[Reader-list] [DFA NewsLetter] Invitation for the Inaugural Screening of -- The Other Song by Saba Dewan

[Rahul Roy]

India Foundation for The Arts invites you to the the Inaugural Screening of
The Other Song
a film by Saba Dewan

Date: Thursday 12 March 2009
Time: 6:45 PM
Venue: Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi


In 1935 Rasoolan Bai the well known singer from Varanasi recorded for the
gramaphone a thumri that she would never sing again - Lagat jobanwa ma chot,
phool gendwa na maar (My breasts are wounded, don't throw flowers at me).A
variation of her more famous bhairavi thumri - Lagat karejwa ma chot, phool
gendwa na maar (My heart is wounded, don't throw flowers at me), the 1935
recording, never to be repeated, faded from public memory and eventually got
lost.

More than seventy years later the film travels through Varanasi, Lucknow and
Muzzafarpur in Bihar to search for the forgotten thumri.This journey opens a
Pandora's box of life stories, memories, half remembered songs and histories
that for long have been banished into oblivion. It brings the film face to
face with the enigmatic figure of the tawaif, courtesan, bai ji and the
contested terrain of her art practise and lifestyle. To understand the past
and present of the tawaif the film must unravel the significant transitions
that took place in late 19th and early 20th century around the control,
censorship and moral policing of female sexualities and cultural expression.

Duration:  120 minutes
Language: Hindi / Urdu / English / English subtitles
Directed by: Saba Dewan
Camera: Rahul Roy
Editing: Reena Mohan / Khushboo Agarwal / Mahadeb Shi / Anupama Chandra
Sound: Asheesh Pandya / Gissy Michael / Vipin Bhati
For more information: sabadewan at gmail.com

Supported by: India Foundation of the Arts and Hivos

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