Mumbai, August 31 (IANS) Bollywood star Jackie Shroff on August 31 marked 25 years of the Rajkumar Santoshi directorial Lajja.
The actor shared a montage of stills from the 2001 film that featured an ensemble cast including Manisha Koirala, Madhuri Dixit, Rekha, Mahima Chaudhry, Anil Kapoor and Ajay Devgn.
The actor took to his social media account to share a video montage featuring many stills of his character Raghu alongside moments featuring the film’s principal cast. The montage is set to Lata Mangeshkar’s ‘Kaun Dagar Kaun Shehar’, a song from the film. Jackie wrote, “#Celebrating25YearsOfLajja”
Talking about Lajja, the movie released on August 31, 2001, and was written, directed and produced by Rajkumar Santoshi.
The movie brought together four major female protagonists and used their individual stories to highlight the societal issues of patriarchy, domestic abuse, dowry, female foeticide, sexual double standards and violence against women.
At the centre of Lajja is Vaidehi, played by Manisha Koirala, whose journey takes her across India after she leaves her abusive and casanova husband Raghu, played by Jackie Shroff.
When Vaidehi becomes pregnant and discovers the extent of Raghu’s intentions, she leaves him and returns to India.
She is subsequently forced to remain on the run as Raghu attempts to chase her and their child.
During her journey, Vaidehi encounters three other women, Maithili played by Mahima Chaudhry, Janki essayed by Madhuri Dixit and Ramdulaari portrayed by Rekha, with each of them facing a different manifestation of a deeply patriarchal society.
Interestingly, the four protagonists’ names, Vaidehi, Maithili, Janki and Ramdulaari, are all associated with Sita, reinforcing the film’s larger engagement with the mythology surrounding the idealised Indian woman.
One of the film’s most memorable sections features Madhuri Dixit as Janki, a spirited theatre actor who is playing Sita in a Ramleela. Janki herself is in love with her co-actor Manish and is pregnant with his child out of wedlock.
But when Manish questions her character upon being carried away by mere gossip, he puts her to the same kind of suspicion and double standards that women have historically faced.
In one of Lajja’s most striking sequences, Janki refuses to accept the traditional demand that Sita prove her chastity through an ‘Agni Pariksha’. Instead, she questions why Sita alone should have to prove her purity when Ram had also lived apart from her.
The scene deliberately draws a parallel between the mythological Sita’s trial and the contemporary woman’s experience of being constantly asked to prove her character.
Talking about Mahima Chaudhry, she played Maithili, a young bride whose wedding becomes a battleground over dowry.
As the groom’s family demands more and more money from her father and humiliates him over his inability to meet their demands, Maithili refuses to silently accept the situation. She openly confronts the family and stands up against the dowry system.
Talking about Rekha, she played Ramdulaari, a widowed village midwife and healer who becomes another embodiment of female strength.
Ramdulaari educates women and encourages them to become self-reliant while standing up to powerful men in her village.
Her story also confronts female infanticide and violence against women, with the character refusing to bow before the oppressive local power structure headed by Gajendra Singh, played by Danny Denzongpa.
Talking about Jackie Shroff, the actor essayed the role of Raghu. His on-screen presence is comparatively smaller but significant in the ensemble drama.
Along with Jackie Shroff, Manisha Koirala, Madhuri Dixit, Rekha and Mahima Chaudhry, Lajja starred Anil Kapoor as Raju, Ajay Devgn as Bulwa, Danny Denzongpa as Gajendra, Gulshan Grover as Virendra, Tinnu Anand as Purshottam, Sharman Joshi as Prakash, Samir Soni as Manish, Suresh Oberoi as Raghu’s father, Govind Namdeo as Hazarilal, Anjan Srivastava as Nekchand, Farida Jalal as Saroj and Rohini Hattangadi as Mrs Hazarilal, among others.
The film also featured Sonali Bendre and Urmila Matondkar in special appearances, while Johny Lever, Viju Khote, Razak Khan, Asrani, Dina Pathak and Jagdeep were among the supporting cast.
The music of Lajja was composed primarily by Anu Malik, with Ilaiyaraaja composing the background score and the special song ‘Kaun Dagar Kaun Shehar’. The soundtrack featured songs such as ‘Badi Mushkil’, ‘Aa Hi Jaiye’, ‘Kaliyug Ki Sita’, ‘Jiyo Jiyo’ and ‘Saajan Ke Ghar Jana Hai’, besides ‘Kaun Dagar Kaun Shehar’.
–IANS
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