Woman and Militant Nationalism: Srijit Mukherji’s Rajkahini and the Issue of Partition

Abstract

Rajkahini represents Srijit Mukherji’s tryst with the concepts of nationalism,national identity and each character’s personal identity with respect to India’s partition.Partition has been critiqued vis-à-vis the ‘two nations’ theory, and Imperialism. With partition, the communion shared between people gets threatened, the border becomes the signifier of unspeakable horrors. The (feminine?) nation is prostituted, raped, maimed and traumatized by colonial power. Mukherji plays deftly with the idea of satidaha in his portrayal of the prostitutes under Begum Jaan, who get entangled in political violence and show traits of militant nationalism. The sati here acquires and retains possession of her own body and self and voluntarily annihilates the body.