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I have been on a trip this afternoon. A trip called Tehzeeb (1971). A pakistani film that is basically Rab ney banadi jori in reverse if Christopher Nolan had been in charge of direction. I have no words. My words: none.
I will never recover. 1 like and I'll make a thread
I will never recover. 1 like and I'll make a thread
Here is a poster. Ive been told that more behuda (where behuda=possessed of more cleavage) posters existed and were plastered everywhere when this super hit film first graced cinemas in the early 70s
The film begins with a gharara wearing white wigged daddi amma describing how the new 'tehzeeb' has ruined here family. Her family consisted of 2 fazul modrun baitey and one 1 naik parveen baita (he and his lovely saada dehati wife are alas deceased). The 2 modrun Nakara baitey
Have 1 modrun daughter (Noorani) and one modrun son (Javed currently studying in Yorope) apiece. The naik baita died leaving a single naik masoom daughter Chandni who spends her days doing taaki pocha of the huge mansion they all live in
The dadi lives in the dehaat taking care of the zameens and sends wazifas to the 2 nalaik baitas. The latter gentlemen and their families spend their nights dancing to jazz at the 'club'. Dadi is sick of her useless aulad and only loves Chandni. One day she falls ill and her
Sorry guys I had to lie down for a bit
Anyway the daddi falls ill and declares she could not die in peace until the naik masoom Chandni was married to the modrun Javed. The nalaik betey want her to die already so they can inherit so they convince Javed in London over a trunk call to marry a girl. That's right.
They say shes beautiful and MA pass and modrun and he agrees and theyre married over, yes the trunk phone call. As soon as the call is done dadi pops up fit as a fiddle and the nalaik betey cry over a foiled plot to finally get the inheritance so they can fritter it away properly
Javed arrives with a wig like Ringo Starr which dadi makes him cut off immediately and is outraged at how naik masoom & paindu his new wife is. When he takes her to the 'club' she cant dance to jazz like Noorani and instead does an embarrassingly desi jumping dance to Hey Jamalo
He fights with dadi saying he wanted a modrun wife who dressed in tight sleeveless shirts with conical bras and drank brandy at the 'club' NOT this naik masoom paindu Chandni and dadi tells him he'll regret trying to change her. That night when he goes to the club again
LO & BEHOLD a beautiful woman who looks just like Chandni wearing no sleeves, flared pants, conical bra and A GOLDEN SYNTHETIC WIG. With a cigarette. So MODRUN. When he goes home Chandni is in her regular shalwar kameez doing taaki pocha so it CAN'T HAVE BEEN HER SURELY
He meets the woman with the golden synthetic wig again & again and SHE EVEN SOUNDS LIKE CHANDNI. As he follows her one day she rushed into HIS OWN HOUSE and disappears. He open a door and there is dadi with?! Is it Chandni? Is the mysterious comically busted stranger?
It is Chandni! Dadi had dressed her up in a modrun outfit to make some point about mirrors and maghribi tehzeeb that made 0 sense and Javed decides he is happy with his wife. The rukhsati happens and the nalaik baitey cry over being thwarted once again. And of course naik masoom
Chandni is shocked at HAVING TO SHARE A BEDROOM WITH JAVED as is only right and proper for mashriki larkiyan and none of you sluts will understand. Anyway if you think this is where the film ends boy are YOU WRONG
The next day Javed sets about changing his new wife, teaching her english, changing her hair, giving her a newer tighter wardrobe. He takes her to the club where she watches the dancing women and cries a sorrowful dirge about qaum ki baitaiya and nachna and haya etc but naik
And masoom that she is she cannot disobey her majazi khuda. She learns to dance and walk in high heels and call dadi 'grandma' because that's what a good wife does; behave as though she has no mind or personality of her own. As she becomes less and less mashriki she throws
Out her Nalaik uncles. These gentlemen and their wives plot to kill the daddi to inherit but they fail and daddi has them locked up! Their maghrebi tehzeeb led them to trying to MURDER THEIR OWN MOTHER THE INHUMANITY
Back to chandni who is growing more modrun by the minute and Javed egging her on until one night he urges her to take that first fatal sip of brandy. Thunder rumbles and Daddi feels a goose walking over her grave (this literally happens in the film) and Chandnis fate is sealed
Her transformation is now complete into exactly the kind of wife Javed wanted but alas. He now has Ragrats. Chandni asks him to fetch her slippers, gets drunk, flirts with her friend Mohsin and he is forced to bear it all because to protest would be too desi and old fashioned
While he is away in London Chandnis friendship with mohsin deepens (this consists of getting drunk and dancing at the club because without her husband she has no originality). Javed is squirming between his desire to he a brown babu and his toxic desi masculinity until Chandnis
Birthday at the club. As he watches her dance with mohsin and get drunk he sings the same dirge that she sang once watching other qaum ki baitis gyrating on the same dance floor. He makes a scene and storms off and Chandni with her synthetic golden wig does NOT UNDERSTAND
Isnt this what HE WANTED? isnt she behaving EXACTLY THE WAY HE ASKED HER TO BEHAVE? WHAT DOES HE WANT SHE MUST GET MORE DRUNK AND TELL MOHSIN SHES TOO ANGRY TO GO HOME AND HE SHOULD TAKE HER ANYWHERE BECAUSE even though shes no longer nail she is still masoom
I cannot begin to describe the dialogue in the remainder of this film. As mohsin takes a drunk Chandni to his house and she immediately becomes sober at the prospect of assault. Words are shouted, mostly BHABHI BEHN GIRRI HUI AURAT etc. MORE THUNDER AND LIGHTNING
Chandni stumbles home golden wig still intact and there is more dialogue between her and Javed about fallen women, shame, whose fault it really was etc and Javed pulls out a gun and rushes out as she faints. The scene cuts away to dadi finishes her story by telling us
How Javed went & shot mohsin dead but when he returned Chandni had already drunk poison & died. Like any outraged desi hero who commits an honour killing, Javed went mad and now sings the same dirge about behaya aurtain over and over again. Maghrebi tehzeeb ruined her family.
The end.
Moral of the story: never listen to your husband.
Moral of the story: never listen to your husband.
You can watch the final heart stopping scenes and experience the masterful dialogues yourself in the last 15 minutes of the film here https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x18b8dd
