Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Gender Studies and Sexuality
Year: 2024
DOI:
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From Hunger to Madness: Analysing “Bhat Dey” Through the Lens of Gender Violence
Sadiqa Jissan Nabila
ABSTRACT:
This paper aims to explore “Bhat Dey: The Hunger,” a Bangladeshi film directed by Amjad Hossain that won the “National Film Award” along with nine other prominent awards for its excellence in depicting the horrendous sight of a patriarchal Asian society. Released in 1984, this movie unveils the gender-based inequality and violence prevailing in a society struck by famine. The title “Bhat Dey” translates to “Give me rice” and provides a heartbreaking visual narrative of the life of Jori (Shabana), who suffers the consequences of hunger and male dominance in the rural part of Bangladesh. The daughter of a Baul (vagabond) singer and a destitute mother, Jori’s life has been a torment of hell as her father fails to earn a livelihood for the family. In a helpless state, Jori’s mother elopes with a Mohajan (a village tradesman) in search of a better life. Left to be by her sick father, Jori develops into a beautiful young woman who becomes the target of the lustrous elite-class men of the village. She runs small errands, such as stitching to feed her father, who lost his eyesight. Being paid very little, Jori takes up work at a rice mill owned by Mia Shab, who makes inappropriate advances to Jori. Moreover, women working in the rice mill are paid less and are forced to perform immoral acts to retain their jobs. Protecting her dignity, Jori leaves the job and, under some consequences, gets married to Gohor (a village fool). Falling more into vulnerability, Gohor is given long-term imprisonment for a planned crime plotted by Mia Shab, whereas Jori, out of hunger, becomes a mad thief, causing havoc in the village. This paper will explore “Bhat Dey” through the lens of strain theory, primarily focusing on the subject of genderbased violence prevailing in the plot of the film. It further aims to incorporate the theory of feminism to understand the interplay of the positive and negative psychological development of Jori as an outcome of social abuse.
keywords: Bangladeshi film, Feminism, Hunger, Patriarchal, Strain theory