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| Kissing Flowers From Cathy Garitty |
We wondered why
Bollywood wouldn't show an actual kiss, and asked our mother. She smiled, and
told us that things had changed dramatically.
Really, Amma??
Can anything be more conservative than two sunflowers closing in
on each other. And a long shot of flowers in a head-to-head touch, to show a long kiss?
Amma smiled and
said "Do you know that Anna and his brothers were punished by Tatha
for going to see a dirty picture when they were teenagers?"
Anna, barely
got through the door that evening, before he was bombarded with "You
saw a dirty picture when you were a child with Padukaka
and Krishnakaka?"
"Oh! We didn't. We had all intentions to see the film though", acknowledged
Anna. This comment was met with round eyes and ooohs and aaahs.
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| Vana Mohini Original Poster |
A major role in the film was played by "Chandru", an elephant. It is said that this is possibly the first time an elephant received top billing in the credits of a film. Anna and his brothers were probably attracted by this too!
Of course, given the scandal, Anna and his brothers were forbidden by their father from watching Vana Mohini.
"It is a dirty picture", Tatha boomed, emphasizing and dragging on the letter "r", making the word "dirty" more salacious and dramatic.
Obviously, forbidding young boys on the cusp of teenage-hood from doing anything is a sure-shot way to get them to do exactly what you don't want them to.
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| K. Thavamani Devi |
"But Anna, what was in the picture that made it a dirty picture?" we asked, obviously more interested in the dirty stuff than their adventures and punishments.
Anna's response stunned us for a few seconds.
"The heroine, Thavamani Devi showed 2 inches of ankle."
The four of us rolled over with laughter.
Anna has still not watched Vana Mohini.
Wow! A vivid chronicle of an India that was. Two inches of ankle? Sure, in a society dominated by Victorian value sets, that's omg anathema ;-). We've long forgotten the uber sensuous Urvasi casting her seductive spells on Pururava at Kubera's luxury garden Chaitra Ratha!! Or she's perhaps hidden from light? Playing her teases from behind Queen Victoria's iron curtains?
ReplyDeleteWe continue to have today, as we did back in Anna's time, as we did in Thatha's, multiple value sets and sensibilities. I find this plurality extremely fascinating!!
Love the vivid narrative you've used to describe this splice from Annas life :) :). Please please share more stories!
Thank you so much for your comments and encouragement.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading up on the movie Vana Mohini, I wondered if Tatha's objection to showing 2 inches of ankle was perhaps a euphemism, as the actress was supposedly in a sarong and showed bare shoulders and more leg than a 9-yard saree tied decorously!