Dancing their way to freedom – The Hindu

A much-awaited movie at this years IFFK is the national-award-winning Hellaro that ran to a packed house on Sunday when it was screened in the Indian Cinema Now section. Set in the arid Rann of Kutch, it portrays the urge of an unfettered mind to break free from social shackles in this case, treacherous patriarchy. And what helps to set the free spirit soar is the flowing movements of the body tuned to the beats of an ebullient drum in a dance genre that Gujarat has always been proud of garba.

The movie has won many hearts since its release in November this year. The biggest applause came as the National Award for the Best Feature Film and Special Jury award for the 13 women who play the protagonists who live in a nondescript village in Kutch where the norm is that women cannot dance or express their talents in any way. All they are allowed is to walk miles away through dry patches to fetch water.

But their chance meeting with a drummer gives them the spark to express their rebellion and their freedom through dance something only men are allowed to do in the village. The bond between the women in Hellaro reminds us of Ketan Mehtas Mirch Masala where women fight gender bias with spices they prepare for a living.

The movie is Abhishek Shahs first. It competed at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in the best debut film category and even opened the festival. Mr. Shah, who took to theatre when young, got the idea of the movie from real incidents when he felt that freedom of expression, among women especially, remained subdued. He then read it along with a Kutchi folkore in which women get attracted to a drummer who helps them dance in gay abandon.

When he narrated the story to us, we were excited. Everything fell in place from then with veterans like Saumya Joshi helping with the script, lyrics, and dialogue and Sameer Tanna choreographing the beautiful garba dances that fill the frames with a fiery grace. The real hero of the film is garba, says Aayush Patel, one of the producers. He and another from the producer team, Mit Jani, are attending the IFFK.

Even while portraying the dark world of ruthless conventions, the film celebrates the rustic, earthy flavours of Kutch, the richness of its dialect, and the delicate imprints of art that is part of the regions everyday life.

Hellaro in Gujarati means an outburst that gives rise to a wave of change. The film has done exactly that, coming in as a wave of change in Gujarati cinema.

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Dancing their way to freedom - The Hindu