Shan Ali Shah

18110023
SS 137
Blog post # 3

The movie “Sardari Begum” is still alive in the hearts of many Indian cinema fans not only
because it talks about independent Muslim women Sardari who went after what she wanted in
life, to be a great singer but also because of the depiction of life as a ‘tawaif’ from the
perspective of society. Even though the movie can be analyzed from many different lenses, this
blogpost will only focus on the music, environment and society’s structure and reaction to such
music as shown in the movie.
Sardari is a woman with a spirit that does not fit her time and social milieu. To feed her passion
for music, she gives up the conventional life of a woman whose life's purpose is fulfilled by way
of marriage. Instead, she becomes a ‘tawaif’ and a professional singer. The music is strongly
delved into the realm of the kotha, going back to traditional form of semi-classical Hindustani
music which is emotive, evocative, and even erotic. In the opening scene, Begum is shown as a
popular thumri exponent well past her prime. While pottering in the kitchen, preparing a meal
and humming the tune Chali Pi Ke Nagar (Going to the house of my beloved), she goes to her
house gallery and is struck by a stone from a communal violence which led to her death. The rest
of the movie is about different people in her life narrating her story to the TV reporter. The
servant of Itn-bae (the teacher of Sardari) explains the first time she came to Itn-bae. In that
scene, Itn-bae can be seen singing ‘Sawanriya dekh zara is or’ while the rich and elite Hemraj
(Amrish Puri) seem to be enjoying the music art. Sardari demonstrates her talents for the first
time after which she is seen to work with Itn-bae side by side. After receiving a ‘ring’ as an
appreciation gift from Hemraj, she kept performing for hemraj in various mehfils (gatherings)
and Hemraj would only let her perform only in his own gatherings with only his few close
friends present. One instance of mehfil is shown as Sardari singing ‘sawan aye jiyara tarse’ while
at the other mehfil, she sings and dances on ‘ham tu yaare karenga, dil dare karenga’. In the latter
mehfil, it can be seen that Hemraj, while talking to his friend Sadiq, objectify sardari for desire
rather than appreciate her talents. Even though Sadiq marries Sardari and give birth to Sakina
later in the movie, the setting and environment of the performances show why the terms ‘tawaif’
and ‘khota’ in our society are seen with negative connotations today. It was not the same case in
the past. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, tawaifs were not sexworkers who sold
their bodies out of need for money or a standard lifestyle. The kothas were cultural hubs of that
period. Tawaifs were powerful women, who established kothas and run them efficiently without
the help of any man in a male-dominated society.
The highlight of the the movie, for me, came from its many musical pieces which were sung by
Arati Ankalikar Tikekar, as well as by Asha Bhonsle. The movie is a tribute to both the art form
and to one of its principal exponents. Begum sings a number of sad songs about the men by
whom she is exploited throughout her life, she is generous with her money and métier, and she
meets with a tragic end. Fate is against her, and yet, she soldiers on.