Log Kya Kahenge (film)

Log Kya Kahenge (transl. What Will People Think?)[1] is a 1982 Indian Hindi-language film produced and directed by B. R. Ishara.[2] It stars Shabana Azmi, Shatrughan Sinha and Sanjeev Kumar in pivotal roles and also features Navin Nischol.[3][4] The title of the film, "Log Kya Kahenge", is documented as a common stigma facing women in Indian society who challenge pre-arranged marriages and are expected to behave in a certain manner. The film deals with themes of murder and adultery.

Log Kya Kahenge
Directed byB. R. Ishara
Produced byB. R. Ishara
StarringShabana Azmi
Shatrughan Sinha
Sanjeev Kumar
Music byKalyanji-Anandji
Release date
  • 1982 (1982)
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Plot

Roma is forced into a pre-arranged marriage with a widower. She comes to detest her husband and his son and the life that has been enforced upon her. She begins an affair with another man. One day her stepson discovers her with the other man and she kills him to prevent him from telling her husband. Ultimately she also kills her husband as her mental health declines and she becomes insane.

Cast

Themes and reception

The name "Log Kya Kahenge" (What will People Think) stems from a common Indian yardstick and social stigma against women who may challenge social norms of marriage and other expected forms of behaviour, a "stress-inducing" expectation surrounding women and arranged marriages.[5][6][7][8] One author said "In our sheltered Indian middle class homes, for every woman there is an unconsciously used Indian yardstick called, 'log kya kahenge'."[9]

The film was not amongst the blockbusters of 1982 and neither is it regarded today as a classic of Hindi cinema, remaining largely forgotten. However, the film draws upon the concept of women and challenging society and is therefore remarkable for the social situation of the era. The film gained some notoriety for the scene in which Shabana Azmi throttles her husband's son to prevent him from informing her husband of her affair with another man, and shocked viewers in India. Shabana herself said light-heartedly of the scene, "I remember seeing that completely evil look on my face ... and I was shocked by it. Was I capable of such evil?"[10] The Hindustan Times cited the scene amongst Hindi cinema's best-known and best-loved mother-oriented "moments of magic on the screen".[11] "The Women of South Asian Descent Collective" highlights the theme of divine justice in the film, saying, "In Log Kya Kahenge, the heroine takes the ultimate step in asserting her right to choose her spouse: she murders the husband forced on her. Consequently, she is punished not only by the law of the land but by divine justice – she becomes insane."[12]

Soundtrack

Music to the film was scored by Kalyanji-Anandji.

SongSingerLyricist
"Tere Bina Main, Mere Bina Tu" (version 1) Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar Naqsh Lyallpuri
"Tere Bina Main, Mere Bina Tu" (version 2) Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar
"Teri Parchhaiyan Meri Raahon Mein Hai" Mohammed Rafi
"Mere Pyar Ki Nakaami Ne Mujhe Kis Mod Pe" Anuradha Paudwal
"Aap Kyun Udaas Hai" Asha Bhosle Indrajeet Singh Tulsi
"Yeh To Kisi Yug Mein Saha Nahin Jaayega" Manhar Udhas Indeevar

References
  1. Rai, Vinay (2005). Rethinking India: toward an Indo-US partnership concord: changing hearts & mindsets. RF Publications. p. 287. ISBN 978-81-902759-0-3.
  2. Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (1999). Encyclopaedia of Indian cinema. British Film Institute. ISBN 9780851706696. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  3. "LKK Movie Overview". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  4. "Filmography: Navin Nischol". Hindustan Times. 19 March 2011. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  5. Das, Gurcharan (1 November 2002). The elephant paradigm: India wrestles with change. Penguin Books. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-14-302910-6. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  6. Singh, Sunny; Guha, Tapas (2000). Single in the city: the independent woman's handbook. Penguin Books. p. 23. ISBN 9780141000244. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  7. The non-fiction collection: twenty years of Penguin India. Penguin Books. 2007. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-14-310356-1. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  8. Chaudhary, Nandita (2004). Listening to culture: constructing reality from everyday talk. Sage Publications. ISBN 978-0-7619-3200-0. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  9. Women work and environment: studies in gender geography. Bangladesh Geographical Society and IGU Commission on Commercial Activity. 1998. p. 236. ISBN 978-984-716-000-9. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  10. Jha, Subhash K (23 September 2004). "From Sati Savitri to the Slutty Savvy". Sify. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  11. Where have the good old filmi mothers gone?, Hindustan Times, 11 May 2008
  12. Women of South Asian Descent Collective (Organization) (1993). Our feet walk the sky: women of the South Asian diaspora. Aunt Lute Books. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-879960-32-9. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
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