Work Assigned: In the following Time class, we were assigned to make the mind maps on the movies that we had watched.
Process and Plots: In this time class we had watched the films “Acchut Kanya ” and “Babul”, both the films were based on a romantic plot with strong societal messages in each. Acchut Kanya was a 1936 film and Babul was made in 1950. Achhut Kanya, is a film that revolves around the sacrifice that was made by a woman from a lower caste segment of society to save the lives of others. Babul on the other hand is a film which showcases the problems relating to societal hierarchies. Both movies are similar in their underlying messages but are different in the way they are executed.
Reflections: While watching the two movies, I understood the problems that societal hierarchies had caused between two lovers, it also reflected upon how orthodox and tightly bounded by blind faith society was in those days. In Achhut Kanya, the brahmins to show their caste’s supremacy went ahead and burned down a fellow brahmins house as he was helping save a man of low stature. In Babul, there was a thinner line but a fine one that was defined more by income level rather than caste. Both the movies were similar to mela in their dramatic endings where one of the characters are killed off. I believe that in those days the only way to make people understand the severity behind a situation was to show drastic scenes towards the end of the movie so that the people retain the underlying message behind the movie and are drivers of change in society. In all the three movies a lot of importance is also given to showcase emotions through the lyrics in the songs by clever usage of metaphors. I believe that this was a great way to convey messages as messages are best retained through music and film.
Learning Portfolio 