Abstract
Kalpana Lajmi adapts Mahesweta Devi’s short story to highlight the plight of a woman in the system of exploitation and hunger. Amidst the never ending class struggle, that Devi has so effectively depicted, the struggle of gender becomes the issue of highlight for Lajmi. In poverty and prosperity she remains the same. In the search for the self, Lajmi tries to discover a language through which the subaltern may speak and in Rudaali it is the language of tears. Tears that have been eternally associated with the female become the unique language of the feminine to speak for themselves in Lajmi and Devi. In the cultural terrain where language of man is the norm Rudaali is an exception.
Highlights
Throughout the history of civilization the role and place of the female gender has been distinct
The first stage was more or less about the imitation of the ‘mainstream’ patriarchal literary tradition; the second stage was the one of protest against the standards of this dominant tradition concerning social values and rights; the third stage in the historical tradition of women’s writing is one of self-discovery and self-assertion. Showalter identifies these stages as Feminine, Feminist and Female (Goel 2010, 405)
As the story comes to an end Sanicahri as well as the audience learns that Bhikni was the mother who had abandoned her as a child. This piece of news works as the trigger to burst Sanichari’s pent up emotions. She cries for the first time in her life and becomes a rudaali
Summary
Throughout the history of civilization the role and place of the female gender has been distinct. The first stage was more or less about the imitation of the ‘mainstream’ patriarchal literary tradition; the second stage was the one of protest against the standards of this dominant tradition concerning social values and rights; the third stage in the historical tradition of women’s writing is one of self-discovery and self-assertion Showalter identifies these stages as Feminine, Feminist and Female (Goel 2010, 405). The film revolves around the life of Sanichari, a woman in rural Rajasthan She belongs to the most impoverished lot of the village population. As the story comes to an end Sanicahri as well as the audience learns that Bhikni was the mother who had abandoned her as a child This piece of news works as the trigger to burst Sanichari’s pent up emotions. She cries for the first time in her life and becomes a rudaali
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