I love me some 1970s Jayaji! She was soooooooooooooooooo good. I mean, she’s still very very good, but she doesn’t get as good roles as she used to back then.
Shelomit and Filmikudhi came to the live discussion and I took notes, just assume all these points were made by one or both of them and not me 🙂
The start of the discussion was about Jaya’s hair, of course. Yes, so far as we can tell, that actually was her real hair. If you look at candid photos from the era, she’s got the same hair in them.
Discussion Questions!
Why can we get over the implausibility of this family accepting Jaya? Is it her charm? Or is it the social roles into which she can slot?
Another theory, it’s just AK Hangal really wanting to chill out Sanjeev and using Jaya as the opportunity. And, Jaya is just FUN! She makes the house nice.
Did you feel like the movie accepted Sanjeev’s misogyny or questioned it?
Maybe just more of comic relief! Kind cartoonish, not something anyone should take seriously, just Sanjeev being silly.
What is the deal with Asrani?
Comic relief for no reason? Serial killer vibes though, NOT FUNNY.
What is up with the Helen dance?
People would go just for the dance, it would be separate from the movie, so it can be crazy and unrelated. Also, Shelomit caught that the male dancer is “Oscar” and probably also choreographed.
Is Helen good or evil, I honestly can’t tell?
By the end, yes. But maybe justified since Jaya eventually testified against her? Her character met Jaya, got her a job as a model, then when her boss tried to rape her, took her in and brought her to stay at a brothel (calling it a “hostel”). In the most generous view, Helen was sincerely trying to help her but after the brothel raid, turned against her because of her testimony. In the least generous view, she was setting her up to become a sex worker beholden to Helen from the start.
Obviously Jaya sells her role like crazy, but how much weight does Sanjeev pull in making his character charming?
Not charming, but “affable”. He’s just harmless, sweet, nice. Jaya puts herself entirely at his mercy multiple times, but it never actually feels like she is in danger, because it’s just Sanjeev. He may bluster but he won’t hurt her, or betray her, or do anything else bad. If you think about the film with any other actor in the role, the story turns much darker and tense instead of light and fun.
Bonus discussion, how amazing was Jaya in this role! She resists the urge to break character straight through, all the times when it would have been tempting to let her eyes flicker in recognition or fear, she just stays playing it the way the character would.
Bonus bonus discussion, how could this movie have been written/made entirely by men? there were so many small moments, like Jaya leaving her bra in the bathroom sink, that are so female. Is it that men of the 1970s were just more evolved? Or is it (my theory) that someone’s wife was taking a hand and helping out without credit?
And then we spent the end of the Zoom call talking about FilmiKudhi’s kids. Baby Kajol is crawling!