Rudaali
Shanichari is a beautiful girl born in lower cast and her life is full of sufferings because of lower cast, poor finances, lost parents, drunken husband, mischievous son. The title refers to a custom in some parts of Rajasthanâwhere aristocratic women were long kept secluded and veiledâof hiring professional women mourners on the death of a male relative, a rudaali (pronounced âroo-dah-leeââliterally, a female âweeperâ) to publicly express the grief that family members, constrained by their high social status, were not permitted to displayâor at times, perhaps did not feel. Underwritten by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) and Doordarshan (Indian national television) and based on a short story by famed Bengali author Mahasweta Deviâwhose tales often focus on the travails of low-caste women.
1993-01-11
