Meera (1979 film)

Meera
Meera
	Theatrical poster
Directed by	Gulzar
Written by	Gulzar
Screenplay by	Gulzar
Story by	Bhushan Banmali
Produced by	Premji,; J.N. Manchanda
Starring	Hema Malini; Vinod Khanna; Shreeram Lagoo; Shammi Kapoor; Dina Pathak; Vidya Sinha; Bharat Bhushan; Amjad Khan
Cinematography	K. Vaikunth
Edited by	Waman Bhosle,; Gurudutt Shirali
Music by	Pandit Ravi Shankar; Meera (lyrics)
Release date	25 May 1979 (India);
Running time	155 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Meera (Hindi: मीरा) is a 1979 Hindi language film by Gulzar. The film is based on the life of Meera, a Hindu saint-poet who renounced princely comforts in pursuit of her love for Lord Krishna. The film portrays the life and times of Meera from a historical perspective rather than a mythological one. Through Meera's life, Gulzar has shown a woman's struggle to find her independence, dignity and spiritual satisfaction in a society where women are supposed to be worthy of only taking care of the household chores. The epic soundtrack by Pt. Ravi Shankar features the lilting dulcet tones of the award-winning playback singer Vani Jairam, the tunes of which resound in every memory that reveres this winning combination of film music.

However the film did not perform well at the Indian box office, though it received critical acclaim.^[1]^[2]

Plot

The story is set around 1580, in the time of King Akbar. Biramdev (Dr Shreeram Lagoo) is the king of Medta, a province in Rajasthan. He has two daughters, Meera (Hema Malini) and Krishna (Vidya Sinha) and a son, Jaimal (Dinesh Thakur). Meera is in deep emotional love with Lord Krishna, so much so that she considers Lord Krishna to be her husband. Akbar (Amjad Khan) is becoming stronger day by day and hence other small provinces are trying to join against him. Medta, in one such political agreement, decides to join hands with Raja Vikramajit (Shammi Kapoor). As a part of this agreement Meera is married (against her wish) to Vikramajit's son, Rana Bhojraj (Vinod Khanna). But even after getting married her love for Lord Krishna remains the same and she follows her own ideals and way of living which are not very acceptable to Bhojraj and his family. One thing leads to another and one day Meera is declared as an outcast and traitor who failed to play a wife's duties towards her husband, a bride's duties towards her family, and a woman's duties towards society. She is jailed and a public trial is ordered to decide her fate. But Meera is still unshakable and her spirituality keeps her going. She is not even afraid of death. Finally she is given a death sentence and is ordered to drink a cup of venom in front of the public.

Cast

Hema Malini as Meera Rathod
Vinod Khanna as Rana Bhojraj Sesodia
Dr. Shreeram Lagoo as Raja Biramdev Rathod
Shammi Kapoor as Raja Vikramjeet Singh Sesodia
Om Shivpuri as Kul Guru (Head Priest)
Dina Pathak as Mrs. Biramdev Rathod a.k.a. 'Kunwarbai'
Vidya Sinha as Krishna Rathod
Amjad Khan as Badshah Akbar
Bharat Bhushan as Tansen
A.K. Hangal as Saint Raidas
Sudha Chopra as Uda Sesodia
Dinesh Thakur as Jaimal Rathod
T P Jain as Poojary (priest)
Kamal Deep as Accusations Announcer
Ashish Chatterji
Gauri Kamat
Gurbachan Singh
J. N. Manchanda
Maqsood
Nasir
Shahu Modak

Crew

Direction – Gulzar
Story – Bhushan Banmali
Screenplay – Gulzar
Dialogue – Gulzar
Production – Premji, J.N. Manchanda
Editing – Waman Bhosle, Gurudutt Shirali
Cinematography – K. Vaikunth
Art Direction – Desh Mukherjee, Marutirao Kale
Costume Design – Bhanu Athaiya
Choreography – Gopi Kishan
Music Direction – Pandit Ravi Shankar, Vijay Raghav Rao
Lyrics – Meerabai
Playback – Dinkar Kaikini, Vani Jairam

Production

Film's costume designer Bhanu Athaiya used changing hues of Meera saris to show her spiritual evolution rather dissolving into Krishna. Starting with vibrant colours as a princess, she leave the palace in orange (bhagwa), gradually shifting to yellow, fawn and finally to much paler beige colour.^[3]

Soundtrack

All lyrics are written by Meera; all music is composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar

No.	Title	Singer(s)
1.	"Aeri Main To Prem Deewani"	Vani Jairam
2.	"Baala Main Bairaagan Hoongi"	Vani Jairam
3.	"Badal Dekh Dari"	Vani Jairam
4.	"Hari Om Tansen" (Alaap)	Dinkar Kaikini
5.	"Jaago Bansiwale"	Vani Jairam
6.	"Jo Tum Todo Piya"	Vani Jairam
7.	"Karna Fakiri Phir Kya Dilgiri"	Vani Jairam
8.	"Karuna Suno Shyam More"	Vani Jairam
9.	"Main Sanware Ke Rang Rachi"	Vani Jairam
10.	"Mere To Giridhar Gopal" (1)	Vani Jairam
11.	"Pyar Darshan Dijo Aaj"	Vani Jairam
12.	"Ranaji Main To Govind"	Vani Jairam
13.	"Shyam Maane Chaakar"	Vani Jairam

Awards and nominations

1980 Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer - Won - Vani Jairam for "Mere To Giridhar Gopal"

References

^ Bhawana Somaaya (1 February 2008). Hema Malini: The Authorized Biography. Roli Books Private Limited. pp. 77–. ISBN 978-93-5194-048-7.
^ Rachel Dwyer (27 September 2006). Filming the Gods: Religion and Indian Cinema. Routledge. pp. 88–. ISBN 978-1-134-38070-1.
^ Bhawana Sommya; Kothari Jigna; Supriya Madangarli (17 April 2012). Mother Maiden Mistress : Women In Hindi Cinema,1950-2010. HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 1978–. ISBN 978-93-5029-485-7.

Chatterjee, Saibal (2007) - Echoes and Eloquences, The Life and Cinema of Gulzar, Rupa & Co. ISBN 978-81-291-1235-4.
Gulzar (1979) - Meera: Katha, Montage, Anusandhan aur Patkatha : Gulzar, Radhakrishan Prakashan.

External links

Meera at IMDb

[Somaaya2008-1] Bhawana Somaaya (1 February 2008). Hema Malini: The Authorized Biography. Roli Books Private Limited. pp. 77–. ISBN 978-93-5194-048-7.

[Dwyer2006-2] Rachel Dwyer (27 September 2006). Filming the Gods: Religion and Indian Cinema. Routledge. pp. 88–. ISBN 978-1-134-38070-1.

[SommyaJigna2012-3] Bhawana Sommya; Kothari Jigna; Supriya Madangarli (17 April 2012). Mother Maiden Mistress : Women In Hindi Cinema,1950-2010. HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 1978–. ISBN 978-93-5029-485-7.

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