Mirch Masala
Tags: revenge

Plot synopsis:
The film is set in Colonial India in the early 1940s. The plot begins with an arrogant subedar (Naseeruddin Shah) (local tax collector in colonial India) and his henchmen rampaging through a village. The subedar has an eye for women and soon spots Sonbai (Smita Patil) on the riverbank. Sonbai is an intelligent, beautiful and strong woman. Her confidence intrigues the subedar.
It turns out subedar holds ultimate authority over the village. Subservient to him is the mukhi (Suresh Oberoi) (village chieftain) and all the villagers. The villagers do their best to scratch out a living, of which the subedar invariably exacts a heavy tax. We learn also that the villagers are mostly illiterate and ignorant of the outside world. They are most stupefied by a gramophone the tyrant possesses. The only literate person in the village is the schoolmaster (Benjamin Gilani), who insists on educating the children, even girls (the mukhi's wife even enrolls her only daughter, only to be rebuked by the mukhi, who, like all the others believes that girls should not be sent to school). The mukhi's younger brother (Mohan Gokhale) (who also loves a low-caste girl secretly) even asks the school-master the meaning of the word swaraj). The subedar and his men routinely attack the village and raid the food, livestock and supplies. The subedar is a haughty and cruel man, who exploits his power in every possible way. The villagers are compelled to keep him satisfied; they regularly set up parties for him and his men, often at great expense to their meager means. They also arrange a steady supply of women for his pleasure.
The mukhi means well but is generally weak and powerless before the subedar. His principal goals are to negotiate concessions to the tax and to keep the subedar happy. The safety and security of the village are mostly dependent on the moods of the subedar, and so he tacitly arranges to keep the subedar sated and out of his way. The mukhi also represents the prevailing male attitude in the village: women are mostly confined to their homes and have no education. The other character in village life is the school master, who is a Gandhian and a reformer, and hopes the village may someday be liberated from the shackles of the likes of the subedar.
Things take a turn when on one such occasion the subedar boldly asks Sonbai to yield to his desires. Equally bold, she slaps him across the face. She flees immediately with the soldiers in hot pursuit, and takes refuge in a masala karkhana (spice factory where red chillies are ground into powder). Abu Mian (Om Puri), the wizened old Muslim gatekeeper and factory guard admits Sonbai and slams the factory doors shut in the nick of time.
The soldiers try to coax and cajole Abu Mian into opening the door. When this fails, they try to trick him (he sees through the trick) and then they threaten his life. Abu Mian stands his ground and refuses to open the door. The subedar tries to get the factory owner to reason with Abu Mian, but this turns out to be fruitless. Abu Mian refuses to compromise on his job of providing security to the factory employees.
The matter escalates. The mukhi convenes the village panchayat. The villagers are quick to condemn Sonbai and decide that she must turn herself over to the subedar. The schoolmaster opposes this view; once they give in for one woman, he says, there will be nothing to stop the subedar from demanding others, even perhaps the mukhi's own wife. (He is immediately thrashed for this.) The panchayat is dissolved and the mukhi reports back to the subedar. They will hand over Sonbai on the condition that the subedar will not make further demands of this nature. The subedar laughs off this condition and has the schoolmaster thrashed soundly again. He asks the mukhi to reason with Sonbai; her obstinacy is liable to bring trouble to the entire village.
The mukhi brings pressure on Sonbai but she stands firm. Within the factory, the women who once supported Sonbai now turn upon her. They fear that if she does not yield then the subedar may send his men to indiscriminately molest the womenfolk. Sonbai nearly relents, but is stopped by Abu Mian. She resolves to stand firm. Abu Mian chides the mukhi and the villagers; they may lord it over their wives at home, but are not man enough to face the subedar, leaving Abu Mian himself as the only man in the village who has the courage to back his convictions.
The subedar orders his soldiers to charge the factory, and they smash down the door. Abu Mian manages to shoot one of the soldiers, but he is shot dead immediately after. The subedar enters the factory and tries to grab Sonbai. The women of the factory mount a sudden and surprising defense. They attack the subedar with bagfuls of lal mirch masala (fresh ground red chilli powder) in teams of two. The film ends with the subedar on his knees, screaming in pain as the chilli burns his face and eyes.

Review: A superb vindication of the resistance of women.
Absolutely excellent.
The hubris of petty officers, the crisis and tension coming from lust and gratuitous violence, the horrifying banality of colonialism, the abuse and victimization of women: all these elements combine to create a tragedy which the Greeks would not have disavowed.
We are the transfixed witnesses of a horrendous, and at the same time, magnificent process: the price of a woman's virtue depends on how much it costs for the community.
Even feminine solidarity crumbles when submitted to enough masculine pressure And yet, does it?
The fantastic last scene of the film, when everything seemed lost, shows that women have stupendous resources that make one realize the strength of a resistance in which women take part, and I am reminded of the British resistance to Germany during World War 2, when the wives and mothers of soldiers took part in the war effort, and replaced them in the factories and mills of the besieged island.
Hurray for women's valor!.
An inspiring socialist-feminist tale.
Set somewhere in Rajputana / northern Madhya Pradesh in central India between the two World Wars, this movie depicts the sordid daily humiliation and exploitation heaped upon villagers by an over-mighty landlord (Zamindar).
When his attention focusses on the women, they unite and fight back, to the shame of their feeble husbands.
Starring Naseeruddin Shah - a leading dramatic actor - in one of his more devlish roles.
An historical epic as well as a manifesto for the liberation of the oppressed in rural India..
A very engaging story that successfully portrays the psyche of an oppressed people.
I had seen this movie as a kid, but all I remembered was the climax scene, because it was so powerful.
I saw it recently and enjoyed every moment of it.The story is set in colonial India, when the British have disarmed the people, and continue to oppress villagers, through tax collectors called "subedars".
These subedars in turn lust for more than the tax.
The movie is about one such subedar, who while on his routine tax-collecting tour to a small village, gets attracted to one of the women.
The woman, Sonbai, is married, but her husband has just left for the city in search of a better job.
Sonbai(played excellently by Smita Patil) refuses to give in, and while escaping the subedars men, takes shelter in a spices factory.The gate-keeper refuses to allow the subedars men in, and is determined to protect the honour of Sonbai.
Here the cowardice of the fellow villagers surfaces, who decide that it is better to give in to the demands of the subedar, than to face his wrath.
The movie successfully conveys the cowardice of oppressed men who cannot even think of rebellion, and even beat up their wives when they protest against their decision.A brilliant film..
A path breaking movie.
"Sach aur Sahas hai jis ke man mein, Ant mein jeet usi ki rahe...." The quote is from the movie 'Lagaan'.
You must be wondering what this quote is doing in the review of a movie which was released about 20 years back(1985).
The reason is that the basic theme in some ways is still the same.
Mirch Masala is one of the most powerful film to have been made in India.
A low budget movie, starring Nasseruddin, Smita and Om Puri in one of their best performances ever.
The story is of a pre-independence Kutch village in India, the British deployed Tax collectors enjoy a total monopoly over the villagers and they have transformed into Bandits, looting and snatching from the villagers whatever they desire: money, cattle, land or women.
The head collector (Naseer) is one such guy and on one of his trips to this village comes across a woman (Smita) and immediately develops a liking for her.
He tries to woo her a couple of times but finally manages to get slapped by her in front of his goon army.
Then starts the chase.
The lady runs and finds refuge in a Spice factory guarded by an old Muslim (Om Puri).
The factory has 20 odd women working and they are trapped inside too.
Naseer tries to lure her out but fails.
Om is pressured by many including the factory owner as well as the Village Head (Suresh Oberoi), but he comes across an honest old man willing to sacrifice his life.
The movie tackles many social issues like women education, women empowerment etc.
The ending scene is very motivating and captivating where a group of 20 odd women (and the old guard) are able to achieve what the 100+ plus villagers could not.
That is, rise against the handful oppressors and teach them a lesson.
How they manage to do it is something that should be watched rather than told.
Excellent movie that can be watched any time and for any number of times..
Superb Film, Smita in full power as the brilliant actor she was.
It is a deeply moving, crisply logical (even as the peppers dried in the sun would be), beautifully thought out film.
The range of Son Bai's character from the early playfulness, the innocent chanchalta of a happy, hard working village wife, the tender moments with her husband, her loneliness when the husband is gone to his job in the railways, and her fiercely effective rage towards her greedy attacker: the Subedar.
Yet, there is no Mother India like (a film alluded to, in a complimentary way, throughout parts of the film's plot line) high drama in her rage; it is very authentic, sincere, not filmy, and the silent alliance between Abu Mian and Son Bai, their clear understanding of what is at stake is depicted powerfully -- with very few spoken words, only Ketan Mehta's brilliant cinematography and Om Puri's and Smita's excellent chemistry.
Others, including such stars as my most favorite Indian actress, Dina Pathak (whose mother roles are as profoundly moving as Daisy Irani's, though fewer, child roles), Deepti Naval, Supriya Pathak, and of course, Naseerudhin Shah (only he could have acted the Subedar in just that precise, perfect way to make all other elements of the film work so extremely well), also Ratna Pathak is very good, nearly everyone who acts in this film has done excellently well.
One of the world's ten most important films, a timeless classic and firmly grounded in historical time..
Perhaps, the finest Indian movie ever made.
Quentin Tarantino directed Kill Bill Vol.1 which had a climax scene of sword action between Uma Thurman & Lucy Liu. There is a beautiful sequence of shots wherein the two duelist are photographed in close-ups & simultaneously, a long shot where, the two actors are placed on the right corner of the screen while, a pivoted water tap moving up and down is placed on the left part of the screen.
Year 1985.
Year 1985.
Ketan Mehta, India's acclaimed director and in his best cinematic achievement, had directed a similar shot wherein one of cinema's most memorable & immortal villain character played by Naseeruddin Shah counts-down from 10 to 1 alarming the lead actress to come out of her hideout simultaneously photographed with a Water Tap on the Extreme Left of the 70 mm screen, creating a magnificent scene.And since then, there has been no such cinematography ever induced in any other Indian Movies.
For those foreign audience, be noted, that this Movie is not a conventional Hindi movie loaded with songs.
This Movie is a serious cinema of high degree of art.Only 4 words can make a review of this movie: "Watch it on Priority" !.
Brilliant!.
A complex and beautifully filmed work.
The tale is full of pathos, but the experience is completely enriching!
Though it's described in some movie guides as a "feminist" film, do not let that categorization deter you from seeing it..
A must watch.
A Very good narrative on Pre-Independent India where Oppression of Tax Collectors on Villagers is depicted very well.
While I do not want to summarize the Story, I would like to highlight excellent Direction by Ketan Mehta & acting by Smita Patil, Suresh Oberoi & Om Puri.
The vulnerability of the villagers is exposed & very few people stand up against the Naseeruddin Shah who is the Subedar.The astonishment of the villagers on seeing the Gramophone for the first time is also very impressiveI managed to watch it online & was thoroughly impressed.
It certainly deserves a 9/10.
Indian women rise against their colonial oppressors.
MIRCH MASALA is a film that I watched for my World Cinema class this semester and it certainly is a good one.
It tells the story of a woman, Sonbai (Smita Patil), who is sought after by a subedar (tax collector).
She continually resists his advances and ends up hiding in a spice factory as the subedar doesn't intend to take her rejection of him.
Thematically, the film deals with resistance to (colonial) oppression, with the subedar serving as the symbol of British colonialism and Sonbai representing the ordinary Indian citizen.
And since the story largely focuses on women, it could be thought of as a feminist film to a certain degree.
What the film does well is develop its characters in terms of personality and motivation.
The most attention is paid to the tax collector, but with the intention of having you hate him.
There was a particularly well-done scene in which he overreacts to someone who accidentally breaks one of his phonograph records.
In this one scene you get a sense of this man as someone who looks down on his fellow countrymen who aren't in service to the British, as well as someone who is quick to anger when something happens that he doesn't like.
There is also his singular motive to sexually claim Sonbai, a married woman, and which provides the main narrative thrust (no pun intended).
Generally speaking, I thought that the themes were handled well, if a little broadly and "on the nose" at times.
What didn't always work for me was a lot of the acting, which seemed kind of stagey.
I also didn't care for the sound mix on the DVD.
I understand that a lot of films from the 1980's and before (especially foreign films) were post-synced, but there didn't seem to be a good balance between various sound elements.
Also, for all of the build-up to the finale, I thought it went by a little too quickly.
Overall, MIRCH MASALA has a good, socially conscious message, but it hasn't aged too well in my opinion..
Pretty good but has aged badly.
The film is set in an India before independence.
"Baap Gee" (Nasseruddin Shah) is a tax collector (subedar) of a village.
Sonbai (Smita Patil) is a village belle who is married to Raj Babbar.
They are a childless couple.Babbar goes to the city for employment.Shah sees Patil at the village lake and begins to lust for her.
There are unseen and horrendous consequences for all the protagonists.The movie was produced by National Film Development Corporation was it seems they did not give more than a couple of hundred bucks for the same.
It looks badly dated at many places.The side characters get meaty roles and do justice to them.
Suresh Oberoi plays the village head Mukhi (short for Mukhia) who is hand in gloves with the subedar.
He spends nights with another woman and neglects his wife played superbly by the excellent Deepti Naval.Benjamin Gilani plays the village teacher who emphasizes on the education for the girl child.
There is Paresh Rawal in one of his earliest roles as a village wise ass.
He gets a few lines but impresses in his part.The music is nothing to write home about.
The movie is lifted out of its mediocre production values by stellar performance by Om Puri, Smita Patil and Shah.
Ketan Mehta, who is both the writer and the director, does a commendable job with the obviously limited amount of funding he must have had at his disposal.This can be seen by movie buffs who want to see great acting.
It has its heart in the right place but sometimes, like in life, it is not enough..
Smita Patil at her best.
I first saw this movie bits & pieces when I was five yrs old , recently I saw full movie when it was being shown on Doordarshan parliament channel.
The story is superb .Characters are developed properly.you get the feeling of a Gujarati village ( someone wrote rajputana /MP) very authentically.Metaphor of Mirch is very powerful.
Apart from Smita Patil ( Most of time she expresses her disgust & indignation through her eyes) other characters also play their role well.
Om Puri as good old chowkidar.
Dina PAthak As old lady with horrible memories of past which keeps on repeating it again & again.
Sudesh Oberai as corrupt Mukhi.
But words of Praise for Dipti NAval .She represents Gandhi's ideal of passive resistance & an awakened woman perfectly.
Specially the scene where she gets the women to thump plates against cowardice of village males is superb.
Mohan GOkhale represents typical lover of those days who could not stand against families.
Overall a must watch for everyone & specially students of history & sociology to understand how revenue system worked in India..
A different kind of ' last stand ' ...
A stunning film set in rural Gujarat in colonial times about one spirited woman's brave stand ( Sonbai- Smitha Patil ) against a village full of ' manly ' cowards, who pass themselves off in daily life as moral patriarchs ( who 'prove' their pathetic machismo by beating their wives , pulling their hair & keeping mistresses ) but are completely spineless when confronted by a mercurial Sergeant / Subedar- Naseeruddin Shah ( sent to collect taxes from the village ).To the provincial villagers- the lowly but expansive subedar might as well be a commissioned army officer or Lord Mountbatten himself - they didn't know the difference & were completely cowed over & overawed by him , his power , his apparent sophistication and try to appease him by persuading Sonbai to service the obstinate Subedar ( esp.
since she lives alone while her husband / Raj Babbar has left to the city for work ) & go to the extent of perversely implying that Sonbai would be actually selfish if she didn't sacrifice herself to the Subedar , to spare the village - a bizzare , twisted morality espoused by the outwardly dignified mukhiya ( Suresh Oberoi ) & supported by all the other 'patriarchs' including the village temple's , weasely temple priest .The women who work with Sonbai in the village karkhana - the spice factory, also turn against her when they are under siege in the karkhana in a stand-off against the village men & the Subedars soldiers.Under overwhelming pressure Sonbai is supported by the lone, principled ,incorruptible aging karkhana guard, Abu Mian ( Om Puri ) armed with a single rifle.The only real MEN in the entire village apart from Abu Mian & the school master ( Benjamin Gilani ) are Sonbai and Saraswati ( Deepti Naval ) - the mukhiya's disdainful & silently enraged wife & her band of female supporters ( each more manly than their husbands )A beautiful movie with stellar perfomances by Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Smitha Patil & Deepthi Naval.
An absolute must see.
One of the top 10 best Hindi films of all time.
The Real Mistresses of Spice.
Ketan Mehta's career best, 'Mirch Masala' takes an impressively original concept about pepper factory workers and their village which is threatened by a sleazy tax collector and tells a refreshing story.
The film is set in the era when India was still under the invasion of the British empire.
It will be wrong of me to divulge much of the story and risk spoilers.However, what really stands out about 'Mirch Masala', next to the gripping story, is its meticulousness.
The setting, sets, costume, language and body language of the actors and music really capture the preciseness of the village and its culture.
Mehta and co have done a solid job in the writing department, especially with the dialogues and the events that unfold.
In addition, Jehangir Choudhary's cinematography is also worthy of mention.The film also features some of the best actors of the 1980s Hindi film.
If it also starred Shabana Azmi and Sridevi then all my favourite actors of the time would have been in one film.
Smita Patil, Deepti Naval, Supriya Pathak and Ratna Pathak look incredibly beautiful.
By beautiful, I am not referring to the supermodel look that has become a common preference among a majority, but rather there is an authentic and luminous beauty to these women and the way they carry themselves.
Needless to say, their acting is amazing, especially that of Deepti Naval and the late Smita Patil.
Naseeruddin Shah gives one of the most memorable (and underrated) villainous performances of Indian cinema and Om Puri and Suresh Oberoi are excellent.Mehta sensibly tackles various themes concerning the oppressed and oppressors of the villages such as sexism, resistance (or the lack of it), class distinction, gender stereotype and equality and group conformity.
'Mirch Masala' is a sincere film that is poignant, engaging, exciting and fascinating.