A Critical movie Directed by Basu
Bhattacharya on Marital Decay as a Reason for Breaking Families
Griha Pravesh is a 1979 Hindi movie directed by Basu Bhattacharya, highlighting the plight of contemporary urban nuclear families, which often begin to struggle once the monotony of husband wife relationship and its consequent indifferences take hold. Devoid of the strength of bonds that could hold a couple together in a joint family in a conservative rural society, urban nuclear families face a decay that they must overcome with proactive efforts, and when such efforts are not there, even the great Indian family may fell apart.
The movie, which was third in a series of movies made by the Basu Bhattacharya and his team, was in many ways ahead of its time. The message in it was somewhat similar to the first two, ANUBHAV (1971) and AVISHKAR (1973), and so was the cast, with Sanjeev Kumar pairing Tanuja in the first of them and Sharmila Tagore joining Rajesh Khanna in the second. GIRHA PRAVESH saw a return of Sanjeev Kumar, with Sharmila Tagore in one of her last appearances as the leading lady in a Bollywood movie. The development of this movie by Basu Bhattacharya and Gulzar tells us something that Indian society was not ready to listen back in 1979. Ironically, its message is even more relevant today!
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| GRIHA PRAVESH (1979) was directed by Basu Bhattacharya, but also involved Gulzar is also seen in this scene from the movie, where he is his original self trying to explain a song, and by it the theme of this movie. |
Families are the glue that hold
our society together. It is true that it is our modern social institutions of
market and state that have helped create the luxuries which we enjoy today in
daily life. One of them maximizes our economic welfare, while the other sustains
our individual political rights and empowerment. However, neither of them
facilitates the core social bonds on which our civilizations were sustained and
survived for several thousand years. On the contrary, by substituting the needs
of a family with individual empowerment and market driven gratifications,
modern urban life can significantly weaken the strength and significance of
family bonds.
Back in seventies, the marital
decay was still beginning to unfold, which makes this movie and the
sophistication and nuances with which it approaches the subject nothing less
than fascinating. Unfortunately, its subject was one which was considered taboo
in those times, and so none of these movies, though appreciated by critics for
their artistic valuation, could achieve the traction that was required to
generate an open and broad discussion within its audience.
