Purna Bahadur misses out to sing on caste, hums mere class struggle

In South Asian societies, including Nepal, communities were historically identified through their professions, with corresponding caste positions and the economic value of these professions determining their social status. This created a social structure that was made permanent through legal means by the ruling authorities. In the long run, stereotypes like a mason’s son is a mason grew prominent. These caste-based realities limited personal aspirations and opportunities.

Purna Bahadur [Gandharba] Ko Sarangi is a tale of the same realities.

The Gandarbhas, since the 1854 Muluki Ain, had been categorised as Hill Dalits and legally designated as “untouchables” until 1963. Ironically, they were deemed great (folk) musicians obliged to perform for ruling castes — the royal family and high-caste elites — in their courtyards. They also worked for Kings as messengers to their armies. Also known as Gaine, they would travel to places collecting news and composing or improvising them into songs.

Bijay Baral cast as Purna, alias Purne, plays Sarangi, a legacy of his forefathers, which is the only economic opportunity he can make a living off. The family feeds off the money and grains they collect by singing and wearing thrift clothes given by well-to-dos and riches. He accepts it as his son’s destiny too. 

But his profession as a Gaine is considered equivalent to begging and looked down upon. A series of events make him realise, aspire and struggle to provide his son with all the education till his breath so that the latter could lead a decent and dignified life in society, which otherwise suppresses them for being Gaine — urging him to break the caste barrier. 

The story begins with Kamal Kumar Gandarbha, son of Purna Bahadur Gandarbha, visiting his home village with his young daughter. The story then runs into flashbacks as Kamal (played by Prakash Saput) narrates his life, which switches glasses with Purne to see through the story most of the screen time. The flashbacks are set sometime in the earliest 1980s following the 1980 National Referendum on whether to continue with a non-partisan panchayat system or to restore the multi-party democracy system. 

The movie runs through other important political events like the decade-long Jana Yuddha (1996-2006), and the 2006 (Second) Jana Aandolan.

Implicit plays

The movie features carefully put implicit readings into the plot.

In one of the scenes where old grown Purne is constantly going places, playing Sarangi to raise money for Kamal’s MBBS studies, he enters a temple where villagers are singing Bhajan Kirtan (praising god’s glory through songs). 

A priest gets offended when Purne starts playing his instrument and comments down on him saying he cannot “beg” while they earn by performing for God. Purne retorts that they too make a living by “begging” for alms. The bold response gets Purne “thrown away” from the temple premises at the order of the priest. Even God’s ‘men’ are not above the flaws of the world they claim to transcend.

In another scene, Purne’s father after getting an Asthma attack had to be directly rushed to the city for treatment, meaning no availability of least first aid services in the village. Medicines were so expensive that Purne had to play Sarangi along city streets to buy them, yet he could not save his father due to the delay in bringing medicines.  

Things change post-1990. When Purne gets ill, he visits a clinic in the village, suggesting political change has introduced medical facilities into rural Nepal. Nonetheless, medicines are still too expensive to choose between his treatment versus Kamal’s school education. Here Kamal goes out on the streets playing Sarangi to manage money for his father Purne’s treatment. Meaning that the outer world might have improved, while their poverty remains unchanged.

Matsab is one hell of a character

Ironic and paradox yet as real as could have ever been shown. 

The character of the school headmaster (played by Bhola Raj Sapkota), alias Matsab, stands in favour of multiparty democracy in the 80s that promised to provide for all Nepali people. In contrast, he reduces the likes of Purne born to live by entertaining playing Sarangi (read begging), as the radio reveals referendum results.

He allows young Kamal to participate in a school drama acting as a doctor in a white coat after completing his admission procedure. Other students in the act greet Kamal with Namaste and clap after he finishes speaking. This moment fills innocent Kamal with the idea that a white coat brings respect. So to see his father get respect, he steals the coat from Matsab’s lawn. But Matsab strikes at him mercilessly while Radio Nepal plays in the background announcing the restoration of multiparty democracy.    

He later comes to recruit Kamal, who has passed SLC with distinction, in the Maoist army to join kranti. Kamal declines the offer saying what his father is doing for him is his way of kranti (read liberation).

And just when Purne needs money to fund Kamal’s MBBS studies in the early 2000s, he reappears with a proposal to lend them money in collateral for Gandarbha house, of which the family has just got a land ownership certificate. Purne, while still confused, loses control of his hands which Matsab holds to get thumbprints on a Tamasuk. 

However, the storyline does not follow the content of the agreement. Yet, given the opportunist and feudal character of Matsab, a near-to-true consequence might have been a case of a loan shark, or Meterbyaj.

These collective instances imply that those who topped the caste hierarchy and could afford ‘kranti’ are also the real beneficiaries of a renewed discriminatory social, economic, and political structure. 

Inadequacies

Kamal’s plot is often limited to worrying for money to fund his higher studies, and just achieving top ranks. The movie fast forwards the timeline only to inform the audience that Kamal studying in the city swiftly attains topmost ranks in every board — SLC, ISc, and MBBS. Meanwhile, completely skipping the hardships, stereotypes, and caste-based discrimination paired with biases, prevalent in urban centres.

The movie follows a storyline where the parents of Batuli (played by Anjana Baraili), Kamal’s mother, perform her final rites because she chose to marry a Gaine being impressed with his skills. When she sees Matsab insulting him for playing Sarangi, she becomes worried about their son’s future as he walks his father’s path. 

In pursuit of a better life for her kid in a city, she seeks help from Harke (who wants to marry her but she does not like him). Harke tells Batuli that he will write in a letter that they are moving to the city for Kamal’s education. And they leave taking along the kid. 

But Kamal runs away from them to return to Purne. Meanwhile, Batuli attempts to chase him but Harke stops her from doing so. He tells her that she cannot go back, as he wrote in the letter, that they eloped and that the entire village would have known by then. 

Batuli freezes for a while and her screen time finishes there. She neither returns to the village nor goes with Harke. Apparently, nobody cares where she is. She rather chooses to disappear — depicting the patriarchy that does not believe women, deems them all wrong, posing unwarranted questions about their character. To interpret further, patriarchy did not ‘allow’ her dream of a better future for her kid, or more symbolically, ate her up.

On the other hand, the whereabouts of the girl who has been seen with Kamal, probably they are dating, since ISc days are unknown nor is it explored anyway. 

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This contrast could imply two things, either the makers missed out on building her character, or they thought it to be implicitly progressive — meaning class (read also, caste) does not matter in urban centres among new generations. Either one equally poses a weakness to the story.

Moreover, a social reality is that caste groups, be it Brahmins or Dalits, each historically lived in their segregated locality, often together with their distinct communities. But the movie overlooks this component of Purne and his kins as to whether they live in segregation from other caste groups or a homogenous locality. Nor is it clear whether the village school was near his home.

Performances

While Bijay Baral rules with his reels of emotions though his tears are overdoing at times, it feels that Prakash Saput remains stuck in his music video era. Swayam KC, who played young Kamal, shares a natural bond with Bijay Baral on screen.

With plot-demanded versatility, Bhola Raj Sapkota has completely soaked in as ‘Matsab’. In limited screen time, Anjana Baraili as Batuli gives a natural direction to the storyline, depicting a mother’s love, care, and aspiration for her child not any less than a father. She fulfils her mandate while the makers decide to drop her and march ahead with a struggling father. 

Tries too hard to recreate ‘Guthlee Ladoo’

Last but not least, Purna Bahadur Ko Sarangi films many shots and tries too hard to recreate a 2023 Indian drama Guthlee Ladoo directed by Ishrat R Khan. Guthlee, the son of a poor sweeper, dreams of going to school, but his caste is the obstacle. A headmaster grows sympathetic to him but remains powerless against caste discrimination. When they develop an unspoken bond, Guthlee’s dream sees hope.

When I watched the trailer of Purna Bahadur Ko Sarangi, I hoped it would land in theatres with a complete Nepali package, particularly for hill Dalits. But it could only adapt a few shots and instances, frame to frame.

For example, there’s a common shot where a scarecrow is dressed in a school uniform, while Kamal and Guthlee are denied school admission and subjected to humiliation. This image conveys a powerful message: a living human being from a Dalit caste is deemed unworthy of wearing a school uniform, yet it’s acceptable to dress a lifeless scarecrow in it. Meanwhile, their shirts are tossed into the fire, further symbolising their rejection and degradation.

Another shot is where Kamal gets beaten by Matsab for his innocent theft of a white coat right on the night of the declaration of multiparty democracy, while Guthlee’s father gets beaten by the public for touching a tea glass kept for high-caste people in a shop and Guthlee is turned down from the school on India’s Republic Day, the day when India’s constitution was promulgated. 

There are many more assimilation and similarities. But, Guthlee Ladoo is a much more compelling and well-woven drama playing around with the nuances and fabrics of caste-based discrimination.

For Nepali society, however, Purna Bahadur Ko Sarangi is a meaningful and worthwhile beginning. It tells tales of marginalised communities including Dalits to a society still polarised on the issue of caste discrimination and ignorant on recognising their generational privileges for the least. The makers, debatable it could be, in awe of making it a commercial hit, had to play on the emotional tunes of the audience as tears flowed through the movie. 

Yet, what could have been a more organic and impressive social drama and reflection of society, the script let the notion that ‘mere class struggle is real’ dominate throughout the movie — overlooking caste. while reducing the theme to a story of a deep bond between a father and a son, which runs the risk of ultimately becoming a lasting memory in the audience’s mind.

Purna Bahadur Ko Sarangi (2024)
Director & Writer: Saroj Poudel
Cast: Bijay Baral, Swayam KC, Anjana Baraili, Prakash Saput, et al
Run time: 2 hours 25 minutes