Before I sat down to write this review I was wondering just one thing. How do I classify Gajagamini?
A commercial movie? Of course not. It has no mindless actions, no duets in Switzerland, no family feuds, no extravagant sets, no cliched elements. An art movie? This one is tougher. An art movie is definitely more realistic than a commercial film but such movies have strong stories and clearly defined characters. Gajagaimini has neither of these.
What about a painting? Like a painting, it is colorful; like a painting, it has various strokes of life; like a painting, it has an underlying message; like a painting, it is enigmatic. Yes, M.F.Hussain’s Gajagamini can be described aptly as a moving painting! And the subject of the painting is a WOMAN AND HER VARIOUS FORMS.
THE LADIES
There are four women portrayed in the movie - Gajagamini, Sangeeta, Shakuntal, and Monica. Each of these characters look different, behave different, and convey different characteristics of a woman.
Gajagamini
Gajagamini is a mysterious woman with a hidden face. She is symbolized as the mother of the remaining three women. As Gajagamini walks through the different roads of life she is given a face in the form of Sangeeta in Banaras, Shakuntal in the dense Kerala forests, and Monica in the 20st century. Gajagamini is every poet’s poetry and every painter’s painting - in essence, she is the subject of every creative mind, which is what a woman has been for ages.
Sangeeta
Sangeeta is a blind woman who has four friends. She sits with a harmonium in her hand and dreams of dancing between guitars and tablas. Deep inside her is a burning fire against all the male chauvinists of the world.
Shakuntal
Shakuntal is Kalidas’s creation - a charming woman living in Kerala’s evergreen forests. One day, a prince sweeps her off her feet. But, unfortunately, he uses her for quenching his lust and abandons her after a one-night stand. This breaks her heart and the bubbly woman becomes a living dead body.
Monica
Monica is a breathtaking beauty of the modern era. She loves with her soul but is very careful before completely surrendering herself. When her boyfriend leaves on an important assignment she feels sad, but is mature while handling her sorrow. She doesn’t allow her lover’s distance to prevent her from smiling or socializing. Monica knows that he will be back, and if he isn’t, she can still walk with her head held high.
OTHERS
Apart from the four main characters Gajagamini boasts of other interesting characters. For example, the fiery Marati woman who is so cautious about everything. Phoolvaliya, whose only goal in life is to kill the person who murdered her husband. The Scientist, Kalidas, Leonardo Da Vinci, Kamdev - the eternal lover of Gajagamini, and so on.
SOME SPECIAL SCENES
1) The interactions between the Scientist and Kalidas. They continuously argue about the relative superiority of Art and Science. Art is the product of creativity and Science is the product of thinking. But one cannot be creative without being a thinker. Similarly, one cannot think of new discoveries without being creative. Hence, art and science go hand in hand. Neither can be appreciated without the other. This is what I got out of the healthy discussions between Kalidas and the Scientist during every walk of life.
2) The ’ghatri’ that Gajagamini carries symbolizes the burden of being a woman. A woman has to bear every worry in life, has to take responsibility of every aspect of life; thus the ever-present ghatri on Gajagamini’s head.
3) The scene towards the climax when a gun is found beneath the soft flowers of Phoolvaliya’s basket - fire beneath flowers. Phoolvaliya’s red band around her forehead underlines her thirst for revenge.
4) M.F.Hussain uses black sketches with a red background after some incidents in the movie.
When Sangeeta and her three friends meet, we get a square. A square is a closed figure with four sides - the four friends are the four sides and their close bond is the square.
Another nice scenario is when Kamdev and Leonardo try to appease Sangeeta - Kamdev with a dholak and Leonardo with a violin. Sangeeta, who loves music, imagines herself dancing seductively between the dholak and the guitar. After her dance a triangle is shown - the three sides of the triangle are Sangeeta, the dholak, and the guitar. The closed triangle implies the love that she has for both the insturments. Many more examples are seen.
THE PERFORMANCES
The star of Gajagamini is undoubtedly the most talented, graceful, and charming actress of Bollywood, Madhuri Dixit. There are no words to describe her excellent performance! She has very few dialogues but her body language, perfect movements, and expressive face do all the talking. Just watch her as the enigmatic Gajagamini - you will be left spellbound! It is amazing how much she conveys solely through her movements. Just watch her as the happy Shakuntala - her exuberance will rub off on you! Just watch her as the modern Monica - if beauty could kill, she is going to murder you!
Every step Madhuri takes, every move Madhuri makes, every look Madhuri gives, has some meaning, some message. You will never take your eyes off her. After watching Gajagamini, I am completely convinced that no other actress possesses the magnitude of talent and grace that Madhuri does. No wonder M.F.Hussain made this movie to celebrate her!
Of course, the supporting starcast of Gajagamini need to be specially mentioned because they all do their job very sincerely. Among those, Naseeruddin Shah as Leonardo Da Vinci, Shilpa Shirodkar as the fiery Marati woman, and Shabana Azmi as the sister of Monica stand out. Aashish Vaidyarti as the scientist, as Kalidas, and Inder Kumar as the eternal lover of Gajagamini are good. Shah Rukh Khan is spontaneous, but frankly his role amounts to singing a duet with Monica!
MUSIC AND CHOREOGRAPHY
The music of Gajagamini, termed ’pathetic’ by some clueless reviewers, is extremely melodious. But, unfortunately, like the movie itself, the album has a very limited appeal. The songs topping my list are ’’Ye Ghatri Taj Ki Tarah, ’’ ’’Do Sadiyon Ke Sangam Par, ’’ ’’Maro Hansa Gaye Re, ’’ All the songs have situational https://lyrics. Excellent!
The songs look even more beautiful on screen because of Saroj Khan’s choreography and Madhuri’s dancing.
Watch Madhuri execute the BALLET OF LOVE along the banks of Banaras. Those five minutes are worth thousand views. My second favorite dance is MERI PAYAL BOLE, which is based on Shakuntala’s first attraction towards a man! Madhuri sails through it effortlessly! A classic mix of Indian and Western! The DANCE OF REVENGE executed by Sangeeta and her pals is a visual treat. Do Sadiyon Ki is a sweet number wherein ShahRukh and Dixit look comfortable and handsome together. Yet another reminder of how underutilized this couple is!
(Contd in comments....)