"Anarkali of Arrah" | Swara steals the thunder
We have seen Swara Bhaskar as a passionate lover in Ranjhana; a bride-to-be in Tanu-weds-Manu; a household worker who is willing to go out of her way to secure her daughter’s future, and now, Swara is back again with an unconventional role as Anarkali that is going to change the game.
In a never seen before avatar, Swara is playing the role of a paan-chewing erotic singer/dancer, hailing from the Arrah district of Bihar. Hopeful of her successful future as a singer or entertainer, Anarkali, stumbles upon a very powerful man of the region. This confrontation transfroms her life as she tries to fight the misogynist beliefs of the society.
The first half of the movie is sure to keep you hooked as Anarkali sings and dances, enchanting the audience with her catchy tunes and Bhojpuri lyrics. For a debut director, Avinash Das has done an applaudable job in capturing the essence of the local areas of Bihar. At no point will you feel that a particular scene is rehearsed. The first half, perfectly portrays each character and hats off to the director for selecting Swara, PankajTripathi and Sanjay Mishra, as they are inch-perfect for the role they are playing.
The story takes a twist when Anarkali is called up to perfrom at a special function and Rangeela, played by Pankaj Tripathi, insists on going there. It is here that the District Collector (Sanjay Mishra), a special friend of the Chief Minister takes a dig at Anarkali and while being drunk, harasses her, thinking that just because she is singing and dancing in front of men, she would probably give in and play along. But Anarkali, who does not think of herself as a sex-slave, resists and in turn, gets caught up among the dirty policemen and the District collector.
Being harassed in front of hundreds of people and her neighbourhood, Anarkali is forced to leave Bihar with a friend of hers and start life anew. And as she is about to achieve something big, her past comes haunting back, with policemen from Bihar coming in to arrest her.
This is where the story begins to get a bit sluggish. The movie could have been finished much earlier, leaving the audience content, if not for the unnecessary flashbacks. With a final stunning perfromance in front of the District collector, Anarkali proves herself as someone with a strong character who cannot be sold to just anyone without her will as she gives a fitting reply to everyone who doubted her.
Long hours of travelling and research into the life of these stage dancers has paid off for the cast and the director, except for some scenes where the camera was too unnecessarily shaky, which proved distracting. The rusty and raunchy music, directed by Rohit Sharma, might not stay with the audience for long but with Swara’s moves, it’s worth listening (and watching) to.
Nonetheless, no one could have pulled off the vibrant, rainbow coloured lehenga as perfectly as Swara. With perfect Bihari accent, Pankaj, Sanjay, Ishteyak Khan and Swara has proved that there are some outstanding actors beyond the Khans and Kapoors of the industry who can pull off any role they want.
