THE UNHEARD CRIES OF SILENT WOMANHOOD: A STUDY OF BIKASH RANJAN MISHRA’S DEBUTANT FILM CHAURANGA

Abstract

From ancient days to the present, casteist ideologies of Hindu society slacken the progress of human civilization. The caste- ridden society always draws a line between the high caste and low caste in the name of religion and scriptures. These all are nothing but man- made discrimination, a game of power politics in silencing the ‘Other’. In Indian social background the untouchables are known as Dalits. These are marginalized groups without voice and identity. They live on the fringes under extreme poverty, humiliation and exploitation. Women, all over the patriarchy, are subject to abject exploitation, physical molestation and mental agony. The upper caste women suffer under the crushing power of patriarchy in a claustrophobic atmosphere of domesticity. Bikash Ranjan Mishra’s debutante film Chauranga (Four Colors) unveils the gloomy and enigmatic account of women’s oppression and subjugation in the caste- ridden phallocentric world of Hindu society. The suffering and humiliation of three women characters in the film question the very role of caste and patriarchy in their life. The paper aims to explore how the complex dynamics of hegemonic power, caste and patriarchy works in the system of oppression in silencing the voice of the womanhood, a study in three women characters with special reference to Mishra’s debutant film Chauranga.