Respected
sir,
In
context to postcolonial studies we watched two movies in context to postcolonial study. It
helps us to get clear idea about the basic concept of
postcolonialism, and here I try to justify my views as review of
these two movies. In postcolonial study we have gone through
different topics like race, colonialism, gender, politics and
language that all has deep connection with postcolonial studies. It
also related with the power of hegemony and the mindset of the
people. And these all points are there in the movies so let’s see
and try to identify the depiction of postcolonialism in the movies
like ‘Midnight’s Children’ and the second one is ‘The
Reluctant Fundamentalist’.
If
we minutely observe that two films has so many similar topics like
freedom struggle, love for nation, hybridizations of language and
culture, colonialism, politics, hegemonic power structure, repetition
of history, symbols of rising sun after war and wheels as time. And
we find Use of flashback techniques there.
First
of all let’s point out the topics which I find while screening the
first movie ‘Midnight’s children’. Movie is directed by Deepa
Mehta and written by Salman Rushdie. In the beginning we find birth
of two babies at midnight when India got freedom and if we
symbolically try to look at them then we find that birth of two
nation after independence. Name of children also give us support to
think on that direction that Saleem and Shiva. Here we can find
identity crisis that how nurse exchange the templates of babies for
their personal reason of rivalry. Because they find class conflict
in the society so they believes that independence is just for the
rich people other will not get any benefit to free from the slave
system from their master who are rich and so called upper class
people. She did not exchange the templates for his lover’s sake
but she wanted revolution in actual meaning that’s why she
exchange. And she wanted to see the suffering and pain which they
have gone through by saying that
“Let
Rich be the Poor, and Poor be the Rich.”
Plot
of movie has different settings it starts from Kashmir to Agra to
Bombay to East Pakistan ( soon to be Bangladesh) and India many scene
interwoven through sifting one place to another place like freedom
struggle, partition, emergency time, destroying slum area, nuclear
test, these all things happens that shows the clear picture of India.
Here we can use metafiction that writer tries to attempt to blur the
line between fiction and reality. One other statement in the movie
that,
“India
is Prime Minister, Prime Minister is India.”
We
can also find some lyrics like, “Anything
you want be, you can be.”
that care taker sings for the poor child Shiva that is for avoid
repetition or we can find aroma of failure there in the lyrics. She
sings like that because she is the victim of class conflict system.
If
we look from the perspective of Amina that her husband gives her new
name after their marriage that suggest that he tries to erase the
line and identity of her past. But as movie progress we find that he
fails to do that because we find the extra marital affair of Amina
that clearly suggest that she could not come out from her past and
memories of Nadir. Ahmed and Amina spend their marriage life in
fighting. And especially Ahmed spends his life as an adductor of
alcohol. The pain we feel in the lyrics of Amina that is, “where
are you now.?”
Here we apply Spivak’s subaltern terms in context to colonizer
that how women is slave of man. When the reality reveal that Saleem
is not their child, then Ahmed doubt on Amina. But as audience we
know that she inherits her father’s skepticism and her mother’s
determination in her blood that she is devoted mother. But she can’t
justify it. And now look at the Saleem’s perspective that he
suffered a lot because his of real identity crisis he speaks these
lines, “My
blood was not right that’s why I sent away.”
when he sent to Pakistan in his aunt’s house.
At
some point we find magic realism in the movie when we look from the
perspective of the history of Saleem Sinai that goes parallel with
history of India. Multiplication of Saleem’s identity and the
identity he gives to India. Here we can say that Rushdie tries to use
magical power to blur the distinction between fact and fiction. At
aunt’s home he first time realize that he is born, with so many
children who were born at midnight but the upbringing is different
but the one thing is common that all has ability to do things
differently. But at same time he says that we have power but it
doesn’t mean that we use it for fighting.
Then
during the partition he lost his family and says that, “I
have many families and I have no family.” Weird
picture of war is also depicted there very well in the movie that
supports humanism. And after war he met parvati – the witch who
saves saleem and brings him back to India with the help of her magic.
We find depiction of India is in traditional way that colonizer still
believes that India is the land of snake charmers. After war
everything is changed. Saleem who born in rich family is wandering in
the streets that suggest he has no power at all. Shiva who born and
brought up in the poor family is now in power position. But if we
try to connect it with politics that time of emergency was actually
needed or it was just created to clear slums from India. And if we
try to look at from colonizer perspective that one has the power to
rule over others. Here in the movie Shiva gets chance to rule over
Saleem. Saleem and Shiva both falls in love with Parvati and last
when child of Shiva born Saleem speaks that. “Love
is not just born, it’s made.”
We
find symbols in the movie like Shiva’s turning wheel of bike that
suggest turning time and sunrise after war also gives hope for new
life. And one dialogue we also found there is, “we
have to survive and made our way.”
Thank
you.
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