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17 Nov, 2021

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Rudaali (1992)

Kalpana Lajmi

Release Date1992
GenreDrama
FormatColor
LanguageHindi
Run Time120 mins
Length3514.23
Number of Reels14
Gauge35 mm
Censor RatingU
Censor Certificate Number17442
Certificate Date01/09/1992
Shooting LocationBarna Village, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India

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Rudaali is the name given to a female professional mourner at a funeral ceremony. The custom continues to prevail especially in the northern states of India like Rajasthan with its great desert stretches and a traditional lifestyle.

The story of Rudaali is the story of Sanichari, a woman of grit. Although buffeted by the odds-arising out of a strongly patriarchal, male dominated order-she retains her interpose, Her Husband is a wastrel; and there seems to be little hope of a better life for her little son. Sanichari has seen abject misery and tragedy right before her eyes. Yet, her eyes have never welled over with tears. Wounded to the heart, she still cry.

After her husband's death - ironically the alcoholic dies on drinking holy water, the widow becomes one of the growing tribe of bounded labour. As her age advances, so does her fortune.

Yet, even within the engulfing darkness, there is a light. A seasoned Rudaali, Bhikni, enters Sanichari's life. An intimacy develope between the two as Sanichari relates passages from her life. In another part of the arid township, the corpulent suzerian is dyeing; it is at his funeral that Bhikni is expected to perform her professional act. As Sanichari's means of survival rare decimating, the Rudaali suggests that she can learn the tricks of the trade from her. In a tough world, tears can be sold.

Sanichari is hesitant. For her eyes continue to be as dry as the desert around her. The climax underscores the point though there may be suffering for women, there is hope.

The woman's eyes now flow with, a release, a catharsis. The story of a woman who become a Rudaali could be any woman's in any place any any time.

[from the official press booklet]