Bazaar is an excellent movie made in 1982. Sarju and Shabnam are in love but their love story end with such a tragedy that makes you think that socially acceptable and institutional ways of defining and allowing human relationship very often end up destroying the meaning of relationship itself.
Set up of the movie is typical lower class Indian society. Najma and Salim are also in platonic relationship. Salim is a writer and a thinker while Najma is a beautiful and young woman from a withered Nawab family. Due to bad financial situation her mother is asking her to trade her body to feed the family. Najma, who doesn't accept that, runs away with another man (Akhter) to Bombay. But her mental situation is never still since she loves her family but is not ready to sacrifice her youth for them. Although is a good man and he is also interested in marrying her and but his middle aged boss wants Najma and Akhter to look for a bride for him. In order to save his job and apartment Akhter persuades Najma to do something that leads to destruction of Sarju and Shabnam's love story.
Scenes from Hyderabad city in which poor parents are ready to do anything to get their daughter married are very impressive and well. All actors are very good, script, songs and costumes are fabulous. This movie was very advanced in its time of release. Even after 23 years since it release a large section of Indian society has not got the message of the movie. Western societies despite their own disadvantages are much much better systems in the perspective of this movie. Even today, girl child is seen as a burden in Indian society. Concept of single moms and even single parent is just not acceptable. Girls are identified either from the father's name or her husband's name. There is no third way. She doesn't have an identity on her own.
Najma, in the end, after a discussion with Salim, realizes that she has to have her own identity which doesn't have to come from either Akhter (her potential husband) or her parents (who want to sell her body to live!). So, she say goodbye to Akhter and goes with Salim, perhaps to find her ways to wash off her part of sins she committed in order to gain identity from Akhter.
A must see movie, If you want to understand worst part of Indian society and its solid institutional ways of doing things which are so fragile and delicate that they often get crushed.
A bunch of 7 melodious songs will haunt you forever.
