FilmIndia (1948)

December. I *> I ft F I L M I X D I A lan act which instead of winning the spectators sympathy only excites their disgust and contempt for Sheela. And the Production Code -a\>: Wo picture which will loner the moral stundards of those who see it shall be presented" . What else does this scene >f an illicit sex-act do? ANTI-SOCIAL & DANGEROUS The later development of the story is both boring and insipid. \K ithout as much as even a blush Sheela declares herself to be pregnant, first to Girdhar and then to Shivdayal. and while the sporting Girdhar is prepared to take over Mohan's sin on his own head and accept Sheela as his wife. Sheela rejects the offer, although Mohan has since gone away leaving Sheela to pay the wages of her sin. Shivdayal. on the other hand, has the audacity to take Sheela to Mohan's parents, who. quite naturally turn him out as a blackmailer. Shivdayal now sends Sheela to her widowed aunt for the birth of her child. A temporary suspense is created now by the rumour of Mohan s death on the war front but the climax is soon brought about by his unexpected return when he accepts Sheela as his wife and her child as his own. land even his aristocratic parents [show no objection to their son being married to a village labourer's daughter who bad borne him a son out of wedlock. J It is in this sort of happy ending .that the theme becomes really antisocial and dangerous. This ending •justifies Sheela's virgin motherhood by Mohan s ultimate acceptance of ithe woman as his wife and in doing so give an unmistakable encouragement to voting girls in society to dare an illicit sex-act in the optimistic hope of their "Mohans" turning up in time to claim their babies out of wedlock. If Sheela had been punished foi her sin of virgin motherhood and left to repent for her mis deed in a r.onetoo-sympathetic society, the picture would have served at least some social purpose. But to give her back her partner-in -crime as her husband, to stamp her illegitimate child with legitimacy and to turn her moral lapse into a righteous act is to ask our present day society to issue a general license to all pillion romances and behind-the-bush products of sin and misadventure. SLEEPING CENSORS? The film censor? appear lo base slept through the picture, seeing that thev have certified "Bhool in defi ance of their own Production Code which clearly says: "Illegal forms oj sex relationship such as free lore, companionate maniage, or virgin motherhood shall not be upheld '." We wonder how they could have allowed this camel to pass through the eye of a needle. We can understand Shivdaval's large-heartedness in forgiving an erring child. That is just what one would expect of an affectionate parent, but it is difficult to reconcile with his glorification of Sheela's sin —for sin it is beyond all doubt>. A decent Hindu virgin does not give herself up so cheaply and so readilv to the first young man who crosses her path. She may fall in love with him. but falling in love does not necessarily mean premarital sexual relations at the very second meeting. That is not love but low sex indulgence and Hindu women are not yet known for this free-and-easy way of Iparl from its thus becoming a very damnable picture. "Bhool" has very little to commend itself for its artistic or technical values. Suman playing the role of the heroine. "Sheela". has neither looks nor talent for screen acting and a less interested director might hesitate to give her even an extra's role. I mesh Sharma as "'Mohan Chandra'' also fails to convince. Parshram as "Girdhar"' plays the idiot better than the lover. In their minor roles both K. Date and Aruna Devi give a good account of themselves. Dew an Sharar as "Shivdayal" give. the best performance of all and delivers his own pungent dialogue beautifully. The picture has no entertainment, "or a good song, nor any music, nor even a single interesting situation. I he photography is quite good but the recording is not satisfactory. The picture suffers throughout from rotten direction— probably the result of a presumption that directors are born in the families of film men. Marring Dew an Sharar. who is an old hand at stage and screen playing, none of the other players show any life or warmth and most of the show looks like a dress rehearsal of schoolroom amateurs. The picture has failed miserably in Bombay and cannot succeed anvwhere in India. 47