Excellent, a Must See

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Begum Jaan is a film by Srijit Mukherji, which is a remake of his own Bengali film Rajkahini (2015). The film delves into one of the darkest phases of the partition of our country. The film does mention the tragedies which happened on either side of the border. Radcliffe Line is to be erected as the boundary between the newly formed nations of India and Pakistan. The officials face a challenge when they find a brothel which needs to be demolished to draw this boundary. Begum Jaan takes us through the journey of those 11 women and 2 men, the inhabitants of the brothel and the fights they put up for their rights to live in their house. Rajkahini is certainly more intense in comparison to Begum Jaan, but this film can't be just ignored or written off.The film begins with the narrative of Amitabh Bachchan. The opening scene in this Hindi version is different in comparison to that of Bengali version. When a scene from Manto's book of gang rape of a girl during partition times form the opening scene of Rajkahini, eve teasing and efforts to molest a girl in a bus in the year 2016, decades after independence, becomes the opening scene of Begum Jaan. Is this to tell the audience that years have gone by, certain things still remain the same – women becoming the victim of men's lust. Begum Jaan does focus on women's fight against many elements of our society: patriarchal system, the social stigma attached to sex workers, the hypocritical men and their double standards, the right to live, concepts of secularism etc. With the opening and closing scene of Begum Jaan, Srijit does talk about hard-hitting reality that even after decades of partition and independence, the fight against social injustice is not over. Begum Jaan does force us to question and rethink about our past as well as present. Begum Jaan (Vidya Balan) is the owner of a brothel, which has 13 inhabitants – 11 women and 2 men. Salim (Sumit Nijhawan) and Sujit (Pitobash Tripathy) are the two men in the brothel, Begum's bodyguard and caretaker respectively. Amma (Ila Arun) is the senior most person in the brothel, who keeps sharing stories of empowered females to Laadli (Gracy Goswai) who created history and left their mark in the world viz. Rani Lakshmi Bai, Meera, Raziya Sultan, Rani Padmavati etc. It does become part of plot development. Rest of the inhabitants are Rubina (Gauhar Khan), Gulabo (Pallavi Sharda), Jameela (Priyanka Setia), Amba (Ridheema Tiwary), Maina (Flora Saini), Lata (Raviza Chauahan), Rani (Poonam Rajput), Mishti aka Indrani Chakraborty (Shabnam). Master and Party worker (Vivek Mushran) is a regular visitor to the brothel and keeps showering them with gifts. These women are all victims of abuse, violence, rape and these traumas become the connecting thread amongst them. All they have is their togetherness. Freedom means nothing for Begum Jaan.The officials chosen for execution of border construction from either side are Iliyas (Rajit Kapoor) and Harshvardhan (Ashish Vidyarthi). Through their characters, many intricate facts are conveyed, be it the relationship getting sour between childhood friends, plight / ordeal of people on either side of the border etc. There are shots where only half of their faces are shown on screen – a metaphor of aftermath of partition, how incomplete people might have felt losing their possessions, family in spite of freedom being restored.Other characters Raja Ji (Naseerudin Shah), Inspector Shyam (Rajesh Sharma) and Kabir (Chunky Pandey) become an important part of the film.Feisty Begum Jaan and other inhabitants of the brothel are not ready to pay heed to notices issued to her to vacate 'Kotha'. They are very loud and clear that it is their house. How they all put up brave fight forms the rest of the story. There are many dialogues in the film which hits one hard. Music is also good.Srijit through his film Begum Jaan does talk about hard-hitting reality that even after decades of partition and independence, the fight against social injustice is not over. Rajkahini, the original version, is certainly more intense in comparison to Begum Jaan, but this film can't be just ignored or written off.

Visually, Begum Jaan is a beautiful movie. Shot almost entirely in an old haveli in Jharkhand that lends it a real period flavor, the movie has great locales. In my mind, that's a major plus point since these days movies seem to shot mostly in touristy locales outside India (usually as part of a promotional effort by the country's tourist board). The other great thing about this movie is its ensemble cast. Such a pleasure to watch stalwarts Naseeruddin Shah, Ila Arun, Ashish Vidyarthi, Vivek Mushran, Chunkey Pandey and Ranjit Kappor again after all this time. They've all changed so much, but are still very watchable in this film. Begum Jaan has a story that makes for melodrama and the director hasn't tried to steer away from it. It's over the top in places, but hey, if you're telling a story of prostitutes caught up in the partition saga, it's allowed. I went to see it on a Thursday, the last day before it made way for new releases, and the hall was fairly full. Encouraging. Hope we get more movies like this in the future.

This movie is a almost shot by shot remake of the Bengali film Rajkahini by same director and writer. The Bengali movie has many problems as it doesn't holds up to the level as the story wants. This movie was way better than the the original. The director seems to be corrected all the mistakes and gaps and made it a good movie.The acting is very good by every one specially Vidya Balan and all the girls are good. The main problem with the original is that it was not well acted by some of the supporting casts. But this one is and it gives every scene more gravitas.The contract killer character portrayal of Chunky Pandey is not as good as the character portrayal in the original movie by Jisshu Sengupta.This movie is bold as it can be on the screen. It has heavy dialogues. It is more suspenseful and more gory. The acting is good. Story is fantastic as it is known. Allover it is a very good and corrected remake of an average movie.........7/10...........

An extremely disappointing film from Mr Srijit Mukherji. A low Second Class from a Presidencian ... extremely disappointing!The story and concept is strong, but the execution extremely weak. If it was not for the acting and characterization of the fabulous Ms Vidya Balan and most of the other cast, this film would be dreary, bland, and quite surprisingly, a big drag. The film's narrative was monochromatic, lacking in cinematic magic, depth, and speed, and the brusque and forced elements of unpredictability and sub-plots and side-stories completely unattached and apathetic.The liberal perspectives of a feminist (or humanist) standpoint against the backdrop of the angst of Partition could have been more intricately and passionately explored. The existential crises and the fears that were imposed on the affected people during Partition were nowhere in the film. In its dragging pace despite its misandrous histrionics, Begum Jaan shows no understanding of the agony and impasse afflicting those in its grip; in its preoccupation with staged flashes, Begum Jaan neglects revealing its soul and story. As a consequence, we feel nothing for the characters and their social standings.This film could have so well and cleverly explored the no-compromise zone of the 'kotha' inmates against the canvas of the Partition; but unfortunately it did not. Visual elements of "half-faces" were unnecessarily stretched to irritations. No wonder many in the theatre were frequently thumbing with their mobiles ... a sad irritation to all those behind them.Yes, there are scenes to shock and provoke, but they were like a handful of peppercorns in a tasteless tepid papaya soup. Didn't gel.And, oh yes, I'm not an expert, but were the dresses conforming to Punjab in the late 1940's? They looked more Awadhi/Lucknavi in style.Is there nothing to like? Ms Balan merits a 9+, as usual perhaps. Others too were good, would range between 8 and 9. For me, the film overall would not rate higher than a 6. I'm rating it 4 now just to balance the suspiciously high numbers who have rated it 10. IMHO, anyone who rates this film overall higher than 6.5 either has not watched the film, has some vested interest, or does not understand cinema. The film, as shown, was probably stretched an hour too long for its own good. That hour could have explored many many essential angles instead, for example, why was the 'kotha' under this specific Raja's patronage, and from when?