Siddheshwari: Difference between revisions

'''''Siddheshwari''''' (Hindi: सिद्देश्वरी) is a 1989 [[Hindi]] [[documentary]] directed film by [[Mani Kaul]]. It is a cinematic portrait of [[Siddheshwari Devi]], a [[Hindustani classical music]] singer from [[Varanasi]], [[India]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0232641/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt|publisher=[[IMDb]]|title= ''Siddheshwari''|accessdate=2 July 2015}}</ref> It was produced by the [[Films Division of India]]. The film was awarded the National Award for the Best Documentary for that year in [[India]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://filmsdivision.org/the-fd-zone/111th-edition-mani-kauls-siddheshwari.html|publisher=Films Division|title=111th Edition – Mani Kaul’s ''Siddheshwari''|accessdate=2 July 2015}}</ref>

Although the film defies a linear plot structure, it begins with a bilingual scrolling text in Hindi and English that indicates the dominant thematic that film is knitted with. The narrative meanders between the biographic moments of [[Siddheshwari Devi]]'s life, that describes her relationship with her guru and her benefactor, intertwined with the mythic history of [[thumri]] and [[tappa]] as a musical form located in the medieval [[ghats]], gullies and mansions of [[Varanasi]]. For Mani Kaul this film, was a “poetic documentary,” <ref>https://www.anilcherukupalli.com/blog/2005/11/an-interview-with-mani-kaul</ref> in an interview he says: “in my own way, I have tried to bring poetry, documentary and fiction together. We would call it non-linear narrative.” <ref>https://www.courtisane.be/sites/default/files/Cahier%20-%20The%20Rambling%20Figures%20of%20Mani%20Kaul.pdf</ref>

Srikanth Srinivisan wrote in ''[[The Hindu]]'' that in ''Siddheshwari'', instead of simply presenting biographical details or passively documenting the singer's artistry, Kaul turns the genre of cine-profile inside out, amalgamating literary, theatrical, musical and cinematic forms together to construct an experience of music. "The sprawling film blends multiple timelines, realities and geographies to sketch a unique portrait of the artist," he wrote.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://filmsdivision.org/the-fd-zone/111th-edition-mani-kauls-siddheshwari.html|title=Outtakes – Mani Kaul|author=Srikanth Srinivasan|date=9 April 2013|publisher=[[The Hindu]]|accessdate=2 July 2015}}</ref>

In a review for ''[[The New York Times]]'', Caryn James compared the film  with an abstract painting, "wildly open to interpretation". ''Siddheshwari'' is "beautifully photographed but impenetrable," he wrote.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0CE3DA1131F933A0575AC0A966958260|title=A Modernist Approach to Biography|author=Caryn James|date=30 September 1990|publisher=[[The New York Times]]|accessdate=2 July 2015}}</ref>

This film has been categorized by [[Amrit Gangar]] as a Cinema of Prayoga film.<ref>{{Cite web|title = THEIR EXPERIMENTS WITH TRUTH « The Big Indian Picture|url = http://thebigindianpicture.com/2013/06/their-experiments-with-truth/|accessdate = 2019-07-10}}</ref>