Kunku (1937)
Director: V. Shantaram; Writer: Narayan Hari Apte; Producer: Vishnupant Govind Damle, Sheikh Fattelal; Cinematographer: V. Avadhoot; Cast: Shanta Apte, Keshavrao Date, Raja Nene, Vimala Vashisht, Shakuntala Paranjpye, Vasanti, Gauri, Master Chhotu, Karmarkar
Duration: 02:28:46; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 95.546; Saturation: 0.034; Lightness: 0.296; Volume: 0.177; Cuts per Minute: 8.133; Words per Minute: 49.411
Summary: Neera[M]/Nirmala[H] (Apte) is trapped into
marrying the old widower Kakasaheb (Date). He is
a progressive lawyer with a son and a daughter of
Neera’s age. She refuses to consummate the union,
claiming repeatedly that while suffering can be
borne, injustice cannot. After facing many hurdles
including an aunt (Vasishta), her mother-in-law,
and a lascivious stepson Pandit[M]/Jugal[H])
(Nene), her husband has a change of heart and
magnanimously commits suicide, enjoining Neera to
marry someone more suitable. The change occurs
mainly through his widowed daughter Chitra[M]/
Sushila[H] (Paranjpye, a noted social worker off
screen) who provides a forcefully feminist moment
in a speech to the young bride. Apte sings the
combative song In the world’s broad field of battle...Be
not like dumb, driven cattle written by Longfellow.
The original novel was a landmark in Maharashtra’s
social reform movement denouncing arranged and
venal marriages that ignore women’s rights.
Shantaram’s version stresses melodramatic
overtones while indulging in some bravura visual
stylisations, e.g. in the editing (he edited his own
films) of the brief marriage sequence or the
shattered mirror scene returning multiple laughing
faces to the distraught old man gazing into the
mirror, the leitmotif of the ticking clock, etc.,
many of these stylised images referring obliquely to
the old man’s sexual impotence. Apte’s performance
in her first leading role displays a modern freshness
ahead of its time which established her as India’s
foremost singing star of the 30s. The veterans
Fattelal and Damle did the art direction
and the sound respectively. The Hindi title
translates literally as ‘The world will not accept...’
while the Marathi title refers to the vermilion mark
adorning the forehead of a married woman.
photo credit
Song: Ek Hota Raja
Camera tries to keep up with the song crescendo, rapid cuts, ends with disciplinary interruption
camera, tripod, posing, photo
family portrait posing
photo session
photo studio
Neera's first embodied defiance during the photo session. calling out the double standards of "shame"
looking at photographs
photo
placing photograph in the room
photo
gramophone, playing record
Song: Rachile Prabhune Jag He Vishaal
diegetic off-screen song: wakeful night
Song: Sukhshayani Shaiyyevarati
Song: Dukkhat Kaal Ka Ghalavishi
Song: Bharati Srushtiche Saundarya Khele
Song: Jai Devi Mangalagauri
god
litho
photo
PPF police
Song: Mann Suddha Tujha Goshta Haaye
Kakasaheb rushes with a stick to teach Neera a lesson. N at her domestic shrine. He hesitates.
Neera is disturbed by K's apology. Have I done something wrong? Her call is answered by a street performer.
Song: Bhadavyat Yeta Gauri-Ganapati
Neera sings Longfellow's poem
Neera explains her actions to Chitra. K overhears. Positioning of spectator within this cautionary tale. Shame & humiliation.
The confrontation: and the mirror sequence
Epiphany
Neera's soliloquy
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