10 March,2021 08:20 AM IST | Mumbai | Mayank Shekhar
A still from Bombay Begums
Well begun is half done. As is with Bombay Begums. By which I mean it starts off well (first three episodes), and therefore you're intrigued enough to carry on. Even when it peters out (final three episodes) into predictable, or slightly preposterous plot-points, on occasion.
And this has everything to do with setting up a world, to draw you in, rather than satiating you with a story alone, to keep you seated, regardless. What's that world we're in? Of working/independent Indian women, of varied classes, to start with. Bombay Begums is infinitely more about Begums, than Bombay itself.
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Although it is very much about Bombay as well. In the sense that there are few cities in India, where everyone, from the neighbourhood real-estate broker in a scooter with street swag, to the rather over-dressed top banker (Pooja Bhatt), and the rising middle-level executive (Shahana Goswami), is likely to be a woman. And it'll feel organic. You won't once bat an eyelid.
Of course there's also the sex-worker (Amruta Subash), to the young intern type (Plabita Borthakur) from a small town. What could they possibly have in common? That their lives, loves, and loneliness, somehow merge in the life of a prominent private bank. Like it was any other day.
Which really makes the drudgery of number-crunching banking seem livelier than I'd imagined. But let's not distract you with personal prejudices about banking as a profession here - it's not that I know better!
What do we know, for sure? That this is a show about spaces. Specifically about safe spaces, for women, wherein men must eventually cede territory, in order to inevitably usher in a more shared world. Many rules/boundaries have been dramatically reversed, some have altered; most others still remain deeply porous. God knows that's an ongoing negotiation.
The reversal of the gaze in this series is beyond doubt. It's co-written/directed, exec-produced, and created by Alankrita Shrivastava. Her film credits include Turning 30, Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitaare, and the most-loved, Lipstick Under My Burkha.
She co-wrote the Prime Video series Made in Heaven. You can sense touches of which on this show, especially with a running monologue (by a teenage girl) for the points the writing wishes to explicitly underline.
Shrivastava ostensibly makes films about women. This is only an odd thing to say, when you consider that nobody ever makes the same reference for men, who make movies, primarily about men. Because, literally, everyone does.
Beyond bravely delving from menstruation to menopause (hardly a thing of the mainstream), I saw Bombay Begums foremost as an incredible inversion of the desi/telly soap opera - only set in the glitzy boardroom of a bank, instead of the suffocating politics of the kitchen. There is even karva chauth - hell, a whole lot of it actually! Self-referencing is complete.
Where Shrivastava, sharp as it were, goes much further, of course, is in seriously surveying diversity (India's, and otherwise) - inter-mixing religion, colour, class, age, sexuality, gender - without ever making a big show of it. It's casually put. And there is simply no cutting corner on that front. Just as there's none in budgets or production quality either. And for that, I suppose, one has to equally credit Netflix, given their extensive track record on inclusion and representation on screen, in general.
Going back to saas-bahu sarson da sagas of the '90s, the male characters here typically occupy the cardboard in the background, all through. They aren't all silly caricatures, but in none of their dealings/relationships do they not seem helplessly weaker - whether being clichéd braggards, or genuflecting subordinates, even. Honestly? I sort of like that!
The old cliché/joke about women ruling the world is that there will then be fewer countries warring against each other, as much as they would be not talking to each other instead! Which is probably bullshit, given that power can potentially have the same corrupting influence over the best of us, although for a leader, we're probably better off picking empathetic, self-assured women over brooding/conniving old serious men.
The constant self-awareness of body/sex is yet another trade-off that the female leads of Bombay Begums have to deal with - over and above all the traditional men's woes. We're basically all messed up in different ways - men or women. Maybe the latter are overtly more expressive, in life too? On this show, for sure, where all the women characters at every point are in formation.
Which leads to several moments appearing broadly over the top. But it's really the actors here, who rise above the material - when it does falter, or skips a beat or two. These performers keep your eyes hooked to the drama, keep you in the moment, carrying you on to the next episode, nonetheless. And the show stays with you, especially after.
We've been enthralled by this stellar star-cast in the past (Amruta Subhash and Shahana Goswami, in particular). Not merely saying this as a friend (although that disclaimer is necessary), great to see you back on screen, Pooja (Bhatt)!
