I always thought the best things in life are the most popular things. If a person/place/object is not popular, it cannot be the best!
Then, I watched this so-called ‘art’ cinema filmed in my mother tongue, Kosli called — Bhukha (1989).
To give some background about the language before I start critiquing the film. Kosli is an Indo-Aryan language largely spoken in Western Odisha which was known as Koshal kingdom before Odisha was formed as a state in 1936. The formation of Odisha (then Orissa) was largely spearheaded by people from Coastal Odisha (Kalinga and Utkala) and they assimilated the Kosli people into the larger umbrella of Odia.
That is not to say that Kosli is poles apart from Odia. But, just like Odia is different from Bengali (which I always make a point while conversing with my city-bred friends), Kosli is different from Odia in diction.
Odisha has a thriving film industry based out of Cuttack (the cultural hub of coastal Odisha). Few Odia films have achieved nation-wide recognition. Like most regional cinema industry, Odia films largely churn out remakes of successful Bollywood films.
Bhukha is a film about an isolated tribal community in Western Odisha which remains untouched by the modern development. There are no schools, no proper healthcare facilities, no roads, no pucca houses, no electricity, no tap water…you get the idea. People live there as if they are in the medieval age, the primary occupation of the dwellers being playing traditional musical instruments during social gatherings.
With the advent of new mechanical musical instruments which are louder and good-looking, our tribal protagonists are worrisome about sustaining their livelihoods. “Let’s go and carry rocks. The Government is paying”, said one troubled tribal. The immediate reaction from the head of the tribal was “These hands were made by God to produce music, not to carry rocks”.
At its very core, Bhukha is about the conflict between upholding traditional values and the onset of modernity. The sister of the tribal head falls for the city-educated Asim. The PhD sociology student from Sambalpur University is writing a thesis on traditional music and did his fieldwork in the tribal village. Asim became too sentimental towards the plight of tribal people for his or their own good.
Another quirky character is the mahajan, an old Brahmin who is a money lender. Like all Brahmins, he is religious and greedy. Brilliantly acted by Odia screen legend Sarat Pujari, he could be considered the main antagonist of the story.
The songs of Bhukha are not only melodious but also move the film forward, unlike other Indian cinema where songs are mere objectification of women. There is a song on a baraat, another on two girls enjoying village fair, another about the local deity and the last where the girls of the village are fetching wood from forest. The importance of women is explicit in the songs’ lyrics.
This film is recommended to those who are interested in culture — modern and traditional. Moreover, the social dynamics in Indian tribal community has been beautifully explored by the director, Sabyasachi Mohapatra. After 28 years since its release, the film has a charm of its own and could be called a classic film on tribal issues.
