Another View 2002 / Chandni Bar / India 2001
This realistic drama, inspired by the environment and actual lives of bar dancers, dramatises the tale of a young woman, Mumtaz, who after the death of her parents finds herself earning a living in Mr Anna’s popular bar. Will she ever have a real chance to escape from the dangerous and humiliating life she is forced to lead?
It’s 1983 and after her parents’ tragic death a country girl named Mumtaz goes to live with her uncle in Bombay. Her relatives provide a roof, however shabby, over her head, but the young woman has got to find her own work. She starts dancing at a bar owned by the rich Mr Anna and soon learns the right way to please the customers so as to make the most money. But life as a bar dancer doesn’t provide Mumtaz or her companions with any protection against the world’s contempt and cruelty. After some time a crook named Pothya Sawant offers Mumtaz a seemingly safe refuge at his side. But when he is killed in a scuffle with the police Mumtaz finds herself out of luck once again – and this time with two children. She is forced to start dancing. The kids, however, are marked by their origins and the older son soon follows in his father’s criminal footsteps. The trap has sprung: Mumtaz realises that she will never escape the vicious circle in which destiny has placed her. This drama, grounded in a sociological study of the particular environment and actual lives, offers a realistic picture of a world far removed from “Bollywood” illusions of a better tomorrow.
150 min / Black & white, 35 mm
Director Madhur Bhandarkar
/ Screenplay Mohan Azaad
/ Dir. of Photography Rajeev Ravi
/ Music Raju Singh (Backround Score)
/ Editor Hermal Kothari
/ Producer Lata Mohan Iyer
/ Production Shlok Films
/ Cast Tabu, Atul Kulkarni, Rajpal Yadav, Anannya Khare, Suhas Palshikar, Vinay Apte
Madhur Bhandarkar gained experience as a writer and director working with some of India’s top filmmakers (e.g. as assistant director on Ram Gopal Varma’s Rangeela). He debuted with Trishakti, and afterward was enchanted with the idea of shooting a work based on the life of a dancer at a popular beer bar. Meeting R. Mohan afforded him the opportunity of developing this theme into a feature film starring the highly popular Indian actress Tabu. And thus Chandni Bar was born – a dramatic story based on real events and offering far more than merely an attractive glimpse of an exotic world.
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