'Mrityudand' is a movie based on women rights and their standing and importance in society. It takes place in the small
town of Bihar where women are treated as second class citizens and are to obey and respect their husbands' wishes. The moral of the
story is basically said in one sentence - When Ayub Khan is abusing Madhuri he tells her "...tum aurat ho, mard bane ki koshish mat karna.."
(you're a woman, don't try to act like a man).
Madhuri replies "...tum pati ho parmeshwar bane ki koshish mat karna..." (you are my husband...dont try to act like my lord)
Ketki (Madhuri Dixit) marries Vinay (Ayub Khan), the son of a landlord. Elder son Abhay
Unfortunately, he is sterile and so he leaves her and goes away on a 'sanyas'.
As Vinay struggles to keep the household going, Ketki aides him to start off his own entrepreneurial venture as a contractor,
but as things would have it Vinay becomes a pawn in the hands of Tripat (Mohan Joshi) and Pandey (Harish Patel). It is the beginning
of the end for him as he starts physically and emotionally abusing Ketki. As their marriage starts to fall apart, Chandravati falls sick and Ketki,
with Rambaran's (Om Puri) help, takes her to a city hospital.
In the meantime, Rambaran talks sense to Vinay and makes him see the fact that he is being taken for a ride. Vinay realises his mistakes and apoligises to Ketki. Tripat however is not too happy and has Vinay killed. Additionally, Rambaran's daily visits to Chandravati brings them closer and, as their relationship turns sexual, Chandravati falls pregnant.
How Abhay Singh and the rest of the chauvinistic clan react to the pregnancy form the climax of the story...
Performance wise, everyone in the movie is superb especially Madhuri. Shabana Azmi as usual excels at the role assigned to her. The surprise packet is definitely Ayub Khan. His role has many different shades and he has played all the shades to perfection. The supporting cast has also performed well.
Technically the film is also good. The home, the village everything has been captured really well. There's nothing loud about the film and the characters are all very true to life except perhaps the that of Tripat who's character is a bit too grey. It's one of those movies that makes the viewer think rather than all that 'wham' 'bam' 'dhishum dhishum' we're all so used to. The music is also pleasant and lyrics by Javed Akhtar are an added bonus (as usual).
Perhaps it's a slow paced movie but it's still a movie worth watching...
Rating :
