Literary Review – 7 Khoon Maaf
Vishal Bhardwaj’s 7 Khoon Maaf is a giant leap in the domain of story telling in bollywood. Moving away from brainless movies such as Yamla Pagla Deewana or pseudo intellectual movies such as Dhobi Ghat, Vishal has shown the bollywood directors , how to do it!
Playing with an emphatic script inspired by Ruskin Bond’s short story Sussana’s Seven Husbands, the director has skillfully depicted literary symbols in the film. Breaking through the stereotypes of docile, beautiful movie actresses and macho, heroic male characters in Hindi films, 7 Khoon Maaf comes with an amazingly presented feministic approach. The movie seems to have derived it’s source from a number of literary geniuses’ works. One can draw a parallel between Susanna and Chaucer’s Alisaun (The Wife of Bath). Questioning the hush-hush concepts of monotony in conjugal relationships and enforcing Chaucer’s view, “Women desire what is forbidden and run away from what is forced upon them,” the movie has swayed the minds of intelligent viewers.
7 Khoon Maaf is laden with apt symbolism which makes it more of a drama, with realism acting as a catalyst - helping in the metamorphosis of drama. Any extra degree of realism would have tampered the entertainment and dramatic presentation of the film. The right usage of drama and realism has turned the story into a spectacularly credible one. Even before a doubt rises in the minds of the viewers the director answers the questions. Arun (the young admirer of Susanna) questions Maggie Aunty and the manager that why Saheb (Susanna) had to kill her Russian husband – Nikolai, which is answered by the manager when he dramatically recalls the dog killing episode from Susanna’s childhood. This immediately clears the scope of all doubts as it opens another approach - of delving into conditioning and psychology.
Bhardwaj is the master of the usage of literary symbolism in bollywood. The Shakespearean and biblical presentation of death bells was enigmatic. Amongst other biblical references are the, recurring depiction of Church for funeral and Sacramenting of marriages even for Keemat Lal (who was not a Christian) can be seen throughout. And doesn’t the name 7 Khoon Maaf insists you to relate it to the forgiveness of 7 deadly Sins? Then there are some obvious symbols such as the spider (which symbolizes entrapment) on the table when Sussana seduces Arun. The death bells are used just like the shrieking Eagle over Dolly’s head during her marriage in Bhardwaj’s previous flick Omkara. The gift book by Arun, “The Seven Wives of Bluebeard,” by Antole France and Tolstoy’s character Anna Karenin’s reference shows the team’s deep study about the subject. The symbolization in the name of Keemat Lal (Anu Kapoor) is the most pungent one Keemat Lal was the only husbad who Susanna doesn’t love hence the name Keemat was just the value being paid for escaping. Even the sex scenes here refer to bartering body for escaping legal probing.
The depiction of psychological theories such as sadomasochism in Wasiullah Khan’s sexual fetish, adaptation of masochism in Sussanna’s beating herself in front of the mirror and the final venting of repression in the murder of the nawab, won many a hearts. There is also a reference of Oedipus complex in Arun and Sussanna’s relationship as she admits that the need of a child for her was being contented by Arun. Whereas at one point she seduces him and throughout the film is fully aware of Arun’s romantic interests in her. Such mature attempt to even depict Freud and Lacan in the movie could only be done successfully by a genius. A movie such as 7 Khoon Maaf and Chakra (1981) are an add on to the libraries of the literature department of every University.
