![]() ![]() ![]() The urgent drumming and orchestral music that accompanies their dance will recur periodically as an ominous motif throughout the story. The film’s credits roll against a stylized backlit chorus of five such women, their faces concealed in shadow, dancing in unison on a surreal parquet floor that is (apparently) the film’s only soundstage set. The title refers to a custom in some parts of Rajasthan-where aristocratic women were long kept secluded and veiled-of hiring professional women mourners on the death of a male relative, a rudaali (pronounced “roo-dah-lee”-literally, a female “weeper”) to publicly express the grief that family members, constrained by their high social status, were not permitted to display-or at times, perhaps did not feel.ĭressed in black and with unbound hair, a rudaali beat her breast, danced spasmodically, rolled on the ground, and shed copious tears while loudly praising the deceased and lamenting his demise the ability to hire such a performer was a mark of social status. The film is unusual too in having a female director: Lajmi (who, incidentally, is a niece of Guru Dutt) was a longtime assistant to Shyam Benegal before she became a successful director of documentaries. Indeed, the women it portrays cannot rely on men for either love or support. Shot mostly on location in the Jaisalmer region of western Rajasthan, it features authentic regional costumes and props, somewhat less authentic (but quite haunting) music, and two famous female stars, Dimple Kapadia and Rakhee Gulzar, cast in unusual and challenging roles-the central roles in this film that lacks male heroes. Bhupen Hazarika Choreography: Bhushan Lakhandari Art Direction: Sameer Chanda Cinematography: Santosh Sivan, Dharam GulatiUnderwritten by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) and Doordarshan (Indian national television) as part of the Indian government’s controversial but ongoing effort to provide audiences with edifying alternatives to “Bollywood” entertainment, and based on a short story by famed Bengali author Mahasweta Devi-whose tales often focus on the travails of low-caste women-RUDAALI is an uncommon and arresting film. 126 minutesDirected by Kalpani LajmiProduced by Pratik ShahBased on the short story “Rudaali” by Mahasweta Devi Screenplay, Dialogue, and Lyrics: Gulzar Music: Dr. ![]() RUDAALI(“the professional mourner”)1992, Hindi, approx. ![]()
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