Red Rose (Bharathirajaa) 1980

Red Rose (1980)

Director: Bharathirajaa; Writer: Nida Fazli, Vithalbhai Patel, Bharathi Rajaa, Charandas Shokh; Producer: M.P. Jain, Mrs. Santosh Jain, Mrs. Era Kalra, Ravi Kumar, Mrs. Chandrika Shah; Cinematographer: Nivas P.S.; Editor: K. Balu; Cast: Rajesh Khanna, Poonam Dhillon, Aruna Irani, Om Shivpuri, Satyendra Kapoor, Roopesh Kumar, Shammi, Keshto Mukherjee, Shashi Kiran, Ram P. Sethi, Mayur Verma, Ritu Kamal, Madhu Patel, Snehlata, Anita, Jezebel, Swaraj Gupta, Umesh Sharma, Anand Girdhar, Rajaram, Sardar, Krishnamoorthy, Janagaraj, Azhar, Anjana Mumtaz, Munni, Rajni, Baby Gowri, Shanker Singh, Girish Pandit, Padmini Kapila, Manmauji

Duration: 02:17:30; Aspect Ratio: 1.778:1; Hue: 33.147; Saturation: 0.043; Lightness: 0.270; Volume: 0.140; Cuts per Minute: 12.195

criminal psychopathology
mental health
Rajesh Khanna
Sexual fixations and symptoms of repressed violent misogyny.
video

The use of video and its role in Anand's psychological illness: Anand kills Sheela in bed and records the act as a "snuff film".

Sharda re-enacts her sexual encounter with Anand as if in a trance - the use of audio bridges recurs in the film as a way to express the behaviour of the subconscious.

Sharda and Anand's first day as a married couple is haunted by the information he gives her about his "mad father". Childhood trauma and psychosexual dysfunction are invoked here.

Sharda's discovery of Anand's 'Bluebeard' room and the skeletons segues via voiceover into a flashback featuring him being rejected by his mother and the beginning of his adolescent traumas that caused his disorders.

The cutaways littered throughout the film finally have their source revealed - the young woman who seduces and then accuses Anand of sexual assault, leading him to flee.

Anand witnesses his employer discover his wife's infidelity (the source of the screams he often recalls in the present day) and transforms into the woman-hating young man who would go onto become a serial killer of women. His employer adopts him and they are united in a familial bond of dark, twisted masculinity/patriarchy.

masculinity
The use of voiceover again as the consequences of Anand's arrest and indictment are revealed - he is shown to be mentally retarded when Sharda comes to visit him in jail.

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