From 1940's legendary action-packed Hunterwali to the millennial's dreamy dance-drama Dil Toh Pagal Hai, a new exhibition at Khoj International Artists Association in Khirki Village harks back to Bollywood kitsch by paying a tribute to "the other woman". The exhibition comprises a selection of film memorabilia from the Priya Paul collection taken from "Maya Mahal", originally curated by Debashree Mukherjee and shown in Kolkata for the centenary celebrations of Indian cinema. Encompassing the three categories of fantasy, action and dance, Maya Mahal included not only posters and publicity stills, but also artefacts of film history such as lobby cards and song booklets.
Paul, chairperson of Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels, is an avid collector of contemporary as well as popular and visual art. "I had been collecting oleographs from calendar art and advertising materials since the mid-1980s," she says. "A dealer came by with hundreds of lobby cards and posters. These were fragile paper objects and I realised that they would soon be destroyed. It seemed like an urgent project to me, and I started collecting as many such artefacts as I could." The idea is also to look at lesser known heroes and heroines from B- and C-category cinema. "I looked for images that had a strong graphic quality, a juxtaposed tradition with modernity and images that were amusing or curious in some way. Some of these posters are very simple and effective, like early Communist, east European ones. Each section is representative of the era they're from," says Paul.
Starting from the Maya Mahal collection, the curators at Khoj found many representations of female characters that were very different from the traditional Hindi film heroine figure. "These were women who were bold, very overt in their sexual agency, angry, violent, basically all the things that a 'good girl' image would not allow," says Pooja Sood, director at Khoj. There is a tribute to Mary Evans Wadia, better known as Fearless Nadia, the original stunt queen of Bollywood, the woman with the whip, etched in popular memory as the masked vigilante in Hunterwali who redefined notions of femininity by pioneering the superwoman genre in the country. She has her own room at this exhibition, showcasing posters of her most iconic films such as Stunt Queen, Jungle ke Jawahar and Diler Daku. The other room has on display posters and stills of pulpy films such as Masterji, Banjarin, Faraar and Galliyon ka Gunda starring "Sex Bomb Silk" among various others.
The curatorial team says the exhibition is making a very simple statement - that the idea of femininity is not one set in stone. They point out that there are all kinds of women in all shapes and sizes, many of whom are not always the good girls. Looking beyond the purview of the submissive, rule-following, traditionally beautiful ideal female heroine, the exhibition celebrates female representations that have been conventionally seen as "fallen", "ill-behaved" and "loose" with dignity and stardom that they deserve.
The exhibition will also see daily screenings of a collection of horror films from across the border. According to the curators, the Pakistani horror films are included in the programme because of a "visual resonance with the print material on show". Some of these are films made on B-grade aesthetics. These horror films, in many ways, have been watersheds of Pakistan's film history - Zibahkhana was Pakistan's first stab at zombie films, Aurat Raj is a radical feminist film with a large component on cross-dressing, Zinda Laash was the country's first vampire film. "Not only are these films capsules of history, but their strange hybrid aesthetics are a treat to watch," says Sood. To put things in perspective for the viewer, there is also a screening of South Asian Cinema: A Documentary, directed by Pete Tombs and Andy Starke that will speak of the historical context of these films.
Khoj is a small space, so one can't help but feel slightly disappointed to see only about 30 pieces on show, especially knowing the behemoth of a collection it is curated from. Some of the posters are quite rare, large-size versions in mint condition, though some do seem straight out of underground vintage stores in Hauz Khas Village.
The exhibition will close with a screening of Ashim Ahluwalia's Miss Lovely, which is set in the world of C-grade horror porn circuits of Mumbai.
"The Other Woman: Exhibition of Film Memorabilia" from the Priya Paul Collection is on view at Khoj Studios, S 17, Khirkee Extension till December 6
