Pinjra (film)

Pinjra (Marathi: पिंजरा; Cage), is a 1972 Marathi film, directed by V. Shantaram, starring Shriram Lagoo and Sandhya in lead roles. In 1972, the film was also released in Hindi with the same title. Set in Tamasha folk musical theatre of Maharashtra, the film is about a morally righteousness school teacher, Lagoo, who wants to reform a Tamasha performer, played Sandhya, but ends up falling in love with her. It was an adaptation of Josef von Sternberg's German film, The Blue Angel (Der Blaue Engel, 1930) starring Marlene Dietrich, which itself was based on Heinrich Mann's novel Professor Unrat ("Professor Garbage", 1905). The film is known for its music and dance numbers with music by Ram Kadam, and picturised on the lead actress Sandhya, known for her dancing prowess. It was also the film debut of noted theatre actor, Shriram Lagoo. The film was also remade by Shantaram in Hindi with same cast and title, even the songs like "Mala lagali kunachi uchaki", which were a big hit in Marathi version, were re-recorded in Hindi version.

The film was one was last major film by veteran director, who had made classics like Duniya Na Mane (1937), Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957) and Navrang (1959). Produced in colour and replete with catchy dance numbers sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Usha Mangeshkar. Prior to its release, one reel of the film was test-screened in the theatres, to check colour reproduction. It went on to become one of biggest commercial successes of its time and ran for 134 weeks in Pune at the time. This also lead to the introduction of colour films in Marathi cinema. In 1973, it won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Marathi for the year 1972.

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Pinjra is having its re-release in digital format and change in sound format on 18 March 2016. Pune-based Purushottam Laddha is all set to re-release the film, two-month-long process cost Laddha Rs ₹1.25 crore (US$190,000).

Synopsis

The film is a loose adaptation of the first major German sound film Der Blaue Engel.

A "Mastar" (Marathi version of 'Master') named Shridhar Pant(guruji) is an upright school teacher; a man of high morals. Unfortunately, the Maharashtrian village, where he teaches, does not value these qualities. A Tamasha group comes to the village. The lead dancer of the group, Chandrakala (Sandhya Shantaram) steals the heart of every man in the village. The teacher is righteously infuriated by their lack of morals. He vents his anger on the dance group in form of a speech and by demolishing their temporary dwelling places.

The dancer is hurt by this and decides to take revenge by staying and performing. Gradually, even adult school students start skipping class to see Tamasha. The teacher decides to confront the dancer after a performance. During a performance, she is badly injured and in humanity and humility guruji helps her. During this period, he is overwhelmed by lust that he had never before encountered. Horrified, he asks her to keep it a secret. Later, the son of the landlord (Bajirao), who is against the teacher, finds him visiting Chandrakala on a daily basis. He calls his father (landlord) and all people to see, but they don't find guruji (the teacher) there. Guruji is deeply hurt as he deceives the villagers. Bajirao tries to frame guruji in a molestation case. A villager (milkman)who wants to get revenge from bajirao killed him. Chandrakala asks him to flee. She also misguides villagers by saying that the murder victim was, in fact, guruji. Chandrakala and Guruji change the clothes of murder victim to clothes of guruji. The dancer hides guruji as a tamasha worker in disguise. Here, he learns to drink and chew tobacco.

After realising that she has brought a good man to her level, and is solely responsible for whatever happened, Chandrakala decides to make amends. Chandrakala leaves the dancer troupe after a quarrel with them. She and Mastar (Guruji) leaves, but soon Mastar gets arrested by Police. Mastar is arrested for his own murder as his fingerprints match with the fingerprints present on the murder weapon. Chandrakala tries to defend and meets Mastar in Jail. She tell him that she will tell the truth in court - that Mastar is the real guruji and not a murderer. The Mastar tells her how people love his thoughts, his acts and how in his memory they have built a statue of his. He decides that he should be punished for deceiving the villagers. He believes that his thoughts and the noble ideal Guruji should live in minds of villagers than the Mastar. He decides to sacrifice himself for the long life of Guruji.

In court, in a twist of fate, while telling the truth to the judge, Chandrakala loses her voice in the court and Mastar is asked about his stance on the case and defense. He confesses the crime and says it is a ghastly act did by him and requests court for harshest punishment. Court sentence him to death. While listening to the sentence, the dancer dies on the spot due to shock. Mastar later sees Chandrakala and believes she is waiting for him after death. Mastar is shown taken to jail and presumably it is shown that his punishment is carried out.

Pinjra is the tragic story of a school teacher and a dancer. The 'cage' here is a metaphor for life. The dancer dies as she falls for the teacher and is unable to save him. The teacher prefers to die under mistaken identity, rather than live as a man who has lost respect. This is a story of how death frees them from their cages.

Cast

Following table shows details of Cast for Pinjara.

Release

The film was released on 31 March 1972. Film Re-released in 2016, march 18.

Awards

1972: National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Marathi

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack is composed by Ram Kadam, with lyrics by Jagdish Khebudkar.

Track list

Following table shows list of tracks and respective duration in the film.

Contents