Vidhi's Bollywood Film Club!

Sita Sings The Blues (2009). Watch: https://www.epsilonspires.org/bollywood

Director Q&A with Nina Paley facilitated by Vidhi Salla of International Radio Show: Vidhi's Bollywood Jukebox on Saturday, December 19th at 8pm (EST). RSVP to Join the Discussion.

Comic-strip artist, Nina Paley uniquely weaves together diverse elements in this eclectic cultural tapestry about the universality of heartbreak. The first is the Indian myth The Ramayana about Sita, a beautiful goddess who is rejected and betrayed by the one she loves. This Hindu classic is recounted and interpreted by three witty Indonesian shadow puppets who play the role of a Greek chorus to provide comic relief. Sita’s emotional journey is expressed through the wildly anachronistic jazz songs of 1920s singer Annette Hanshaw, while the narrative takes on a personal, contemporary parallel; the dissolution of the filmmaker’s own marriage.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot0BNbXnz5s

"The very nature of mythologies is plurality. They arise from hundreds of different sources and interweave with local beliefs and traditions in delightfully interesting manifestations. The enforcement of a unitary notion of the Ramayana strips away at these multitudes. Paley’s irreverence with the handling of this epic gently mocks the strict unilateral understanding of the Ramayana championed by right-wing groups. Far from being blasphemous, what Paley does is reclaim the narrative for herself. She dislodges it from its status as religious doctrine and brings it back to the realm of myth, which is malleable to imagination. She takes this reclamation one step further, reclaiming it not just for herself, but every single viewer." -Feminism in India