| |
Screen The Business Of Entertainment-Films-Special |
 | | Even though the tawaif’s tainted reputation derives from her open sexuality, her desire to escape from her present ignominious existence, either by returning to a childhood past or to a future in another idyllic world, resonates meaningfully with her Muslim audiences. |
| | In a gesture uncharacteristic both of the tawaif who may not leave her audience, and the mother who is not permitted to come out of the zenana (female quarters), both women traverse the distance that divides the public and the private domain. |
| | To audiences who have identified with the tawaif’s sense of displacement and subsequent desire to return to her originary home wherein she seeks the acceptance of traditional kinship groups, the film sends a clear message: it is no longer possible to return to formerly unified social orders and old identities. |
| www.screenindia.com /20020308/fspecial.html (2192 words) |
