Sunday 2 July 2023

'Raat Rani' and what it means being Independent

 This blog is written in response to the thinking activity given by Vaidehi Hariyani ma'am on “Raat rani”, the first episode of Modern Love Mumbai while Discussing ‘Freedom’ at the Department of English, MKBU.



Raat Rani 



Raat rani is the First episode of the web series Modern Love Mumbai Premiered on the platform Amazon Prime Videos. The series is an anthology of 8 unique stories that depicts various kinds of love. 'Raat rani' is the first story of the eight part series. This episode is directed by Shonali Bose and the main character is portrayed by Fatima Sana Shaikh.


Raat rani is the story of Lali, a cook who lives in Mumbai with her security guard husband Lutfi, away from their native town from Kashmir. They live a normal life by working hard but one day her husband Lutfi leaves house and dumps Lali. The story tells how Lali becomes emotionally independent as she already was financially and individually independent.


Here are some points given while writing the task.


List down the contradictory symbols you observed in the episode “Raat Rani”.


In this story there are many symbols referring to the emotional state and growth of the character of Lali. 

The first symbol we see is the boat that they had in Kashmir and it is named as ‘Taj Mahal’ and the Taj mahal is itself the symbol of love. She is longing for the lost love in their married life that once was but now as they are in the city like Mumbai and the fast life they have lost it.

In the climax scene when her roof is fixed she have painted a painting on it. in that painting there is lady and a river and in that there is a boat and that is 'Taj Mahal', that symbolically represents that she have achieved the love she deserves on her own.


The second powerful symbol is the Bridge that she goes through every day when she goes for her job as a cook at a rich household. That bridge is the representative of her emotional dependency that she has toward her husband and the lack of courage to climb it up. Eventually she climbs the bridge and that time she feels the utmost happiness.



At the end of the episode when Lali goes to meet her husband for the last ice-cream there is a statue of liberty in the background and that is one powerful symbol. That symbolizes that she is now independent from the emotional dependency of her husband. And she is now going to lead the life as she wants to and she will do whatever pleases to.




Which is your favorite symbol from Raat Rani? Why?



My favorite symbol is the bridge, the flyover. It is the obstacle that Lali has in her way to Job. She has to get off the bicycle to climb the bridge. This bridge is the representation of her husband. They  are a hardworking couple, but in their relationship Lali is very much dependent on her husband emotionally. In every happy or sad moment she needs Lutfi. When she climbs the bridge without getting off from the bicycle she becomes very happy in the same way when her husband leaves her she becomes on her own. She discovers happiness  without depending on anyone and becomes finally independent.


Which is your favorite frame from the episode? Why?


My favorite frame in the episode is when Lali is stopping at a traffic signal and she sees a family on motorcycle eating ice-cream. That gives an inside to the mind of the character of Lali as she has this idea of being happy means to have a family and become well to do. In her heart she might have this dream to have a small family of her own where she, her husband and their kids will live a simple and happy life.


She is living in the city of Mumbai but she comes from a small background like most of the working class people who come from small towns of India to working in the big city of Mumbai. Most of the working people have this dream of earning money and then live a happy life with their families. Lali does the same as she wishes to be happy with her husband. In the end she realizes that to be happy she does not need her husband around. If her husband does not want to live with her then she can live on her own and be happy too. 


Compare and write a note on all the women characters from Raat Rani.



In this episode there is one main character Lali and apart from her there are two more females we can see in the story. One is the Lady in who’s house Lali works as cook. She is a lawyer and very rich person as it seems and the second female is the client of the lawyer who is considering getting divorce.


The lady who is getting divorce is becomes angry and choses to stop her diet and eat everything. She decides to stop maintaining her body, in contrast Lali choses to maintain herself as well her house and repairs it.


“Courage is Contagious” – Give an example for this from the episode.



in the climax the when the lady character meets Lali and see her selling Kava of Raat rani flowers and see her braveness the look on her face seems very inspired, so we can say that she might get courage and decide to live as she wish not to impress others but to live as best as she can for her own happiness.


Share a picture of yours with a women who is your source of courage. Give a creative title to it.



I can Surely say that they are very powerful and inspiring.

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