Religion & Films
Indian cinema and mythological have been a unique combination that has resulted in cinema reaching to larger mass across the country. Starting with Dadasaheb Phalke’s silent movie Raja Harishchandra (1913), mythological dominated the silver screen before and after Independence.
These mythological films have brought cult status to many actors which include the popular south Indian star NT Rama Rao who became household name all over the country for his roles of Lord Krishna in more than two dozen films.
Jai Santoshi Maa Film
It is not just actors, even the Gods and Goddess have turned into cult. One such is Santoshi Maa. Thanks to Jai Santoshi Maa, a low-budget movie featuring unknown actors, became one of the highest grossing films of 1975, alongside Sholay and Deewar.
The film opened on May 30. The first show in a Mumbai cinema collected only Rs 56. The next show netted in Rs 64, the third Rs 98 and the last one crossed Rs 100. No one was impressed. Jai Santoshi Maa was a disaster!
Ten days later, the miracle happened. Collections began improving and the Rs 12 lakh film went on to do a business of Rs 25 crore. It’s still rates amongst Hindi cinema’s biggest grossers. And has prompted thousands across the country to keep the Solah Shukravar Vrat (16 Fridays’ fast).
Apart from reviving the dying mythological genre, the movie also popularized Santoshi Mata, a goddess with no Puranic base. This was path-breaking since earlier mythologicals, such as Vaman Avatar (1934) and Shri Ganesh Mahima (1950), were largely based on Puranic gods. The story of how Jai Santoshi Maa’s spectacular success made the local goddess a household name is worth telling.
Story of Jai Santoshi Maa
As the story goes, one of her few devotees was the wife of film director Vijay Sharma. She encouraged him to spread the word about Santoshi Mata through the cinematic medium. And so, Jai Santoshi Maa was born.
The plot revolves around Satyawati, a devotee of Santoshi Maa, whose in-laws torture her after her husband abandons her, whose unwavering devotion towards Santoshi Maa ensures that the goddess keeps rescuing her from every peril she faces.
Parallel to Satyawati’s story is the tale of three conniving Puranic goddesses, Saraswati, Laxmi and Parvati (wives of the Puranic trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh), who are jealous of Santoshi Maa and keep making matters worse for Satyawati in order to test her devotion.
The movie has a happy ending, where not only does Satyawati get her husband back, but Santoshi Maa is also hailed as a “true” goddess by the three other goddesses.
Despite being largely based on the vratkatha, the movie lent to Santoshi Mata what the vratkatha could not: a dynasty. Even though the vratkatha names the goddess, it never explains her origins or introduces her.
The opening scene of the movie declares her to be the daughter of Lord Ganesh, who procreated rather reluctantly and under pressure from his wives and sisters. By doing so, the movie elevated the status of Santoshi Mata from a local goddess to an important Puranic goddess. Furthermore, the movie had a wider reach than the vratkathas and appealed mostly to lower-middle-class women. This had a lot to do with the everyday-ness of the film. The story of Satyawati’s mistreatment by her in-laws was a common trope of saas-bahu drama that women in India could relate to.
Household Goddess Santoshi Maa
Unlike Kali, who fights actual demons, Santoshi Mata would fight the everyday problems of her devotees. Also, her ability to grant wishes in an increasingly materialistic society made her the goddess to approach for practical and obvious blessings—such as a new household appliance.
The movie, by using unrealistic sets and amusing special effects, eventually became so entwined with the goddess that watching the film itself became an act of worshipping Santoshi Mata.
The movie achieved this by filling the whole screen with the goddess’s image, with the darkened hall repressing the world outside and weeding out any boundaries that exist between the viewer and the goddess onscreen. This is precisely why, as Guha had recounted, people entered the cinema halls (showing Jai Santoshi Maa) barefoot and threw flowers at the screen.
Santoshi Mata was first worshipped in the 1960s by women in Uttar Pradesh and has no base in any Puranic myth, according to Wendy Doniger’s The Hindus. Only five temples, located at widely separated sites, were dedicated to this local goddess and she was known mainly through vratkathas (literally, stories of a fast).
Impact of the Film
Indian cinema could never replicate the success of Jai Santoshi Maa, neither commercially nor spiritually. Perhaps it has something to do with the goddess’s blessings.
Women would prostrate at the entrance of the theatres, light incense sticks inside, shower flowers and coins on the screen, dance the ‘Jai jai Santoshi mata jai jai maa…’ garba with Satyavati and at the end of the film, break their fast and distribute ‘prasad’.
Temples of Santoshi Maa sprung up in every state and ‘devi’ Anita Guha was mobbed everywhere she went. Downslide begins The idol worship continues, but Guha’s adulation was short-lived. She soon got tired of playing the goddess in mythologicals and after her actor-husband Manick Dutt’s untimely death, led a Garbo-like existence in her Bandra apartment. She died three years ago and her building on Linking Road is presently being pulled down.
Even now, one can find the movie telecast on Hindi film channels on Fridays (fasting day for Santoshi Mata’s devotees). The movie’s most popular song, “Main toh aarti utaru re Santoshi mata ki” (I worship Santoshi Mata) is often sung at rituals associated with Santoshi Mata.
A new version of the cult film, released in 2006 and only available on DVD, completed the process of inextricably linking the goddess to the movie. One can purchase the DVD as part of a gift set accompanied by a variety of ritual implements: an aarti book, a small murti (idol) of Santoshi Mata, a diya, puja bell, thali, mata’s chunari (scarf), incense sticks and a garland.
Watch the most famous song of Jai Santosi Maa
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