Charlotte Morgan

Brueck: Screening India

February 21, 2010

Guide Film Review

Guide, written and directed by Vijay Anand, is a film consisting of a series of unraveled flashbacks, beginning and ending both in the present. The start of the film is outside of a jail, where our hero, Raju, is finally released from his sentencing for forgery. The allegation that this man Raju is the story’s hero will only make sense once the entirety of the plot is laid out, as well as the lives of the rest of the characters. When Raju’s mother and his former “almost wife” Rosie arrive at the jail to take Raju home upon release, they learn that he has been let go early and has failed to come home. Both women are shocked and heartbroken, and Rosie takes Raju’s mother home and begins to tell her the story of her love for Raju. Rosie’s tale begins the flashback that encompasses most of the movie.

Class is one theme that serves as a primary element to the movie Guide, especially in regards to Rosie. Rosie’s mother is a courtesan, and does everything in her power to remove Rosie from this atmosphere, and give her a more respectable life than her own, even at the cost of loosing her daughter. Rosie’s mother arranges for her to marry an older, wealthier, upper-class man named Marco, who stifles her expression by forbidding her to dance, expecting her to be a submissive wife. Marco expresses that she is not low-class anymore, and that because she bears his name she will no longer dance and act like a whore. Rosie begins to “find herself” through Raju, their guide, while on the trip, and realizes that she would rather give up her class in order to dance, her passion. Raju encourages Rosie to continue to dance once they had eloped to his mother’s house, despite being frowned upon by his village and disowned by his friends. I think that Rosie and Raju both realized in this moment of the film that other people’s connotations of class and ideas in regards to her dancing were unimportant, and what mattered was that they were together and happy.

Rosie and Raju’s relationship in the movie Guide has no place in respectable society at the time, and their live-in situation is obviously not accepted throughout the movie. Raju’s mother becomes so infuriated with the situation that she leaves her home. Rosie’s marriage to Marco was diminishing her identity as her own woman, leaving her with a barren life. Her love for Raju saves her, and brings her liberation. This idea of their marriage being the demise, and an unofficial love affair acting as the savior to Rosie’s humanity, is not the accepted ideal in Indian society. This affair denotes traditional values of a mans parents approaching the woman’s parents in arrangement of marriage, as well as presents the ideas of infidelity and a non-married life as “liberating.”

We are constantly reminded throughout the movie of the fact that Rosie has no home to look back to. Marco removing her from her mother and class erases her origins, and Raju who rescues her from her marriage then removes her from her only home with Marco. This “unattachedness” contributes to the unfavorable way that Raju’s mother and others see Rosie. Once Rosie embraces her dancing, the seemingly disgraceful pieces of her past help her to become successful and famous. Raju’s character is deeply planted in his origins, which can be seen in the way that he brings Rosie back to his house despite the connotations that she brings, as well as the fact that he returns home once him and Rosie have a “falling out” near the end of the movie. In my opinion, the fact that Raju would not return home after he was let out of prison reflects an even stronger respect for his origins, his home, because he did not want to tarnish his family and their reputation with what he had done.

The gender roles presented in the movie Guide were very interesting to me in contrast with our previous films. In Guide, we moved away from strong female roles and instead focused on the highly eroticized role of the male hero, Raju. Throughout the film, the character of Rosie and her role as a newly successful dancer and reinvented woman is eventually pushed into the background. Although Rosie has worked her way from nothing to making a name for herself, Miss Nalini, we end the movie focusing on Raju. After Raju begins to ignore his wife, commits forgery, and ends up in prison, he reappears heroically after his sentence in a remote village pretending to be a saint. Neither going to prison or pretending to be a saint to a famished village are noble or heroic situations, yet when Raju is cornered by the villagers into fasting for twelve days to spiritually relieve the drought, he then is enlightened and becomes a martyr.

Raju inhibits many characteristics of the “universal good” in the story, despite his apparent faults. He has respect for his mother; especially when he doesn’t believe Rosie tried to persuade her to stay in her home, and he creates strong emotional bonds with the men of the village, which encourage them further to think he is their saint. Raju displays intense religious tolerance during his fast and after his enlightenment, and his devotion to the village and the end of the famine shows the love he has for his country, and especially the people of his village and surrounding areas.

On the other hand, Rosie, who never committed any crime besides fleeing her miserable marriage, inhabits many of the characteristics of the “universal bad.” The fact that her name is Rosie immediately shines an unfavorable light on her because it is western, and many of the “villain” or undesirable roles have western characteristics. The fact that Rosie is estranged, or unattached from her family is also a characteristic of the “universal bad” in a role. Also, I interpreted Rosie’s dancing in the film to be portrayed as uncontrolled sexuality, because she was inclined to do so despite what everyone thought of her. Rosie’s suicide attempts in the beginning of the movie also seemed to reflect her ignoring fate and religion. She also seemed to reject her culture by leaving Marco, and not marrying Raju. In the film, only once Rosie sees Raju as a martyr during his fast, does she appear in an all white sari, removing her jewels and material items. This appearance of “purity” in Rosie only comes after the hero of the film is made clear, where she can then be pushed into the background unnoticed.

This self-centered male role of Raju in Guide creates a new homoerotic image of the male figure in the films so far. We end the movie with an unattached male hero, becoming a martyr in solitude for the lives of the people in the village. Raju is seen as enlightened, powerful in his struggle, and completely devoted to bringing his people rain.

Religion plays a major role in Guide, because it is the most important element left in Raju’s life right before he dies. Raju has gone through his life, which eventually ended in sin by abandoning his wife and mother, committing a crime, and lying to the village. During his fast, he is enlightened and realizes that he must devote himself to the people who believe in him by truly fasting. He confesses his sins and dies a reconciled man. Raju’s new found devotion to the people of the village construct the idea that a man can always redeem himself through religion, and find identity and devotion to the people or place that needs them most. Although Raju’s martyrdom wasn’t on a national level, his actions showed that he cared for his people enough to die for them, which is an ideal parallel with national identity.

The musical style and songs in Guide were all different, yet interesting with many shared characteristics. The songs with the picturesque mountain scenes in the background with Raju and Rosie singing to each other as lovers, was magical and romantic, even though somewhat more “cheesy” than previous songs. Once Rosie began to discover who she truly was, and wanted to be, the song sequences became increasingly more romantic and entertaining, beginning with the song on the back of the truck in the hay. Once Rosie became Miss Nalini, her dance and song sequences became more and more elaborate, including other women dancers as well as womanly figured statues and bright color. Although this would seem to heighten her femininity and character as a woman, it contrasts with the fact that she is eventually pushed into the background by Raju’s character. In the end of the movie, most of the songs focus on Raju and his devotion, heightening his character to the upmost hero.

I enjoyed the film Guide immensely, it held my attention throughout the entire three hours, and kept me interested. I loved the character of Rosie, and her song and dance sequences were thrilling and beautiful. I initially liked the character of Raju as the guide; he was amusing and full of character, yet my fondness of him diminished as Rosie became famous. I was disappointed in the way that Rosie was pushed into the background because in my opinion, she wasn’t necessarily the hero of the story but she succeeded against all odds. Despite Raju’s “enlightenment,” I had a hard time finding him to be genuine in the end, and his disregard for his mother and Rosie after he was let out of prison really bothered me. Overall, the film Guide entertained me, as well as taught me more about the progression of Hindi cinema throughout the years!