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Of walls that speak...
Ruchita Puri in stills from her film "The Maharani's Brick".
RUCHITA PURI, a Canadian filmmaker of Indian origin, recently presented her first film, a documentary, "The Maharani's Brick" at an event supported by the Canadian High Commission and The Oberoi, New Delhi. Not professionally trained in the medium, Ruchita has happily illustrated that the artistic voice inside a person can often be articulated without formal instruction, even in a complex medium like film. As a nicely designed film that tells a factual story using elements of art and fantasy, "The Maharani's Brick" continues a tradition of imaginative film-making - albeit one that has largely eluded much of the commercial cinema industry - noticeable in India since the early years of the Republic, when Jawaharlal Nehru and other national heroes of his generation waved gallantly from the steps of airplanes, with a `vadya vrind' - like orchestra playing in the background, in the black-and-white Films Division documentaries or cinema newsreels.
"The Maharani's Brick" is simultaneously the story of the Maharani of Kuchesar, Vinokshi Singh, and of the Kuchesar Fort, 80 kilometres outside Delhi, where she came to live as a young bride. Vinokshi Singh who appears in the film and reads out her memoirs, recounts how after the sudden death of her husband, she confronted her responsibilities to her children, her elders and the family fort, and how she brought up her young son and daughter, provided moral support to her parents-in-law, and succeeded in keeping the fort as part of the family. Now that the children are adults, they and the Maharani have decided to make the effort required to resurrect Kuchesar's past glory by treating the fort in the manner a heritage monument deserves.
Heritage preservation is one of Ruchita Puri's major preoccupations. At one time associated with Intach - Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage - which she left to concentrate on her film projects, she has also directed theatre productions. In the film she narrates the story of the fort - literally, the walls' view of the festivities, the pomp, beauty of arts and poetry that rang through the monument - in the first person, representing "the spirit of the monument" in the form of a dancer.
A number of high power performers have lent their expertise in the making of the film. The music is composed by Ustad Ghulam Sabir and Indraneel, along with Tunisian musician Lofti Bouchnak.
The first song "Eent" is sung by Hariharan, while Palash Sen has sung "Mitti" and Salima Raza has sung the concluding nazm. Sandeep Marwah of Marwah Studios has co-produced the film. Apart from opening narration by Sameep Nanda, the story is strung together with the Maharani reading her own memoirs and Ruchita's voice as the spirit of the monument. Vikramjeet Singh, Samarjeet Singh, Ayesha Raza, Indra Puri and Sarita Kanudia also appear in the film.
Interestingly, at the screening, the filmmaker desisted from including her name in the credits as an actor or narrator, as she didn't want to seem to be "publicising herself".
It would seem the same spirit guides this heritage enthusiast as Vinokshi Singh's royal progeny, who declare that though they are not immortal, their heritage is.
ANJANA RAJAN
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