Before we begin, I am going to throw up a disclaimer: I am willing to bet exactly zero sex workers consulted on this film, so we are not going to make any more assumptions about the nature of sex work in contemporary Mumbai based on this film than we would use Oliver Twist's Nancy as the last word on life in Victorian London. Chameli(2003) is just one more in a long line of films, from Umrao Jaan (1981) to Pakeeza (1972) and Dev-D(2009)to Born into Brothels(2004) (not to mention Pretty Woman (1990)) to tell stories about hookers with hearts of gold which function as fairy tales rather than facsimiles of life.
Haseena and Aman
Putting reservations aside, I really like this film. The structure of the first forty minutes resembles Waiting for Godot if Godot moonlighted as a mechanic;Chameli (Kareena Kapoor) and Aman (Rahul Bose), trapped under awning by the rain, converse while Chameli avoids her pimp's and his customers' thugs and Aman tries to find someone to repair his water-logged car. Various characters from the city's marginalized communities pass through, including a chai-seller, Haseena, a hijra and her lover, Haseena's lover's political father, and corrupt police officers; political criticisms are made with straight-forward sympathy for India's poor. The criticisms are made with about as much subtlety as Oliver Twist, but hey, it worked for Dickens, and when is the last time you saw a film with a hijra who wasn't just an amusing cultural trope? (Hum Aapke Hain Kaun...!, I am looking at you.) The theatricality of the first half is highly unusual, and makes for engaging viewing.
The other advantage of the structure of the first half is the ease with which a language-learner can follow the dialogue. Two people, speaking slowly and clearly about relatively simple things is the dream of every cinephilic language-learner; Chameli was the first Hindi-language film I watched sans subtitles, and for that alone this film will always have a special place in my heart.
The second half of the film is less engaging. Chameli and Aman chase around the city trying to tie up loose ends and keep Chameli out of the clutches of the violent and diseased man from whom her pimp has taken an advance. Money changes hands, Aman's eyes are opened, and an unlikely bond forms. Aman cant seem to let Chameli go, even though she tells him more than once she can take care of herself. We believe her, although everyone acknowledges that Aman's money and connections are handy things. When I re-watch this film, I often skip most of the second half and jump right to the end.
The music and choreography, especially of "Bhaage Re Mann" is pretty inane. Dancing in the rain is a popular trope, but not even Gene Kelly would have willingly danced in standing water in the middle of Mumbai. Like all fans of musicals, I am willing to suspend a lot of disbelief, but for a practical woman, Chameli makes impossibly dumb choreographic choices. Kareena Kapoor also sings, in her own voice, earlier in the film, and then there is the voice of a playback singer 20 minutes later.
Marine Drive
If there is one final argument in favor of Chameli it is this: the film openly acknowledges violence against women. Granted, it acknowledges violence against women in the context of sex work, but remember- Devdas, Pakeeza, Umrao Jaan- they all tell the stories of tawaiif from a deeply masculine perspective, full of poetry, mirrors, brocades and virtuous doomed love. Chameli is not interested in telling the title character's doomed love story, and while Chameli appropriates the voice of sex workers, at least it has something to say that cuts a bit closer to the bone of women's lives than Pyaasa(1957).
Chameli puts it out there: violence against women and girls is very real, and the question presented to Aman, and by extension the audience, is "Why are you still pretending to be surprised?". Aman helps Chameli out of a bind- but whether or not he can or will change her life, and if she will really want the kind of help he offers, is left open. But regardless, it seems very likely Chameli will continue drinking, smoking, and swearing for as long as she has fight left in her. Nevertheless, she persists.
Film: Chameli(2003)
Directors: Anant Balani and Sudhir Mishra
Writers: Anant Balani, Shivkumar Subramaniam, Sudhir Mishra, and Swanand Kirkire
Runtime: 108 minutes
Language: Hindi
Country: India
