Bhumika

Artistically, Bhumika is Benegal's seminal work. Storytelling is convincing, locations play a part and chronology is color coded. It's hailed as a study of feminism and 'male gaze', it's rather a character study of our impulsive protagonist, done impressively by Patil, surrounded by a pool of stereotypical antagonists who, for the length of the film, could have been used a bit better than mere shallow devices. 7/10!

This movie stands the test of time because of how relevant it is till date. Usha is the way she is, partially because of her toxic childhood. Even the choices that she makes , especially regarding her partners , give her only partial happiness. In the end , she remains stuck in a loop ; she fails to understand her true worth and you feel like giving her a big hug. The role needs a lot of emotional maturity from the Late Smita Patil ji and she nails the character to the T. I need to watch Hansa Wadkar ji's films , on which the character is based on. Amol Palekar and Amrish Puri 's characters are so different yet toxic in their own way, loved the way they were potrayed.

I first saw Bhumika when I was in my college. Now, last week I saw it again from a DVD. And the movie actually is haunting me still. This is not about Usha, not about just the 'Role-playing' (like say, the Gita motif is going to hit you hard: that this reality is nothing but a show, where everyone is just going to play on and on and on everyone's role), it is a movie, that most probably went beyond what Benegal wanted it to be. It is extremely dense, multilayered in its depiction and enactment of coloniality. The colonial subject, Usha, suffering from the colonial lack of self-esteem goes on trying to discover and rediscover herself, only entangling herself into a new layer of coloniality. Why I am calling it 'colonial'? Just see the movie to understand it. Only a newer and more dense power can pluck her out of the older tangle. And that is just a new drama where she plays a new role. Nothing else. And some unfathomable depth and sublimity has come into the film, that is always beyond the conscious scheme of an artist. Great makers can wait for the moment of creation of a movie like that, but, one cannot ever know it before making a film like that.

Well nothing much say except that the film really blew me away. What made this exceptionally brilliant is the amazing huge star cast but moreover their amazing appearance gradually.

Smitha Patil is breathtaking as the main protagonist, one of her ever best films on female centric characters. She will surely be remembered for this role. Supporting her is the amazing Amol Palekar who is brutal but human at the same time as Keshav.

Following them is a series of great performances from Anant, Naseer ,Agashe and Sulbha Deshpande. However the biggest surprise was Amrish Puri! Who was really really spellbinding as this calm gentle yet patriarchal man who is very much into his own principles.

Overall worth watching and a total 10 on 10 from my side.

With 'Bhumika: The Role', Shyam Benegal has created one of the finest character studies of Indian cinema. Based on the life of 40's Marathi actress Hansa Wadkar, is a biopic but very different from the conventional one. The film follows the life of a troubled actress who yearns to live a life of freedom where she can live the way she chooses. However, she only finds little satisfaction in her roles and while she has played a variety of characters in her films, she's stuck with the same role in life trapped in a man's world.

'Bhumika: The Role' is an exceptionally well-made film. Benegal is clearly influenced by Satyajit Ray. The black and white flashback sequences echo scenes from Ray's 'Nayak' and 'Patther Panchali'. His attention to detail is excellent as he adds subtle layers to the films (for example, notice how time is depicted through the news on the radio). The absence of a background score make the scenes raw and gritty. The remarkable cinematography deserves special mention and the lighting is superb.

But what would 'Bhumika: The Role' be without Smita Patil's tour-de-force performance? Patil was only in her very early 20s when she shot for the film and yet she's incredibly convincing as a bubbly teenager, a grown-up actress and a mother of a mother-to-be. Urvashi is a complex and demanding character with many shades and that cannot be easy for an ordinary actor to play but Patil does it with sheer ease and intensity. She dazzles the screen with a restrained and natural performance.

Patil is effectively supported by a strong cast that includes Sulabha Deshpande (notice the parallels between her role and Urvashi which hints that Usha's daughter may also repeat the sad cycle), Amol Palekar, Amrish Puri, Anant Nag, Naseeruddin Shah and Dina Pathak.

This is easily one of Benegal's best and it should serve as a prototype character study, biopic and even a textbook of acting (for upcoming actors). On different levels, it works as a social commentary, a historically accurate period piece, a study of relationships, provides an insight into the filmworld and a piece of thought-provoking cinema that makes one question the various roles humans have to play in life.