A Film That Carried More Than a Story
Rita (2009) one of the most celebrated directorial debuts of Marathi cinema was more than a film to Renuka Shahane. It was a reflection; a self-portrait. Like most self-portraits the novel Rita Welingkar by Shanta Gokhale is an outline already framed. It was never only about a woman and her chase after betrayal, love, and finding herself. It was also about the shattering the deep-seated silences of Indian families, betrayal, and love and the burden of silence their femininity imposes on them. When released, Rita was embraced with open arms as the much awaited powerful debut.”
Renuka Shahane’s Leap Behind the Camera
Renuka is anchoring herself in the more pensive and somber uncharted territories beneath or ‘behind’ the ‘near’ or ‘visible’ spaces of familial life. Most of the Indian audience including yourself or yourself might recall Renuka Shahane’s incandescent smile and the delightful essence of family encapsulated in the film Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!
In her interviews, Shahane talks about the personal touch and connection she had with the novel by Shanta Gokhale. Growing up in a ‘culturally highly developed’ and ‘emotionally tortured’ environment, she said that Rita’s struggles, particularly the need to be ‘dutiful’ and ‘respectable’ despite suffering the rest of her life, were a direct account of the life of countless women she had come in contact with. This resonated with her direction, which was subtle and at the same time sharp while maintaining honesty, the way we talk about conversations we prefer to avoid during Indian dinners but know they are always there.
In the same way, the character of Rita’s mentor and confidante in the film attracted a great deal of attention by the name of Jackie Shroff. Known for his stylish roles in Bollywood during the late 1980s and 1990s, Jackie Shroff was a performer in Marathi cinema and left the audience in a stunned state due to his unusual and polished talents as a performer.
Moving away from the Shroff, Bollywood stardom during the mainstream evolved and changed along with Jackie Shroff himself. By the mid 2000s, Jackie Shroff was considered to have lost his mid 2000s stardom, due to which he was diving deeper into Indian regional cinema. For Rita, Jackie Shroff came to be a poignant reminder that, like Rita, whom the audience viewed, all actors and everyone undergos phases of transition. This was a time shift for the target audience, particularly for Indian viewers as a transformation was to be seen by Jackie’s audience, who, in the past, had viewed him in extravagant avatars.
Pallavi Joshi: The Heart of Rita
It was Joshi Pallavi who shouldered the complete burden of the film as the titular Rita. Joshi is commended for her contemplative aesthetic decisions as well as the subtlety of her performances. She infused Rita’s journey with lifelike rawness and dignity.
Joshi’s own real-life journey comprising of acting, being a mother, and having a career that fluidly shifted between mainstream and parallel cinema inspired the character. She has, like Rita, navigated a terrain where women are often pigeonholed into being a daughter, a wife, a mother, and a professional. While Joshi was performing, one couldn’t help but notice the burden of real life experience versus scripted life.
Rita’s Silence and The Echoes of Indian Families
Rita’s reality is at its core, deeply Indian. There is a quiet suffering of women in families where the outer picture is more important than the inner feelings. The audience all across India, understood her silence and struggled with betrayal, alcoholism and the self discovery that was Rita.
To many viewers, the film depicted the women they had in their lives — mothers, aunts, sisters — and who took on the burden of family pride while concealing their deep suffering. In the same way Rita grapples with the concept of her societal position, so do many women in India ponder, “Am I living my life authentically? Or, wearing a mask of someone else’s creation?”
Background of Release
Like other films in the festival circuit, Rita was praised for the depth of its narrative vision and received rave reviews. The most enthusiastic response, however, came from the Marathi cultural community, who were thrilled at the prospect of a woman director and a woman subject.
The theatrical audience, compared to other Bollywood films, was smaller in terms of numbers. The viewers were, however, more involved with the film. More often than not, carried away in animated discussions after the screening, instead of focusing on the film’s more technical elements, audience members usually confessed that they knew another person to whom the film was more a reflection of than a narrative.
Stories from Behind the Scenes
Unlike many of her contemporaries, Renuka Shahane, after completing the script, decided not to direct the movie herself. Unlike most of her contemporaries, she had a considerable amount of indecision when it came to directing. It was a combination of anxiety and inexperience that was stopping her from picking up the camera. After much shilly-shallying, she overcame it after the help that was provided to her by peers and Shanta Gokhale herself.
The budget constraints of the film was not the biggest issue.. Shroff Jackie, during the film’s making, was so enveloped in his character that he took on the character’s persona in which he would stay in character in the space in between scenes and would act as a mentor to the little underlings of the cast.
Another hidden gem from the making of the film included the capturing scenes was when she played the part of the facilitator. Renuka Shahane had the role of helping Pallavi. It was her job to the rest of the group.
What Audiences Missed Beneath the Surface
As most would do, audiences centered her the most, but critics were able to argue that the movie tackled the less obvious issue of generational change. Rita’s journey was not just her own. It was her’s and the mothers who have daughters, and the daughters who are able to break from the silence.
Viewers who grew up in Indian middle class families where family honor superceded individual joy must have felt this heft. The film almost said to them: sometimes, living for yourself is the most courageous thing you can do.
Why Rita Still Matters
Even years after its release, Rita remains relevant. In a time when Indian cinema is seemingly louder, more flamboyant and more fast-paced, this film serves as a reminder for unfussy, fundamental realities. It is not only the story of a woman; it is also the story of every person who has ever been compelled to smile while suffering in silence. In this regard, Rita is less a film and more a collective secret, one whose painful truth still echoes in Indian households.
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