeet Goswami, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Om Puri, Yashpal Sharma, Rajeev Verma, Savita Prabhune
Director: Ajay Mehra
This film is an adaptation from the 1919 published Munshi Premchand story which was titled ‘Bazaar-e-Husn’ in Urdu and ‘SevaSadan’ in Hindi. Needless to say it brings back to mind the classic old-world charm of a bygone era-One that was supremely evoked in films like ‘Pakeezah’ and ‘ Umrao Jaan.’
This one is neither an ambitious take nor a progressive one. It’s merely an effort at telling a tale which now seems too outdated to amount to anything meaningful for today’s fast food generation.
Director Ajay Mehra brings us this fairly engaging, understated tale of a young virtuous woman, Suman (Reshmi Ghosh) who falls foul of love (Jeet Goswami) because of family compulsions, and is coerced into marrying a slime ball, Gajadhar (Yashpal Sharma) following her father, Darogaji (Om Puri)’s incarceration for taking a bribe.
Suman’s trials and tribulations continue after marriage and she is forced to take shelter in a brothel run by a kind-hearted soul (Rajeshwari Sachdev).Thereafter it’s a series of predictable events leading up to the former lovers’ reunion.
In 1919, Munshi Premshand’s story had bite since it captures quite beautifully the traditions and compulsions of that bygone era. Today, though there’s really nothing we can relate to, here. This film is a mere period piece which is fairly engaging and nothing more. The scripting is done without much finesse. Merely re-invoking the written word doesn’t justify this sort of a movie.
Ajay Mehra’s lack luster treatment also makes the exercise pointless. The performances are quite crisp even though the characterizations appear underdeveloped. Reshmi Ghosh, Rajeshwari Sachdev and Om Puri elevate the experience somewhat. Khayyam’s music which appears to be a rehash of ‘Razia Sultan’ is nostalgia inducing at best. Even though this is one of the better offerings this week it still doesn’t make the cut for a must-see!