Rihaee

Rihaee review :

Ever imagine a hindi film exploring women's sexuality and gender equality way back in '80s? Sounds incredible right? Well, Aruna Raje's Rihaee was this rare case releasing right in middle of bloated mindless actioners ruling the roost that time. The film had A list actors like Hema Malini, Vinod Khanna, Naseeruddin Shah, Reema Lagoo etc and thus couldn't be called pure arthouse at all. It was aiming for commercial success as well though the movie missed it by a mile and was declared a flop. Such a bold film was anyway too much to digest for that era!!

Rihaee depicts a Gujarati village where all its mensfolk are in Mumbai city for work. They do menial jobs there and satisfy their sexual hunger in brothels. The women back home, are obviously expected to be in absteinance. A flirtatious male Mansukh (Naseer) arrives one day and most of the ladies succumb to his charm. All except Takubai (Hema)!!

Mansukh gets attracted to her haughty attitude and pursues her relentlessly. Eventually, they end up having sex. Things get bad when Takubai gets pregnant and chooses to keep to the child and not abort. Her hubby (Vinod Khanna) alongwith the entire men brigade turn against her...how will she defend her stand?!!

Aruna Raje's direction was outstanding and she not only extracted superfine performances from everyone but also made a strong statement on women empowerment without going the 'preachy' mode. The climactic dialogues are wonderfully written and elevate the movie to an altogether different level. Another positive factor is despite its sexual theme, there is no unnecessary sleaze at all. The lovemaking scenes are extremely aesthetic.

Rihaee didn't work at the box office in the late '80s but this is one movie worth a revisit today. Truly a film ahead of its time!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.