Movie Analysis - Dharm Essay - 2046 Words

Semiotic analysis of the film ‘Dharm’ The story line of the film ‘Dharm’ follows the life of Pandit Chaturvedi, a highly respected, learned and religious Brahmin, who lives with his wife Parvathi and daughter Vedika, in Benares. His life takes an unexpected turn after he adopts an abandoned baby boy (who was brought into the house by his daughter) and raises him as his own son. The boy, who is named Karthikey, fills Pandit Chaturvedi’s life with joy and happiness. However, this happiness is short lived for Karthikey’s mother returns. It is at this point that Pandit Chaturvedi realizes that he had been bringing up a Muslim boy as a Brahmin. The family is forced by religion to turn the boy away and Panditji spends much of his time trying†¦show more content†¦Women in this film according to Laura Mulvey’s theory connote a ‘to- be-looked- atness’. A woman in this film is â€Å"a bearer of meaning but not maker of meani ng.† As the story progresses, the viewer gets to see the arising conflict between the virtuous Hindu and the fanatic Hindu. The film portrays Pandit Chaturvedi as the virtuous Hindu, while Dayashankar, Suryaprakash and the other Hindu’s who become a part of the mob are portrayed as the fanatic Hindu’s. The viewer sees the virtuous Hindu as the good and pure Hindu, while the fanatics are seen as evil, unreligious and in a way impure. The film makes the viewers feel this way, by means of the dialogues spoken by these characters as well as by the manner in which the camera focuses at them. For example, in the starting scene, when the viewer sees Panditji offering his prayers to God the viewer can feel the purity in his voice as he chants his prayers. However, in the following scene, when Dayashankar is seen descending the stairs and chanting the prayer, we cannot sense any sign of purity either in his voice or in the manner in which he chants the prayer. Rather the viewer gets to sense casualness in his voice. Moreover, in the scene where Panditji and Dayashankar are speaking to each other, the camera