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Badnam Basti
Directed byPrem Kapoor
Produced byFilm Finance Corporation
StarringNitin Sethi, Amar Kakkad and Nadita Thakur
CinematographyRM Rao
Music byVijay Raghav Rao
Release date
1971
Running time
83 minutes
LandIndien
SpracheHindi
Budget₹ 250,000

Badnam Basti (transl. 'Infamous Neighbourhood')[1] is a 1971 Bollywood drama film directed by Prem Kapoor.[2] The film stars Nitin Sethi, Amar Kakkad and Nadita Thakur.

Plot

The film is based on Ek Sadak Sattavan Galiyan (A Street With 57 Lanes)[3], the debut novel of the Hindi writer Kamleshwar Prasad Saxena, which was originally titled Badnam Basti and serialized in the Hindi journal Hans in 1956 and published as a novel in 1957.[4][5][6]

Set in Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh, Badnam basti tells the story of Sarnam Singh, a bus driver who also moonlights as a bandit. Sarnam saves Bansuri (played by Nandita Thakur) from being raped by another dacoit. Bansuri then falls in love with Sarnam but he is soon jailed for a petty crime. Upon release, Sarnam searches for Bansuri but does not find her. He then meets Shivraj, who works in a temple, and hires him as a cleaner in the bus. The two become physically and emotionally intimate. At a mela, Singh encounters Bansuri who is being auctioned off and is bid by Rangile a crony of Sarnam's. While Bansuri desires a return to Sarnam, he is torn by his longing for Bansuri and love for Shivraj. Shivraj however goes on to marry Kamala while Rangile, who is a police informant, is convicted and jailed for his duplicity in some legal matters. As the movie ends, Sarnam takes Bansari and her newborn to his home.[7]

Cast

  • Nitin Sethi as Sarnam Singh
  • Nandita Thakur as Bansuri
  • Amar Kakkad as Shivraj
  • Nandlal Sharma

Production

Badnam Basti was produced by the Film Finance Corporation at a budget of ₹250,000 and shot in Mainpuri over a period of four weeks.[8][9] Due to its underlying theme of homosexual interest between the two male characters, Kamaleshwar's novel had attracted controversy and Prem Kapoor had to excise scenes from the novel in the adaptation and make their relationship only suggestive on-screen so as to be cleared by the Censor.[10]

Although the movie has been labelled as India's first gay movie, Bandaam Basti neither explicitly depicted nor identified the male characters as gay.[11][12] Its male characters are bisexual rather than gay and their relationship is secondary to their heterosexual relationships.[13][14]

Songs

The music for Badnam Basti was composed by Vijaya Raghava Rao and Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, who had worked with Rao previously in Bhuvan Shome, sang ‘Sajna Kaahe Nahi Aaye’ which is one of the songs in the movie.[15] The lyrics for the songs in the movie were by Virendra Mishra and Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Bachchan recited the poem “Mele Mein Khoi Gujariya” in the film.[16][17] Vijay Raghav Rao and Satish Bhutani also sang for the film. The following is the list of songs in Badnam Basti[18]:

No.TitelSingerLength
1."Sajna Kahe Nahi Aaye"Ghulam Mustafa Khan 
2."Akela Taaro Bhara Mela"Satish Bhutani 
3."Godaniya Gudwaye Le"Vijay Raghav Rao 
4."Mele Me Khoi Gujarriya"Harivansh Rai Bachchan 
5."Sun Lo Katha Sita Ki"Vijay Raghav Rao 

Release and Reception

The film released with an A certification from India's Central Board of Film Certification. It received mixed reviews with the Times of India calling it “a welcome step forward in the direction of ‘new cinema’ in India”[19] while the Economic Times noted that “Badnam Basti presents to us a true picture of reality” whereas others panned it as being "no film at all — its technical gimmicks are totally out ot rhythm with the insipid directorial conception"[20] and "little more interesting than the hotchpotch that passes for films generally" and that it "sustains its interest merely because of Nitin Sethi, who truly infuses his character with hardy, virile, rural verve"[21]. Sethi received praise from The Illustrated Weekly of India which commented that “Sarnam’s loneliness has been projected superbly by Prem Kapoor. It is hard to imagine anyone but Nitin Sethi in the role”.[22] The film however did not do well at the box office. It was re-released in 1978 with a U certificate but again did not enjoy commercial success.[23] The movie was thereafter thought to be lost with no prints available in India but reemerged in 2019 when a print was located in the archives of the Arsenal Institute for Film and Video Art, Berlin.[24][25] The print has since been digitized and was screened by the Block Museum of Art in May 2020 and at the Kashish film festival, Mumbai.[26][27][28]

References

  1. ^ Ross, Oliver (2016). Same-Sex Desire in Indian Culture: Representations in Literature and Film, 1970-2015. Springer. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-137-56692-8.
  2. ^ Shahani, Parmesh (2020). Gay Bombay: Globalization, Love and (Be)longing in Contemporary India. SAGE Publishing India. ISBN 978-93-5388-421-5. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  3. ^ Gaekwad, manish. "Badnam Basti — India's first film about gay love". Medium. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  4. ^ Samagra Upanyas (in Hindi). Rajpal & Sons. 2013. p. 09. ISBN 978-81-7028-508-3. Retrieved 12 June 2020. {{cite book}}: |first1= missing |last1= (help)
  5. ^ Vanita, R.; Kidwai, S. (2000). Same-Sex Love in India: Readings in Indian Literature. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-05480-7. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  6. ^ Gaekwad, Manish (29 May 2020). "India's first gay film Badnam Basti resurfaces after nearly half a century's hibernation in Berlin archive- Entertainment News, Firstpost". Firstpost. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  7. ^ "India's first gay film Badnam Basti resurfaces after nearly half a century's hibernation in Berlin archive- Entertainment News, Firstpost". Firstpost. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  8. ^ Gaekwad, Manish. "The untold story of 'Badnam Basti', possibly India's first gay movie". Scroll.in. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  9. ^ Ghosh, Avijit (27 May 2020). "Almost 50 years later, first Hindi film on queer love makes waves - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  10. ^ "Democratic World". Gulab Singh & Sons. 1989: 18. Retrieved 20 June 2020. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ^ Ross, Oliver (2016). Same-Sex Desire in Indian Culture: Representations in Literature and Film, 1970-2015. Springer. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-137-56692-8. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  12. ^ Gokulsing, K. Moti; Dissanayake, Wimal (2013). Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas. Routledge. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-136-77284-9. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  13. ^ Vanita, R.; Kidwai, S. (2000). Same-Sex Love in India: Readings in Indian Literature. Springer. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-137-05480-7. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  14. ^ Shahani, Parmesh (2020). Gay Bombay: Globalization, Love and (Be)longing in Contemporary India. SAGE Publishing India. p. 203. ISBN 978-93-5388-422-2. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  15. ^ Khan, Ustad Ghulam Mustafa; Khan, Namrata Gupta (2018). A Dream I Lived Alone. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-93-5305-384-0.
  16. ^ Khan, Ustad Ghulam Mustafa; Khan, Namrata Gupta (2018). A Dream I Lived Alone. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-93-5305-384-0.
  17. ^ Gaekwad, Manish. "The untold story of 'Badnam Basti', possibly India's first gay movie". Scroll.in. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  18. ^ "Badnam Basti : Lyrics and video of Songs from the Movie Badnam Basti (1971)". HindiGeetMala. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  19. ^ Ghosh, Avijit (27 May 2020). "Almost 50 years later, first Hindi film on queer love makes waves - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  20. ^ Link: Indian Newsmagazine. 1971. p. 40. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  21. ^ Kirpalani, Rajika (1975). Another Time, Another Place: Selected Writings of Rajika Kirpalani. Rajika Education Trust. p. 42. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  22. ^ Gaekwad, Manish (29 May 2020). "India's first gay film Badnam Basti resurfaces after nearly half a century's hibernation in Berlin archive- Entertainment News, Firstpost". Firstpost. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  23. ^ Gaekwad, Manish. "The untold story of 'Badnam Basti', possibly India's first gay movie". Scroll.in. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  24. ^ Gaekwad, Manish (29 May 2020). "India's first gay film Badnam Basti resurfaces after nearly half a century's hibernation in Berlin archive- Entertainment News, Firstpost". Firstpost. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  25. ^ Gaekwad, Manish (4 June 2020). "Badnam Basti — India's first film about gay love". Medium. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  26. ^ Majumdar, Mayukh (30 May 2020). "India's First Gay Film, Badnam Basti, Turns Up In Berlin". Man's World. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  27. ^ Sarkar, Smita (25 July 2020). "KASHISH 2020 to screen India's first gay film 'Badnam Basti', lost and found after 49 years". Global Indian Stories. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  28. ^ CineBlitz, Team (26 July 2020). "India's first gay film 'Badnam Basti', lost and found after 49 years, to screen at KASHISH 2020". CineBlitz. Cine Blitz. Retrieved 5 August 2020.

Category:1971 films Category:Indian films Category:1970s Hindi-language films Category:1971 drama films


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