NFAI, Pune. Well known for its rich archive of world cinema and the efforts it makes to restore prints. Set in a lush campus in Deccan gymkhana, NFAI screens world cinema regularly. Living a few blocks away from the campus, I usually attend most screenings. The theater is air-conditioned and clean for patrons have to remove their footwear outside. Watching world cinema is a hit and miss experience, and I have sat through quite a few sleep inducing pieces of “art”, content to be comfortable in the cool theater with an archaic projector, that has chewed many frames of film.
But no matter what the film, I always come away from NFAI with the satisfaction of having experienced a work of exquisite beauty and that is because of a picture in the lobby. It’s a woman wearing a white saree, with the pallu covering her head with some strands of hair tastefully showing. The pallu hugs her left cheek and forehead, and as it comes down the right side it flares, revealing the full right side of her face up to her ears, lending depth. The eyebrows, perfectly shaped, are arced minimally, and eyes are cast down at an angle suggesting a demure pose. The hands are visible and resting on the knees, lightly clasped. The forehead, neck and wrists are unadorned, and the saree has no border. There is no real point of focus in that picture, since the eyes and the face is tilted, but the effect created by the clasped hands, the bright white saree, her tilted facial features and the pallu covering her head creates a vision which the anonymous photographer might not have envisaged.
It’s a picture of the Hindi actress Meena Kumari, blown to 6ft by 3ft hanging on the left side as one enters the lobby. I never want to know what movie that picture came from, for that will reveal her character and I am afraid the picture will lose the charm it holds for me. Sometimes she is a tawaif waiting for her patron but the pure white saree also suggests movie could be from a period drama, wherein she might have essayed a role of widow. She could also be a mother, or “the other woman” who made a sacrifice. She could also be a lover, quietly reflecting upon her amorous escapades, clasped hands and raised eyebrows the only outward indications of the pleasures she was reliving. She could be a royal courtesan, contemplating the downfall of her enemies (real and imagined) or she could be a friend saddened by the shenanigans of her companions. She could be grieving the loss of a loved one, or her heart could be pounding upon hearing the news of arrival of her beloved.
That picture, a work of art, languishing in a quiet of corner of a film archive in India makes the Mona Lisa at the Louvre look like an art student’s first project.
But no matter what the film, I always come away from NFAI with the satisfaction of having experienced a work of exquisite beauty and that is because of a picture in the lobby. It’s a woman wearing a white saree, with the pallu covering her head with some strands of hair tastefully showing. The pallu hugs her left cheek and forehead, and as it comes down the right side it flares, revealing the full right side of her face up to her ears, lending depth. The eyebrows, perfectly shaped, are arced minimally, and eyes are cast down at an angle suggesting a demure pose. The hands are visible and resting on the knees, lightly clasped. The forehead, neck and wrists are unadorned, and the saree has no border. There is no real point of focus in that picture, since the eyes and the face is tilted, but the effect created by the clasped hands, the bright white saree, her tilted facial features and the pallu covering her head creates a vision which the anonymous photographer might not have envisaged.
It’s a picture of the Hindi actress Meena Kumari, blown to 6ft by 3ft hanging on the left side as one enters the lobby. I never want to know what movie that picture came from, for that will reveal her character and I am afraid the picture will lose the charm it holds for me. Sometimes she is a tawaif waiting for her patron but the pure white saree also suggests movie could be from a period drama, wherein she might have essayed a role of widow. She could also be a mother, or “the other woman” who made a sacrifice. She could also be a lover, quietly reflecting upon her amorous escapades, clasped hands and raised eyebrows the only outward indications of the pleasures she was reliving. She could be a royal courtesan, contemplating the downfall of her enemies (real and imagined) or she could be a friend saddened by the shenanigans of her companions. She could be grieving the loss of a loved one, or her heart could be pounding upon hearing the news of arrival of her beloved.
That picture, a work of art, languishing in a quiet of corner of a film archive in India makes the Mona Lisa at the Louvre look like an art student’s first project.
4 comments:
Another lover of the lady.
Read about the book written by Vinod Mehta titled Meena Kumari.
http://8ate.blogspot.com/2007/04/poetess-and-actressmeena-kumari.html
He kept a picture of hers in his room while he was writing the book and he admitted to falling fell in love with ‘his heroine’. After all these years, he still has a picture of her on one of the walls of his house. Your post reminded me of Vinod Mehta’s crush on the dead lady, he wrote almost the same lines as you.
Thanks. Its tough not fall "in love" with someone so enigmatic. Thanks for pointing out the book. If you do get a chance, go see the pic in NFAI. You will see what I mean.
Where's the pic, dude?
NFAI, Pune. Intersection of Prabhat Road and Law College Road
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