Negotiation, Intervention, and Representation: Understanding Rajinder Singh Bedi’s Cinetopia
Fatima Siddiqui
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16527700
Abstract. In the years succeeding Indian Independence, films attained the status of a populist form through which the ideals of realism and progressivism could be brought to the masses. Rajinder Singh Bedi was an Indian writer aligned with the Progressive Writers’ Movement, who worked in the Indian Film Industry as a director, screenwriter and dialogue writer. His stories represent human personality and psyche in their true form, exposing the individual and society. Complex relationships are explored in a meaningful and eloquent manner in his stories which are purported to be some of the finest pieces of Urdu fiction.
He was the screenwriter and dialogue writer for some of the most popular films of his time such as Abhimaan, Anupama, Madhumati, Devdas, and Anuradha. In 1954, he collaborated with Balraj Sahani to form a company called Cine Cooperative whose first film, Garam Coat was based on Bedi’s eponymous short story which highlighted the plight of the lower class struggling with an economic crisis. His first directorial venture, Dastak was based on his radio play Naql-e-Makāni (Moving to a New House) and explored a topic which was most unusual for its time: a newlywed couple moves unwillingly into a house located in a red-light area.
Bedi mixed humour with introspection and reflection, to create characters that can be found on the streets of India even today. This paper aims to understand and highlight the picture of life and man as it emerges in the films of Rajinder Singh Bedi. He has been able to capture the complex correlation between the Indian man and his socio-cultural, religious and political beliefs with dexterity. This paper will attempt to analyse the representation of realism in Bedi’s works and the range of emotions and sensibility that his works display.
Keywords. Progressive, Realism, Socialism, Reforms, Indian cinema, Urdu literature, PWA.
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Fatima Siddiqui has a doctorate in English from the University of Lucknow titled Dastangoi and Contemporary Renderings: Studying Performance as Text. Her areas of research include Theatrical Storytelling, Cultural Studies, Feminism, and Post-colonial studies. She has taught English to graduate students at Lucknow Christian Degree College, and believes in adopting an interdisciplinary approach to learning. Currently she is teaching High school English, and when at leisure, she can be found online, trying to analyse behavioural patterns in the virtual world or simply admiring countryside picnic pictures.
ORCID:
Email: fattysid@gmail.com
Negotiation, Intervention, and Representation: Understanding Rajinder Singh Bedi’s Cinetopia © 2025 by Fatima Siddiqui is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
