My Fair Lady

The Noblewoman Flower Girl (My Fair Lady)  a 1964 American musical drama film depicts a poor Cockney flower-seller named Eliza Doolittle who overhears an arrogant phonetics professor, Henry Higgins, as he casually wagers that he could teach her to speak "proper" English, thereby making her presentable in the high society of Edwardian London.

I am not a dirt under your feet. What I want is a little bit of kindness. 

You turn everything against me, make everything my mistake. 

I knew you would strike me one day. 

What a fool I was, to think you were the earth and sky. 

Now my reverberating friend, you are not the beginning and the end. 

There will be spring, without you, fruit on the tree, art and music will thrive without you....

I can do without you...you dear friend who taught so well...

So go back in your shell, and I can do bloody well without you. 

I have my own spark of divine fire.

Man Pasand starring Tina Munim, Dev Anand and Girish Karnad is its remake in hindi about two best friends who lay a bet on a poor girl. While one of them is confident that he can turn the girl into a graceful woman, the other one promises to get married to her.

Was under the impression that Abhinetri starring Hemaji and Sasiji was the remake. Had loved that movie and grew up with it. 

Anjana (Hema Malini) is a well-known theatre performer – dance is not just her passion, but her profession as well, and her ballets have made her an extremely popular artiste. She lives alone, and is quite happy with the direction her life is taking.

Shekhar (Shashi Kapoor) is a scientist engrossed in his profession. A chance meeting between them and then  it seems like the universe is bent on actively encouraging their romance – indeed, Ratna (Nazima), Prof. Das, and even Shekhar’s mother aid and abet in the progress of their relationship. A wedding and honeymoon ensue, and when they return, Shekhar and his Anju settle into domestic bliss. 

Newly married, Shekhar loses his professional focus – the irascible Prof. Das has to remind Shekhar that it’s been nearly a year since his wedding. Recalled to his professional duties, he almost immediately forgets Anjana. Which results in Anjana trying some rather juvenile tricks in order to get his attention. AS Shekar gets engrossed in his work, slowly Anjana gets back into dancing. 

Besides, his ego takes a beating when the onlookers suggest that he’s living off his wife’s earnings. That, and the men’s derogatory comments about Anjana infuriate him so much that he demands that Anjana choose between her dance and their marriage. Anjana, at first taken aback by the absurdity of his reasoning, and furious that while she celebrated his promotion, he couldn’t be happy for her success, eventually becomes mad enough in her turn to choose to leave home. 

Both of them are so entrenched in their own points of view that any future meetings between them are either avoided (by one or both) or end in bickering. Even Ratna’s well-meaning effort ends in a fiasco when Shekhar insults both of them. Finally, one day, Shekhar gets news that his mother is coming to visit. Which means he has to plead with Anjana to return home – he hasn’t told his mother yet that they have separated.  Hema’s Anjana is a strong, independent character and very unusually for a Hindi film heroine, someone who can take a stand for herself without deteriorating into a shrill stereotype or a whiny doormat. She loves her profession, sees nothing wrong in exhibiting her skill in front of an audience, and is very clear that her profession is as important as his. 

‘Ma’ is another unusual female character, both in the Hindi cinema of the time, and for the character she plays. She makes a case for female independence of thought, as well as commiserates with Anjana for Shekhar’s expectations that she will give up her career in order to fit into traditional gender roles. It is also unusual to see a ‘Ma’ who admits to having been a singer before marriage – filmi mothers usually have no other identity other than motherhood – and how difficult it is to give up something you love because society has clearly defined roles for women.

Initially shown to be rather decent, Shekhar turns into the ultimate man-child, self-centred (even selfish), self-absorbed and worst of all, whiny. While it’s understandable that Shekhar cannot bear to hear cheap comments about his wife, his solution is to veto her dancing.

Anjana calls him out on that – she shows him how his principles are fluid when it becomes expedient.

When Ratna advises her to make peace with Shekhar, Anjana says: “Woh bahut achhe aadmi hai. Lekin unke ghar mein jo naukar ke izzat hai, woh biwi ki nahin. Aur jis ghar mein aurat ki izzat nahin, main wahan kabhi nahin jaaoongi.”