Indian film booklet

This is a high quality, well produced film booklet. On the front cover set in a rectangular blue frame decorated with a floral design, is a painted image of the classic dance scene from the film. The image captures the moment when the courtesan in her white costume has just danced over some broken glass and the blood from her cut feet marks the floor as she continues to dance. The musicians and audience are seated in the background. The title is on the left hand side of this image and the artist's/studio signature is in the bottom right hand corner. Above the framed image is written; " For her to fall in love was forbidden it was a sin she was told " A nautch girl is born to delight others, such is her destiny" - she preferred to die a thousand deaths than to live as a body without soul - and yet when her restless soul could not surpress this surging desire " To love and to be loved" she took birth as Kamal Amrohi's Pakeezah". Both the framed image and the quote are surrounded by a delicate floral design in gold.

Inside the booklet there are 14 pages with good quality black and white and colour stills from the film along with text about the director and the actors written in English. On the second page is an explanation of the theme of the film; the courtesan or 'tawa'ef' and her place in Indian society. On the final two pages are a description of the 'Battle of Creation' of the film and a contemporary review of the film. The back cover has a photograph of another dance scene.

This lavishly produced film booklet gives a detailed account of the cultural importance of the courtesan. Known as tawaifs, courtesans are represented as custodians of culture, well versed in Hindi, Urdu and Persian poetry. Their existence is traced back to ancient India, where the administrators used them as informers. They were thus placed at the centre of politics and culture. The booklet gives a history of the making of the film Pakeezah (1971) and information about the director and actors. The cover depicts a classic scene from the film, in which the courtesan dances over broken glass and marks the floor with her blood as she continues to dance.

The underlying contradiction between the impurity of Sahibjaan’s actions and the purity of her soul is made apparent in the film title, Pakeezah, which means pure heart.

IS.165-1992