As a little girl, I was a big fan of matinée movies, which my father and I watched together on TV. Before the age of ten, I had already seen almost all John Ford westerns and a lot of Errol Flynn sword adventures. And of course, the pirate movies: "The Black Swan", "The Crimson Pirate"
However, I was always disappointed at women's passive role. Unless you were so lucky to have vivacious Maureen O'Hara as the heroine, you were usually stuck with a screaming, weak, pretty idiot that you would like to kill yourself.
I wish I had seen "Baaz" then. The gender politics in this old Hindi black and white film are still modern.
The Falcon ("baaz") of the title is a female pirate captain: brave and beautiful Nisha, played by Geeta Bali. She rebels against the Portuguese colonisers, who treat her people worse than slaves while local princes look the other way. Nisha openly confronts the Queen, accusing her of allowing commoners to suffer in order to keep her privileges. Little she suspects that the "gentleman in distress" she has rescued from a Portuguese ship is no other than the Queen's son (played by who else? charming Guru Dutt).
A love-hate relation blossoms, which is depicted in surprisingly equal terms. Their two physical fights have no clear winner and, more important, Nisha is not "domesticated" after falling in love (which was usually the case in Hollywood films). When her men reproach her that she is falling for the Prince, she defiantly sings: "Why do you think I am weak just because I am in love?" She is even willing to renounce him in order to pursue her quest. As the last scene proves, she certainly does not need to be saved.
"Baaz" was not very successful film, but the songs became very popular. Rosita's ballad is sweet and romantic, while Nisha's dance dressed in falcon costume is impressive. We can only regret that both Guru Dutt and Gita Bali died too young.
I wish I had seen "Baaz" then. The gender politics in this old Hindi black and white film are still modern.
The Falcon ("baaz") of the title is a female pirate captain: brave and beautiful Nisha, played by Geeta Bali. She rebels against the Portuguese colonisers, who treat her people worse than slaves while local princes look the other way. Nisha openly confronts the Queen, accusing her of allowing commoners to suffer in order to keep her privileges. Little she suspects that the "gentleman in distress" she has rescued from a Portuguese ship is no other than the Queen's son (played by who else? charming Guru Dutt).
A love-hate relation blossoms, which is depicted in surprisingly equal terms. Their two physical fights have no clear winner and, more important, Nisha is not "domesticated" after falling in love (which was usually the case in Hollywood films). When her men reproach her that she is falling for the Prince, she defiantly sings: "Why do you think I am weak just because I am in love?" She is even willing to renounce him in order to pursue her quest. As the last scene proves, she certainly does not need to be saved.
"Baaz" was not very successful film, but the songs became very popular. Rosita's ballad is sweet and romantic, while Nisha's dance dressed in falcon costume is impressive. We can only regret that both Guru Dutt and Gita Bali died too young.
