Made in 1972, it is set in a village in Maharashtra...
This is no ordinary village that we are talking about. A model village in its district, this is a place where people have the value systems in place to live happily with each other in harmony. And fostering these values in the vilagers is the village teacher Guruji Sridhar Pant (Dr. Shriram Lagoo). He imbibes the values of simple living in his students, both young and old alike. And of the reasons for this village being a model village is that vices like drinking, gambling and watching street plays (tamashas) are completely banned. And the man enforcing all this is the Guruji. Revered by all the villagers, he occupies a place in their hearts next only to God. Under his gaze, the village is living its own happy existence. Until...
"Aali thumkat,naar lachkat, maan murdat, hirvya raani.... "
Until one day, things take a turn. A troupe that presents the street play (tamashas) arrives in the village, led by the sensous leading lady Chandrakala (Sandhya). She causes an immediate flutter in the villagers, but the troupe is soon confronted by the Guruji and told not to stage the tamashas in the villages. And when they set up camp just outside the village and perform a show, the Guruji, fully supported by the villagers, later confronts them again and demolishes their tents. An enraged Chandrakala vows to cut the Guruji to size and to make him perform in her troupe some day.
"Disala Ga Bai Disala, mala baghun gaalat hasala ga bai hasala.... "
The troupe sets up stall on the other side of the river across the village. Here, the news of their performance reaches the villagers, who slowly start bunking their evening literacy classes with the Guruji to cross the river and see Chandrakala perform. On getting the whiff of it, the Guruji again goes to Chandrakala. In this confrontation, Chandrakala slips and pretends to have injured her leg. The Guruji (also a practising ayurvedic) is duty-bound to heal her and this brings the two adversaries closer to each other. Slowly, the Guruji finds himself falling madly in love with the dancer (who reciprocates) and even starts to neglect his daily teaching duties for her. News of this reaches the son of the village patil (who has a score to settle with the Guruji) and he decides to expose the Guruji for the sham that he is...
"Tumha var keli mi marji bahaal, Naka sodun jaao rang mahaal... "
One night, the Guruji makes another of his now regular trips across the river to Chandrakala, and is seen by the patil's son. However, he hides himself before the patil's son gets the villagers along to try and expose him. Hurt at the double standards that he is now forced to adopt, Guruji leaves Chandrakala and returns to the village. But not for long. Chandrakala visits him one stormy night to reunite. Coincidentally, the patil's son also reaches there, only to be murdered by another villager (personal feud) who, for good measure, also disfigures the victim's face by a stone. Fearing that the Guruji will soon be exposed before the villagers who so revere him, and also fearing that this would end their union, Chandrakala hatches a plan. They dress the patil's dead son as the Guruji and the Guruji flees the village (in disguise) with the troupe. The village mourns the murder of their beloved Guruji....
"Kashi nashibaane thatta aaj maandli... " ("See the joke played by fate... ")
Here onwards, the Guruji quickly descends into a life far removed from his life of ideals. Forced to be a part of troupe, he is treated with contempt by the other members, save Chandrakala. After a point, his ego is unable to bear this and he soon starts chewing tobacco and hits the bottle. The disintegration of the once proud Guruji is complete when he performs (the above song) at one of their shows. Chandrakala thus completes her vow, but not before she has completely transformed the once-proud Guruji to a tobacco-chewing, drinking mess, and has herself fallen madly in love with him in the process. And in a final twist, the police investigating the murder of the 'Guruji' confronts the dance troupe and takes their finger-prints. This nails the Guruji, since he had touched the knife on the night of the murder. The Guruji gets arrested for his OWN murder. He is taken back to his old village as an accused where he now has to face the wrath of the villagers, who promptly humiliate him. Produced in court, the Guruji (completely shattered) now prefers to die in disguise rather than tell the truth and thereby tarnish his hard-earned legacy in the village. Chandrakala thinks otherwise and is determined to tell the truth in the court, but before she can do so, she loses her voice and is taken away from the courtroom. With no one left to defend the Guruji, the court sentences him to death for the murder of the 'Guruji' !! Chandrakala dies on hearing the news and the Guruji is sent to the gallows.... !
A tragedy par excellence, Pinjra is widely considered to be one of the milestones in Marathi cinema. Pinjra (the Cage) is a metaphor for the cages that both the Guruji and Chandrakala are trapped in. Both of them live in their own cages, unable to unite. Until death that is, when both flee their self-imposed cages. Brilliantly directed by V Shantaram. It boasts of powerhouse performances by both the lead actors (and a delightful small cameo by Nilu Phule). It was also made in Hindi in 1973. Truly, a movie not to be missed....
Amit
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