Movie Review: Anaarkali of Aarah is strong statement on women empowerment

Delhi: She impressed cinegoers with her 'strong mother' role in 'Nil Battey Sannata' and a supporting friend in 'Tanu Weds Manu'.In her latest film 'Anaarkali of Aarah', Swara Bhaskar plays a woman fighting to survive in a male chauvinist society.'Anaarkali of Aarah' has underlying theme - 'rights of a woman to her body regardless of her profession or her social background'.

Anarkali (Swara Bhasker) is a singer from Aarah, a small town in Bihar.She is part of an orchestra group that perform at parties on songs which are replete with double meaning.

Their dances too are high on sexual innuendos.Anarkali is a celebrity thanks to her popular performances.Even as she, is successfully making her living through these performances, one unfortunate day she gets molested by a powerful, lecherous politician (Sanjay Mishra) of town on stage during her performance.

Enraged by his act, Anarkali slaps him on stage and later goes to file an FIR against him on grounds of molestation.To prevent her from bringing forth the politician's misconduct, Anarkali is framed by police as a prostitute.The film is about her struggle against a misogynistic world that sees women as mere objects of desire.

The film is a brilliant statement on women empowerment with the dance girl Anarkali, who refuses to give in to the overtures of the politicians citing as a metaphor for women's rights.She may be performing on songs replete with double meaning and her dances may be high on sexual innuendos but that does not anyone a right to exploit her.

This message comes across brilliantly through the film's story as well as through Swara's acting.The film manages to put across to the rural audiences the same message that 'pink' gave to the urban audiences.

The film keeps the audience hooked on to the happenings in Anarkali's life.The debutant director Avinash Das succeeds in giving a realistic flavour to the film with its rustic settings and its raw appeal.

As the spunky dance girl who sings double meaning songs and does erotic dance moves but strongly resists the politician's overtures, Swara is outstanding.It is a role tailor made for the actress who manages to effortlessly get into the skin of the character.

It's a career best act by the actress and could fetch her several awards.Sanjay Misra also comes across as impressive as the politician.Other members of the cast like Pankaj Tripathi as Rangeela , Ishtiyak Khan as Hiraman, Mayur More as Anwar and Vijay Kumar as Bulbul Pandey have also given strong performances.

Rohit Sharma’s music in an important element of the film and lends the required rustic appeal to it.'Anaarkali of Aarah' is a powerful statement on women empowerment with an outstanding act by Swara.

Rating: 3.5/5:one for the excellent story , one for direction, one for outstanding act by Swara and 0.5 for music.(UNI)