Gone are the days when one use to see movies only at the
time of release or re-release. With advent of technology one can grab the CD
any time, download the movie from intenet or simply wait for the satellite
release. Therefore I happen to see two movies : one ‘Queen’ and the other
‘English Vinglish’, long time after
their theater release. It was striking to note that both the films potray
female Indian protagonists mustering courage to go out and encounter the foreign
cultures without being aided by their male partners.The stories were definitely
in sync with the changing india and fast changing Indian values.
First lets consider Rani of ‘Queen’. She sets out on a
solo honeymoon after being dumped at the altar by the groom. Solo honeymoon is
a strange idea and in conservative India, it would never be approved for the
young girls who have never been out of their towns. Her parents agree for the
sake of her happiness and on the trust that she will be with some distant
relatives of theirs. Instead, Rani chooses to lodge herself in the same hotel
which is booked for her honeymoon stay. She makes friends there and finally
sets out of Paris to visit other European city on her own. While on tour she hesitantly stay puts in
hostel with three male roommates eventually befriending them. She also accidentally happens to regenerate the interest of her groom in her and he starts
following her for winning her back. She goes on to win a challenge in a cooking
show and gains a confidence of lifetime which she lacked throughout. Finally
the assertive and confident Rani decides to ditch her groom for good.
The case of Shashi is little different in ‘English
Vinglish’. She is a typical middle class Indian housewife but enterprising
enough to run a small business of making laddoos. She is mocked at by
family members due to poor knowledge of English. She feels alienated in her own
family since she is in constant company of English speaking kids and husband,
who take her for granted eveytime and underestimate her ability to learn. She
makes a maiden trip to America for her niece’s marriage without accompanied by
family, who plan to join her lately. She ends up joining a tuition for English speaking in order to keep her engaged. Her adventure of discovering of urban
American culture while doing tuitions remains a close secret except one of her
niece who knows about it. She goes on to make good friends in tuition class and
impresses one Frenchman enough to like her. When her family surprises her by
turning up early in America, her remaining classes and final examination is
likely to be missed out. She arranges secretly to appear in examination, which
falls on wedding day, but circumstances compel her to miss it.There is more in
store as the entire bunch of classmates and her tutor turns up at wedding at
the invitation of her niece. She introduces them to her husband as good
friends. He is still unaware about her tuitions. She delivers a speech after the
wedding, wishing the marrying couple well in life while highlighting the
importance of mutual understanding, family and kids. She does it in English,
which surprises everyone. Tutor treats the speech as examination speech and
awards her the certificate. She regains her respect and love in the eyes of
her family, which was about to be lost
just because of a poor understanding of
a foreign language. Happily and smartly
she assures her husband of her love, who is visibly shaken due to a suspected
bond between her and the Frenchman.
Underlying message to the world and to the Indians is that there is a class of people in India
who is preparing themselves slowly but surely for facing the world.This is
compelling need of the hour for some who are either pushed or pulled in to the
circumstances. This is a baby step towards making a big section of society
ready for the world. Both the protagonists in films, teach us that you can
embrace new things without compromising Indian values. In fact both of them
display their strengths to the world and win the hearts.
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