Begum Jaan

<p>The movie opens with a small family and a young couple travelling in public transport late at night. While the family is alighting at their stop, a group of drunk goons gets into the bus and harasses the couple and tries to rape the woman; an elderly woman saves the girl, undressing herself. The movie then goes back to 1947. In August 1947, after sought independence from the British, the Last Viceroy of India, , gave the responsibility of dividing India into two parts – and . Radcliffe drew two lines – one in and another in . This line was known as the . After several failed attempts by British officials to convince Begum Jaan and her team to leave despite giving them a month’s notice, as a last resort, Hari and Ilyas enlist the help of Kabir, an infamous killer in Sonapur, to threaten Begum with her members to vacate the brothel. Kabir proceeds to kill Begum’s beloved dogs, even feeding their meat to Begum and her girls. Raja Sahib returns to the brothel one day to inform Begum Jaan that his efforts to save her brothel have failed and now she must vacate the brothel. Begum, who was hopeful of help from Raja Sahib, is shocked and dismayed. Still, she stubbornly tells Raja Sahib, come what may, she’d rather die in her house like a queen than die on the streets like a beggar. As a result of Kabir’s intimidation tactics, Begum asks Salim to train every one of her girls to use weapons and fight back. Intensive training practice sessions are held. Kabir then kills Sujeet while he is returning from the market with a few girls of the brothel. He persuades the girls to escape while sacrificing his life. This killing enrages Begum Jaan and her members further. Meanwhile, Masterji, Laadli’s teacher, is in love with Begum Jaan and proposes to her, unaware that another prostitute named Gulabo harbours feelings for him. Begum Jaan rejects his proposal and asks him to leave, leading an irate Masterji to concoct a plan to kill her. He convinces Gulabo to run away from the brothel, betraying Begum Jaan. Gulabo does so, but Masterji spurns her and gets her raped by his accomplices inside a horse carriage. She vows vengeance. On the night of partition, Kabir and his men attacked the brothel. Laadli, her mother, and Shabnam are forced to run away and are attacked by the policeman, Shyam Singh, who seeks benefit from them, but Laadli undresses herself, which reminds him of his ten-year-old daughter, and he cries and asks her to stop. Begum and the girls fight back, but to no avail. Gulabo returns and later slits Masterji’s throat while he is witnessing the attack on the brothel by Kabir and his goons. However, she has been badly assaulted by Masterji’s accomplices and dies. The goons throw lighted torches inside the brothel, causing the building to be engulfed in flames. Begum Jaan and her girls put up a determined fight. Many are killed. She and her four surviving members smile while looking at their home being set ablaze; they walk inside the building and shut the doors. They burn to death as Amma narrates the story of , who refused to fall into the hands of the enemy and instead martyred herself and died a valiant death, just like Begum Jaan. As the movie ends, Ilyas and Hari are seen to be remorseful of their actions; Ilyas shoots himself, and we are shown the remains of the brothel and the end to the Begum Jaan legacy. In the present, the old lady turned out to be Laadli, who undressed herself to save the couple; upon seeing her, the goons run away in fear. As the goons flee, a very old Laadli leaves by supporting the injured couple. This film is the remake of a Bengali film, , which was released in 2015. Principal photography of the film began in June 2016 and was completed in August 2016 in Ranishwar block of Dumka district in Jharkhand. The music for the film is composed by and has written the lyrics for songs. The soundtrack was released by . Prem Mein Tohre, sung by Asha Bhosle, was launched on 14 February 2017 to high praise. For the second song, Aazaadiyan brought together Sonu Nigam and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. The full music album was released on 6 April 2017. On 9 April 2017, the sixth song of this album, “Woh Subah” was released. This song is a recreated version of the song “Woh Subah Kabhi To Aayegi” from the 1958 Bollywood movie, , composed by and written by . The original song was voiced by and , while the new version had the voices of and . On 12 April 2017, the last song of this album, “Murshida”, was released as a “bonus track”. This song is penned by and sung by . All lyrics are written by ; all music is composed by . The first look of the movie introducing Vidya Balan as Begum Jaan was launched on 3 March 2017. The second poster of the movie was launched on 14 April 2017. The trailer of the movie was launched on 14 March 2017 to much critical and commercial acclaim. The trailer crossed 20 million views on Facebook and YouTube within a weeks time. As of June 2020 , the film holds a 10% approval rating on , based on ten reviews with an average rating of 3.86/10. The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Meena Iyer of gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5 and said that, “Vidya invests fully in Begum and her dialogue-baazi (a lot of which is raunchy) will get ceetis (whistles). However, the writer-director’s interest level in everything else, falters.” Rohit Vats of the gave the film a rating of 2.5 out of 5 saying that, “The 134-minute long Begum Jaan has Vidya Balan in good form, but it lacks cohesiveness as a complete story. It shies away from delving deep into the theme, but you may appreciate its documentary-like feel.” Raja Sen of gave the film a rating of 1 out of 5 and said that, “It is very difficult to take the highly cheesy Begum Jaan seriously, and the film squanders the talent of Vidya Balan”. of criticised the film saying that, “Each scene feels consciously staged than unprompted and the flow from one sequence to the next is perennially jerky leading to way too much chaos on- screen.” of gave the film a rating of 2 out of 5 saying that, “The film has an interesting premise and Vidya is commanding as the feared brothel owner who lords over her home. What lets it down is the shrill treatment.” Rajyasree Sen of criticised the film saying that, “Srijit Mukherji’s magnum opus ‘Begum Jaan’ is an utter travesty to feminism, cinema and female actors in the Hindi film industry”. Shubhra Gupta of gave the film a rating of 1.5 out of 5 and said that, “Such a waste of a talented bunch of actors. And of Balan, who tries hard to invest some feeling into a role which turns into a cliché the moment the film opens.” Saibal Chatterjee of praised the performance of saying that, “Vidya Balan could count this performance as another feather in her already overflowing cap” but found the film to be “passable at best”. The critic gave the film a rating of 2.5 out of 5 and said that, “A potentially explosive idea lost in banshee-like shrillness, rapid-fire storytelling and much volatility triggered by a collision of history and hysteria: that in a nutshell is Begum Jaan”. Sukanya Verma of criticised the film saying that, “Full of histrionics and misandry, Begum Jaan shows little understanding of the trauma and impasse afflicting those in its grip.” The critic gave the film a rating of 2 out of 5 and concluded her review by saying that, “In its preoccupation with drama, Begum Jaan neglects to reveal its soul. As a consequence, you feel nothing for the characters, their cause or fate.” Suhani Singh of criticised the film saying that, “Begum Jaan for all its good intent is a misfire of epic proportions.”</p>