Mathrubhoomi - A nation without women

Movie

Director: Manish Jha
Cast: Sudhir Pandey, Sushant Singh, Tulip Joshi

Country: India
Year: 2003

These days, more often than not, I watch a movie just to pass time. There are hardly any movies that make me think about things, wonder where I’m going in life or truly entertain me. This is especially so when watching a Hindi movie. I watch them more to get an idea of the latest fashions in the Indian movie scene and as the Malays say, ‘cuci-mata’ for some of the actors and actresses are plain gorgeous.

Precisely because of this, it was a deeply moving experience to watch Mathrubhoomi — A Nation Without Women.

Briefly, it's a tale opens with a man who is pacing in front of his home. He is anxious that his wife is enduring so much as she is about to deliver their child. When the child is eventually born, he discovers the child is actually female and is deeply disappointed. He, thereafter, drowns the baby. 

Fast forward twenty five years or so and in this same village, there are now no more women. The story revolves around Ramcharan and his five sons. He’s desperate to find wives for them. Desperate for sexual interaction, some of his sons and friends indulge in pornography, homosexuality, bestiality and violence. If the topic is not so tragic, it’s really very funny.

When Ramcharan (a widower) finally finds one girl, Kalki and he marries all of his five sons to her. There is a line in the movie where Ramcharan complains that in times gone by, the girl’s father would have to pay a dowry for her to marry. Now, because this is the only girl available for miles on end, Ramcharan has had to pay a fortune to the girl’s father for her.

When it comes time to consummate the marriage, all five brothers take turns (one each night of the week) and the strangest of them all, even the father beds the girl. She likes none of them, save the youngest and falls for him. His brother’s are jealous and kill him. Kalki tries to escape with the help of the house-help, a boy of no more than 11 years. Both are hunted down and the boy is killed. Kalki is taken back to the house and tied to a post in the cow shed and the boy's uncle swears to avenge the death of his nephew. From there on, she becomes everyone’s ‘property’ – not just her husbands’ but other members of the village who are all men and of all different castes.

When she becomes pregnant, there is a tussle between the husbands and the villagers. When the question is asked, “Who is the father?” "Me", cry all the brothers. The avenger of his slain nephew too claims that the child is his. He comes to claim his bride and starts off a bloody caste war. Kalki goes into labour just at this time. By the time the child is born, every one in the village except for one boy is dead. Kalki’s baby is a girl.

It’s far-fetched yes. However, what I found fascinating was the similarities with Hindu mythology. For instance, in the Mahabharat, there are five Pandava brothers who all marry one woman – Draupadi. Also, and here’s the most interesting, the heroine’s name is ‘Kalki’. As I understand it, Kalki is the name given to the tenth incarnation of Vishnu. Nine have already appeared, one of them being Buddha. The last has yet to come. Generally considered as male, Kalki is, in extremely simple terms, known as the Destroyer. I suppose, if I had the fortune to ever meet Manish Jha, this is the question I would like to ask him - was it his intention to give his heroine the name Kalki.

This is an intense movie. For those who are used to the normal Bollywood hig gyrations and dance in the garden routine, Mathrubhoomi - A Nation Without Women can be disturbing. It would shock you, stun you and numb you with its in-your-face story telling and gory violence. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it immensely and so did many others. It has won numerous awards and in my opinion, very well deserved. And the fact that at the end it’s stated that a recent report by UNESCO shows that there are around 50 million women missing from the population of India due to gender discrimination is really food for thought.

Aneeta Sundararaj, a storyteller, is the creator of the bestselling program "How To Tell A Great Story".

Visit http://www.howtotellagreatstory.com to learn more.