Meera is a 1979Hindi language film by Gulzar. The film is based on the life of Meera, a Hindu saint-poet who renounced princely comforts in pursuit of her love for Lord Krishna. The film portrays the life and times of Meera from a historical perspective rather than a mythological one. Through Meera's life, Gulzar has shown a woman's struggle to find her independence, dignity and spiritual satisfaction in a society where women are supposed to be worthy of only taking care of the household chores. The epic soundtrack by Pt. Ravi Shankar features the lilting dulcet tones of the award-winning playback singerVani Jairam, the tunes of which resound in every memory that reveres this winning combination of film music. However the film did not perform well at the Indian box office, though it received critical acclaim.
Plot
The story is set around 1580, in the time of King Akbar. Biramdev is the king of Medta, a province in Rajasthan. He has two daughters, Meera and Krishna and a son, Jaimal. Meera is in deep emotional love with Lord Krishna, so much so that she considers Lord Krishna to be her husband. Akbar is becoming stronger day by day and hence other small provinces are trying to join against him. Medta, in one such political agreement, decides to join hands with Raja Vikramajit. As a part of this agreement Meera is married to Vikramajit's son, Rana Bhojraj. But even after getting married her love for Lord Krishna remains the same and she follows her own ideals and way of living which are not very acceptable to Bhojraj and his family. One thing leads to another and one day Meera is declared as an outcast and traitor who failed to play a wife's duties towards her husband, a bride's duties towards her family, and a woman's duties towards society. She is jailed and a public trial is ordered to decide her fate. But Meera is still unshakable and her spirituality keeps her going. She is not even afraid of death. Finally she is given a death sentence and is ordered to drink a cup of venom in front of the public.
Film's costume designerBhanu Athaiya used changing hues of Meera saris to show her spiritual evolution rather dissolving into Krishna. Starting with vibrant colours as a princess, she leave the palace in orange, gradually shifting to yellow, fawn and finally to much paler beige colour.
