Still, she stubbornly tells Raja Sahib come what may, she'll rather die in her house like a queen than die on the streets like a beggar. Begum, who was having hopes from Raja Sahib is shocked in dismay. 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 Jaan reluctantly forces Shabnam to sleep with Raja Sahib while she sings in the sidelines as he enjoys his night.Īfter several failed attempts 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 ( Chunky Pandey), an infamous killer in Sonapur, to threaten Begum with her members to vacate the brothel. However, he demands to spend the night with young Shabnam ( Mishti Chakraborty), who had recently joined the brothel as a mental wreck after abuse. He arrives at the brothel with gifts and presents for them and after hearing about their plight, he assures them of help by stating that he would be going to Delhi soon and discuss the matter there. Begum Jaan sends message to him for his help in this matter. Begum Jaan's brothel is looked after by Raja Sahib ( Naseeruddin Shah), under whose protection, they are safe and sound. Love is shown to blossom between Sujeet and Rubina ( Gauahar Khan). They are pestered by government officers Hari Prasad ( Ashish Vidyarthi), Ilyas Khan ( Rajit Kapoor) and Inspector Shyam Singh ( Rajesh Sharma) who visit her and ask all of the residents to evict the brothel, as it lies on the land that the Radcliffe Line is to pass through. The members of the brothel include an elderly woman known as Amma ( Ila Arun), Sujeet ( Pitobash Tripathy), a local worker who brings her customers and Salim ( Sumit Nijhawan), a gunman who guards them and also two dogs. The prostitutes in Begum Jaan's brothel are a number of girls she raised herself, who were either abandoned or disowned by their families and now work for her. This line was known as the Radcliffe Line.īegum Jaan ( Vidya Balan) is a prostitute who runs a brothel between the cities of Shakargarh and Dorangla.
Radcliffe drew two lines – one in Punjab and another one in Bengal. In August 1947, after India sought independence from the British, the Last Viceroy of India, Mountbatten gave Cyril Radcliffe, the responsibility of dividing India into two parts – India and Pakistan. Weakness: Sub plots-which are there for a reason to depict the external factors leading to the present situation of each character, but is feels dislodged at times.Movie opens with a small family and a young couple travelling in public transport in the late night, while the family getting down at their stop, a group of drunk goons gets into the bus and harasses the couple and tries to rape her where an old woman, saves the girl, undressing herself. Strength: Acting, Casting for each character, Songs seem situational thus goes okay with the scenes.
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And as the brothel and its residents are the life of the movie, the characters are found swearing in almost every other dialogue, hence the movie is not recommended for meek audience. a brothel, a place where people go to seek happiness but won't give a damn if required to spread happiness with. This is not a commercial entertainment made up to glamorize the female actors rather a film which speaks about the darker face of the society i.e.
The movie might appear to be a non-sense or over-dramatic to shallow audience but if even once have you felt weak in the hands of the unwritten, unjust laws of the nation or the society, you would get the essence of this story. Director Srijit Mukherjee is a man of art and with Begum Jaan he has a strong message of self-belief and self-empowerment being the most important part for a country or an individual to be independent and to fight for ones own rights.