| Cast: |
Tabu, Rajpal
Yadav, Atul Kulkarni,
|
| Director: |
Madhur Bhandarkar |
| Producer: |
- |
Shlok
Films' CHANDNI BAR, directed by Madhur Bhandarkar,
belongs to the latter category, although it has its
share of entertaining moments as well.
Mumtaz
(Tabu) arrives in Mumbai with her uncle after having
lost everything, including her house and family, in
the madness of the communal riots in Sitapur, Uttar
Pradesh.
In
order to make two ends meet, her uncle, with the help
of a pimp Iqbal Chamdi (Rajpal Yadav), takes her to
Chandni Bar, a sleazy beer bar, wherein she is persuaded
into taking to bar dancing. Later one night, she is
raped by her uncle, which transforms her into a woman
overnight.
Pot
ya
(Atul Kulkarni), an underworld henchman, frequents
Chandni Bar regularly and spots Mumtaz one night.
He gets attracted to her and makes her an indecent
proposal. She snubs him initially, but gives in to
the pressures subsequently.
When
Potya learns of Mumtaz's plight her rape he kills
her uncle in front of her eyes and marries her soon
after. With the passage of time, she gives birth to
a boy (Abhay) and later, a girl (Payal). But the happiness
is shortlived.
The
police kill Potya in an encounter. A helpless Mumtaz
approaches her late husband's associates, but they
eschew her like plague. She is left with no alternative
other than returning to the bar to support herself
and her kids.
Years
later, life takes yet another
cruel twist when her son Abhay is implicated in an
extortion case. Worse, two inmates molest the innocent
boy while in custody. In order to raise funds to have
her kid released, Mumtaz takes to prostitution, while
her pubescent daughter starts working in the same
bar as a bar dancer.
The
son is released from the prison, but he is a changed
person now. He is no longer the innocent 15-year-old
who is all set to appear in Class 10 examinations.
Seething with anger, he shoots the two molesters in
broad daylight.
Without
doubt one of the finest realistic films made in the
recent times, CHANDNI BAR focuses the viewer's attention
to that segment of society that has seldom been depicted
on the Indian screen.
