TOWARDS the end of Raavan (2010), Raagini's (Aishwarya Rai) husband, Dev (Vikram), accuses her of infidelity, ordering her to take a polygraph test.
"Beera told me that his hands may be dirty," he says, "but your wife isn't pure gold as well." She pulls the chain of the train and gets off. She meets her abductor, Beera (Abhishek Bachchan), and thunders, "What did you tell Dev?" Delirious with disbelief that Raagini has returned to meet him, he walks towards-and gawks at-her, as the scene cuts to a flashback.
Beera on a creaking bridge, holding Dev's hand. "I can kill you for your wife," he says, "and I can save you for her." He scowls: "Gold-your wife is gold. My hands are dirty, yes, but I've protected your gift with all my heart." At that moment, both Raagini-and the audience-realise that Dev, the cop, is cruel, while Beera, the criminal, is kind. This scene upends the whole film, making us ask: Who is the hero, who is the villain? Who deserves our empathy, who deserves our scorn? And if Raavan-like Beera, avenging his sister's death, is both virtuous and vicious, then what does that make him? An anti-hero. A character who, honouring his own moral codes, bends the rules, mocks the law, and gets what he wants-someone with the right ends but the wrong means.
(Unlike the hero, he's also funny, charming, and suave, questioning our own fealties to good and evil.) But such a figure wasn't organic to Indian cinema, for it's had a long history of venerating heroes-and stars. Just consider the country's first film, Raja Harishchandra (1913), modelled on a king so virtuous that he never lied. In the next two decades, dominated by mythologicals, heroes and villains inspired by gods and demons-had little moral ambiguities.
Denne historien er fra October 21, 2024-utgaven av Outlook.
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Denne historien er fra October 21, 2024-utgaven av Outlook.
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Layers Of Lear
Director Rajat Kapoor and actor Vinay Pathak's ode to Shakespeare is an experience to behold
Loss and Longing
Memories can be painful, but they also make life more meaningful
Suprabhatham Sub Judice
M.S. Subbulakshmi decided the fate of her memorials a long time ago
Fortress of Desire
A performance titled 'A Streetcart Named Desire', featuring Indian and international artists and performers, explored different desires through an unusual act on a full moon night at the Gwalior Fort
Of Hope and Hopelessness
The body appears as light in Payal Kapadia's film
Ruptured Lives
A visit to Bangladesh in 2010 shaped the author's novel, a sensitively sketched tale of migrants' struggles
The Big Book
The Big Book of Odia Literature is a groundbreaking work that provides readers with a comprehensive introduction to the rich and varied literary traditions of Odisha
How to Refuse the Generous Thief
The poet uses all the available arsenal in English to write the most anti-colonial poetry
The Freedom Compartment
#traindiaries is a photo journal shot in the ladies coaches of Mumbai locals. It explores how women engage and familiarise themselves with spaces by building relationships with complete strangers
Love, Up in the Clouds
Manikbabur Megh is an unusual love story about a man falling for a cloud. Amborish Roychoudhury discusses the process of Manikbabu's creation with actor Chandan Sen and director Abhinandan Banerjee