Saba Dewan | |
---|---|
Nationality | Indian |
Alma mater | Jamia Millia Islamia St. Stephen's College [1] |
Known for | Documentary film making |
Saba Dewan is an Indian documentary film maker based in New Delhi. Her films are based on sexuality, gender, identity, communalism and culture. Her notable works include Dharmayuddha (Holy War, 1989), Nasoor (Festering Wound, 1991), Khel (The Play, 1994), Barf (Snow, 1997) and Sita's Family (2001). She is best known for her trilogy on stigmatized female performers, Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi (2006), Naach (The Dance, 2008) and The Other Song (2009). [2] She has written her first book "Tawaifnama" which has emerged from her trilogy on dancing girls. It is a well researched book on "tawaif (courtesans) living in banaras and Bhabhua. It is multi-generational chronicle first published in 2019.
Saba was born and brought up in New Delhi. She finished her schooling in 1982 and completed her Bachelors in History from St. Stephen's college, University of Delhi from 1982-1985. [3] She further received a master's degree in Mass Communications from the Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. [4]
Saba has been working as an independent filmmaker since 1987. Her film 'Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi' (2006) focused on the lives of bar dancers in Mumbai, 'Naach' (The Dance, 2008) explored the lives of women who dance in rural fairs and the third and final film of the trilogy 'The Other Song' (2009) was about the art and lifestyle of the tawaifs or courtesans of Varanasi. [5] In 2006, Saba withdrew her film 'Delhi Mumbai Delhi,' in protest against clause 8 of the regulations put in place by the Film Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. [6] In 2019, Saba published Tawaifnama, a book about the musical traditions prevalent in the communities of tawaifs in Benaras. [7]
In June 2017, Dewan led a protest against the lynching of a 15-year-old boy that occurred in a Mathura-bound train from Ballabhgarh a few days before, the killers of who allegedly taunted him over his clothes, also making reference to beef eating. [8] Condemning the killing in a Facebook post, Dewan called for a campaign named "Not In My Name", seeking to "reclaim the Constitution" and "resist the onslaught" on right to life and equality. [9] The campaign was received well and protests were subsequently held in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Bhopal and Bengaluru. [10]
Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a kept mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other powerful person.
A tawaif was a highly successful entertainer who catered to the nobility of the Indian subcontinent, particularly during the Mughal era. The tawaifs excelled in and contributed to music, dance (mujra), theatre, and the Urdu literary tradition, and were considered an authority on etiquette. Tawaifs were largely a North Indian institution central to Mughal court culture from the 16th century onwards and became even more prominent with the weakening of Mughal rule in the mid-18th century. They contributed significantly to the continuation of traditional dance and music forms.
Deepa Mehta, is an Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire (1996), Earth (1998), and Water (2005).
Dance bar is a term used in India to refer to bars in which adult entertainment in the form of dances by relatively well-covered women are performed for male patrons in exchange for cash. Dance bars used to be present only in Maharashtra, but later spread across the country, mainly in cities. Dance bars are a flirtatious world of fantasy catering to the need of feeling of being wanted.
The nautch was a popular court dance performed by girls in India. The culture of the performing art of the nautch rose to prominence during the later period of Mughal Empire, and the rule of the East India Company. Over time, the nautch traveled outside the confines of the Imperial courts of the Mughals, the palaces of the Nawabs and the princely states, and the higher echelons of the officials of the British Raj, to the places of zamindars.
Pakeezah is a 1972 Indian Hindustani-language musical romantic drama written, directed, and produced by Kamal Amrohi. The film stars Meena Kumari as the eponymous lead, alongside Ashok Kumar and Raaj Kumar. It tells the story of Sahibjaan, a Lucknow-based tawaif. While asleep on a train, Sahibjaan receives a note from a stranger praising her beauty. Later, evacuating from a broken boat, she takes shelter in a tent and finds out its owner, a forest ranger named Salim, wrote the letter. Sahibjaan and Salim plan to get married, causing conflicts with Sahibjaan's professional background.
Prostitution is legal in India, but a number of related activities including soliciting, kerb crawling, owning or managing a brothel, prostitution in a hotel, child prostitution, pimping and pandering are illegal. There are, however, many brothels illegally operating in Indian cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, and Nagpur, among others. UNAIDS estimate there were 657,829 prostitutes in the country as of 2016. Other unofficial estimates have calculated India has roughly 400,000 prostitutes. India is widely regarded as having one of the world's largest commercial sex industry. It has emerged as a global hub of sex tourism, attracting sex tourists from wealthy countries. The sex industry in India is a multi-billion dollar one, and one of the fastest growing.
Binodini Dasi (1863–1941), also known as Noti Binodini, was an Indian Bengali actress. She started acting at the age of 12 and ended by the time she was 23, as she later recounted in her noted autobiography, Amar Katha published in 1913.
Mujra is a dance performance by women in a format that emerged during Mughal rule in India, where the elite class and local rulers like the nawabs of the Indian society used to frequent tawaifs (courtesans) for their entertainment.
Gauhar Jaan was an Indian singer and dancer from Kolkata. She was one of the first performers to record music on 78 rpm records in India, which was later released by the Gramophone Company of India and resulted in her being known as "the Gramophone girl" and "the first recording superstar of India". Having recorded more than 600 songs in more than ten languages between 1902 and 1920, Jaan is credited with popularising Hindustani classical music such as thumri, dadra, kajri, and tarana during the period.
Umrao Jaan Ada is an Urdu novel by Mirza Hadi Ruswa (1857–1931), first published in 1899. It is considered the first Urdu novel by many and tells the story of a tawaif and poet by the same name from 19th century Lucknow, as recounted by her to the author.
Shyama was an Indian actress who appeared in Hindi films. She was active between 1945 and 1989, and is best known for her roles in Aar Paar and Barsaat Ki Raat.
Rasoolan hussain was a leading Indian Hindustani classical music vocal musician. Belonging to the Benaras gharana, she specialized in the romantic Purab Ang of the Thumri musical genre and tappa.
Mah Laqa Bai, born Chanda Bai, and sometimes referred to as Mah Laqa Chanda, was an Indian 18th century Urdu poet, courtesan(tawaif) and philanthropist based in Hyderabad. In 1824, she became the first female poet to have a diwan of her work, a compilation of Urdu Ghazals named Gulzar-e-Mahlaqa, published posthumously. She lived in a period when Dakhini was making its transition into the highly Persianized Urdu. Her literary contributions provide insight into such linguistic transformations in southern India.
The Other Song is a 2009 documentary film directed by Saba Dewan that journeys across Varanasi, Lucknow and Muzzafarpur, India. The film traces the lost traditions and the culture of tawaifs, particularly, through a song by Rasoolan Bai, Lagat karejwa ma chot, phool gendwa na maar and its lesser known, earlier version Lagat jobanwa ma chot, phool gendwa na maar recorded in 1935 Gramophone recording.
Chandramukhi is one of the pivotal characters in the 1917 Bengali novel Devdas by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Her character was inspired by the Hindu mystical singer Meera, who devoted her life to Lord Krishna; similarly Chandramukhi devoted her life to Devdas. Chandramukhi is portrayed as a tawaif in the novel and its film adaptations. Chandramukhi means "moon faced" or "as beautiful as the moon" in Sanskrit.
Saba Azad is an Indian actress, theatre director and musician. She is one half of Mumbai-based electro funk duo Madboy/Mink. She made her Bollywood debut as one of the leads Raaga in the indie film Dil Kabaddi (2008). She is known for her leading role in the romantic comedy film Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge (2011). She also played the role of Dingo in the 2016 Y-Films web series, Ladies Room.
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Surabhi Sharma is a filmmaker, educator and curator. based in Mumbai. India She has worked on several feature-length documentaries apart from some short fiction films and video installations. Her key concern has been documenting cities in transition through the lens of labour, music and migration, and most recently reproductive labour. Cinema verite and ethnography are the genres that inform her filmmaking.,
The Mubarak Begum Mosque also known as Randi ki Masjid is a 19th-century historical red sandstone mosque belonging to the Mughal Empire located in Hauz Qazi, Shahjahanabad, Delhi, the Chawri Bazaar metro station in India. The mosque is also referred to as courtesan's (tawaif's) mosque. On 19 July 2020, the central dome of the mosque collapsed due to heavy rainfall. It was reported that only a part of the dome was crashed down around 6:45 am. Currently the mosque is under the custody of Delhi Wakf Board.