Lajja
In Lajja, Raj Kumar Santoshi etches a sensitive picture of the oppressed sex
Something within film-maker Raj Kumar Santoshi twitched as he read a small item in a Mumbai newspaper
two years ago. It was about a 42-year-old Dalit woman who was gang-raped by Yadav men and set ablaze
in a small village, Bhawanipur, near IIT-Kanpur. Her son had eloped with a Yadav girl, and the Dalit
woman was locked up in a room for seven days without food and water before being raped and burnt.
The villagers looked on helpless.
Lajja stars some of the best names in the business. “None of the characters or situations depicted in this film are imaginary or fictional. They are echoes of what is happening all around us in our so-called civilised society,” says Santoshi,
"Women in rural India, urban India or for that matter even abroad, constantly face
harassment from our patriarchal society."
It has a huge canvas of characters, fitting actresses like Rekha, Manisha Koirala, Madhuri Dixit and Mahima Chowdhury in one script.
The cast also has actors like Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Ajay Devgan, Danny
Denzongpa and Gulshan Grover. The film's background score, composed by
Ilayaraja, was recorded with the Budapest Radio Symphony Orchestra in Hungary.
"The discipline of the 90 musicians, the conductor and the recording engineers
was overwhelming," says the film-maker. "The musicians gave a standing ovation
after recording the scores. The recording stretched over five
days."
RAMDULAARI : Rekha plays a Dalit woman who dares to educate her son but faces the wrath of the feudal system
Madhuri as JANKI dares to live by her own unconventional rules and is an alcoholic unwed mother of an unborn child. She is forced to fight the unforgiving society.
VAIDEHI played by Manisha, who runs away from a bad marriage to discover that the world is no better place.
In fact, the horror has only begun. The film is seen through her agonised eyes.
Mahima Chaudhary is MAITHILI, who is a victim of dowry system and chooses to rebel rather than give in.
Jackie Shroff as Raghu, is Vaidehi’s husband. As pleasures of life seek prominence, the marriage vows lose their significance. To get what he wants, he will go to any extent. Now, Vaidehi has something he desperately wants. He’s an upper class man, with the lowest of morals!
Anil Kapoor as RAGHU is a petty thief. Despite having a heart of gold, he still endeavours to steal hearts. The law can never find him, but a person in need always can… Such is his strength. His sharp observation and wry humour make one almost glad that he is on the other side of the law and society.
BULWA played by Ajay Devgan depicts hope and is the messiah of the less fortunate. His bullets shield the innocent. He is their only hope.
Danny Denzongpa as Gajendra Babu, is a powerful man who has everything, except a conscience. A village head, he considers it his prerogative to make his own rules rules which no one is allowed to break. And if that does happen, then he is hell revisited.
Gulshan Grover is Virendra Babu, younger brother of Gajendra Babu and his partner in crime. He revels in the injustice spread by his brother and unleashes inhuman fury at the snap of a finger, targeting life itself.
The film climaxes through the silence of a martyr to the outcry of a rebel, a journey that is unified by an astonishing discovery, that a
woman is vulnerable to crime anywhere. As the journey extends so does the intensity of her misery.
But how far will it stir the senses of the society?
Only the box office can tell.
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