Review : Unwoman : Celebrating ‘third gender’!
A few years back #SupremeCourtofIndia created ‘#thirdgender’ status for eunuchs or #transgenders. This ‘community’ is prevalent in our society for hundreds of years and was always looked down upon by the society terming them as a blot on the humankind. Most of the times the eunuchs or Hijras were used to create laughter in our films. But maybe for the first time, a film ‘#Unwoman’ is seen celebrating third gender by showcasing their emotional combat to survive in a society dominated by just two genders, male and female. #SusheelSharman and #PallaviRoy have written this story about a man and his eunuch ‘wife’ which is heart wrenching.
The story happens in a remote village in Rajasthan. Due to paucity of girls in the community, a lot of young men remain unmarried. Because of this a local guy in his mid-thirties, Bhanwar (Sarthak Narula) with his his paternal uncle, Bhairo (Bhagwan Tiwari), goes to a neighbouring village to ‘buy’ a bride. They pay hefty sum to the middleman and bring the bride Sanwari (Kanak Garg) to their village and celebrate the occasion. On the ‘Suhag-Raat’ Bhanwar finds out that the woman he has married is actually an eunuch. He curses his luck and he and Bhairo, for the fear of villagers taunts, decide to keep her/him for household chores, pretending nothing is amiss. While Sanwari is looking after these two men, Bhanwar develops a soft corner for her. They start liking each other and actually fall in love and get physical too. Bhairo finds out about their physical closeness and tries to ‘rape’ Sanwari. But she refuses to ‘bend’ and Bhanwar and Bhairo lock horns in front of the villagers. What happens next and in between forms the crux of the story.
The film immediately, without wasting any time, addresses the subject at hand. Director Pallavi Roy has directed intimate scenes with restraint and that’s commendable. In sub text the film talks strongly about people wanting only male child thus creating a man-woman imbalance. Feticide is happening in male dominated society resulting in the boys not getting girls for marriage. The screenplay is well written but the film is more for the festival circuits. The music is good but the production values could have been better. The cinematography emphasises the aridness of the surroundings, the place and the lives of characters. The dialogues should have been more Hindi inclined. Debutant Kanak Garg does good job in an author backed role. Sarthak Narula delivers a restrained yet convincing performance. A stand out actor is Bhagwan Tiwari. He delivers an authentic performance and dominates all the frames he is present in.
Unwoman is an honest attempt to showcase the issues faced by the ‘third gender’.
***1/2
