Mirch Masala

Set somewhere in Rajputana / northern Madhya Pradesh in central India between the two World Wars, this movie depicts the sordid daily humiliation and exploitation heaped upon villagers by an over-mighty landlord (Zamindar). When his attention focusses on the women, they unite and fight back, to the shame of their feeble husbands. Starring Naseeruddin Shah - a leading dramatic actor - in one of his more devlish roles. An historical epic as well as a manifesto for the liberation of the oppressed in rural India.

A Very good narrative on Pre-Independent India where Oppression of Tax Collectors on Villagers is depicted very well.

While I do not want to summarize the Story, I would like to highlight excellent Direction by Ketan Mehta & acting by Smita Patil, Suresh Oberoi & Om Puri. The vulnerability of the villagers is exposed & very few people stand up against the Naseeruddin Shah who is the Subedar.

The astonishment of the villagers on seeing the Gramophone for the first time is also very impressive

I managed to watch it online & was thoroughly impressed. It certainly deserves a 9/10

I had seen this movie as a kid, but all I remembered was the climax scene, because it was so powerful. I saw it recently and enjoyed every moment of it.

The story is set in colonial India, when the British have disarmed the people, and continue to oppress villagers, through tax collectors called "subedars". These subedars in turn lust for more than the tax.

The movie is about one such subedar, who while on his routine tax-collecting tour to a small village, gets attracted to one of the women. The woman, Sonbai, is married, but her husband has just left for the city in search of a better job. Sonbai(played excellently by Smita Patil) refuses to give in, and while escaping the subedars men, takes shelter in a spices factory.

The gate-keeper refuses to allow the subedars men in, and is determined to protect the honour of Sonbai. Here the cowardice of the fellow villagers surfaces, who decide that it is better to give in to the demands of the subedar, than to face his wrath. The movie successfully conveys the cowardice of oppressed men who cannot even think of rebellion, and even beat up their wives when they protest against their decision.

A brilliant film.

It is a deeply moving, crisply logical (even as the peppers dried in the sun would be), beautifully thought out film. The range of Son Bai's character from the early playfulness, the innocent chanchalta of a happy, hard working village wife, the tender moments with her husband, her loneliness when the husband is gone to his job in the railways, and her fiercely effective rage towards her greedy attacker: the Subedar. Yet, there is no Mother India like (a film alluded to, in a complimentary way, throughout parts of the film's plot line) high drama in her rage; it is very authentic, sincere, not filmy, and the silent alliance between Abu Mian and Son Bai, their clear understanding of what is at stake is depicted powerfully -- with very few spoken words, only Ketan Mehta's brilliant cinematography and Om Puri's and Smita's excellent chemistry. Others, including such stars as my most favorite Indian actress, Dina Pathak (whose mother roles are as profoundly moving as Daisy Irani's, though fewer, child roles), Deepti Naval, Supriya Pathak, and of course, Naseerudhin Shah (only he could have acted the Subedar in just that precise, perfect way to make all other elements of the film work so extremely well), also Ratna Pathak is very good, nearly everyone who acts in this film has done excellently well. One of the world's ten most important films, a timeless classic and firmly grounded in historical time.

Year 2003. Quentin Tarantino directed Kill Bill Vol.1 which had a climax scene of sword action between Uma Thurman & Lucy Liu. There is a beautiful sequence of shots wherein the two duelist are photographed in close-ups & simultaneously, a long shot where, the two actors are placed on the right corner of the screen while, a pivoted water tap moving up and down is placed on the left part of the screen. Year 1985. Ketan Mehta, India's acclaimed director and in his best cinematic achievement, had directed a similar shot wherein one of cinema's most memorable & immortal villain character played by Naseeruddin Shah counts-down from 10 to 1 alarming the lead actress to come out of her hideout simultaneously photographed with a Water Tap on the Extreme Left of the 70 mm screen, creating a magnificent scene.

And since then, there has been no such cinematography ever induced in any other Indian Movies. For those foreign audience, be noted, that this Movie is not a conventional Hindi movie loaded with songs. This Movie is a serious cinema of high degree of art.

Only 4 words can make a review of this movie: "Watch it on Priority" !