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That was then, this is now

Old man, young woman - Nishabd is not bold, Duniya Na Maane was, and exactly 70 years ago, says Deepa Gahlot.

Ram Gopal Varma''s Nishabd is getting flak and some praise for its ''unusual'' subject of the relationship between an older man and young

woman. Some have called it bold and progressive, but way back in 1937—a good 70 years back, V. Shantaram had make his classic Duniya Na

Maane Kunku in Marathi about a young woman who is married to an old man.

This sort of thing was prevalent then, and still is in some pockets of the country, and V.Shantaram, the truly radical filmmaker showed his concern

for what he believed was a deplorable practice.

In the film Nirmala Shanta Apte is tricked into marrying an old widower Kakasaheb Keshavrao Date, who had children the age of his new bride.

Nirmala refuses to accept Kakasaheb as her husband, saying that the injustice done to her in intolerable.

It was not easy for a woman to be defiant in those days; Nirmala has to contend with her hostile in-laws, as well her stepson who makes passes at

her. Supportive of Nirmala is her husband''s widowed daughter Sushila Shakuntala Paranjpye. Eventually, the husband realizes that what he did to

Nirmala was unforgivably wrong, and since divorce was not possible then, frees his rebellious wife by committing suicide, leaving a note asking

Nirmala to marry someone suitable. Of course, widow remarriage was another hurdle in that period, but that was another issue.

Shantaram''s characterization of the husband was amazingly complex and modern. He is a reasonable man who acted without thinking, because

society never questioned the actions and privileges of a man. Nobody expected that the wife would protest, neither did he, but instead of forcing her

to be submit to his wishes, he is willing to see her point of view and concede that he made mistake.

The film''s use of sound and symbolic images was trend-setting—for instance a grandfather clock as a symbol for the old husband. When he

decides to liberate his young wife, he takes of the pendulum of the clock which means it''s the end of life for him and uses it to weigh down the

letter he leaves behind.
Duniya Na Maane , based on a novel by H.N. Apte called Na Patnari Gosht A Story That Cannot be Accepted was an incredibly brave

film for its time, and more surprising was its box-office success, considering it was addressing the same conservative audience that it was

criticizing.
If words like progressive or bold are to be used, it must be for a film like Duniya Na Maane—an undisputed classic.

Interesting Trivia

Shakuntala Paranjpye, was a social activist in real life and filmmaker Sai Paranjpye''s mother.
Shanta Apte was a rather fiery woman in real life and movie lore has it that she had once stormed the office of famous journalist Baburao Patel,

because he had published something unsavoury about her, and threatened to beat him with a chappal.