Original subtitles

I've heard

Pleasures, possessions given away

That cruel one has turned his eyes away

Given up the palace. He, ash-smeared wanderer

I burn in separation's fire, your altar

You were saying

I desired to know...

Why am I at dawn awake, languid..

...want to turn again to sleep?

I Uravashi....

Where do I seek the sleep of the Chaitra month...

No, I need to know... Who are the Gandharvas?

The telling will take long.

Ma! Leave me...

Hear me, Arjun! Simple is the tale...

a play of long ago, this lore

These ghats, Arjun...

these dwelling are the gardens of Indra

You and I I and You

Close your eyes There is no other

Hear me, Arjun

Fleeing... what exile will hide you?

Ghats . Dwellings ...

And this one curse that Indra shall cast my future

How will you disguise your brutal limbs?

I can't say

Speak ; I take the vow of being neither man nor women

I take the vow of being neither man nor women

Contempt for the Apsara will...

...create a eunuch for a year

Not fearful, no, do not be, O Winsome one

play and dance, O dark one!

Sing tales, but, with feminine attention

Leave a wound to cleave the heart

You will turn thirteen. This curse, even I'll bear

Hear me, Arjun, Gandharvas are your magic

Eyes, bearing rain clouds wet the dark wind

Flashes the yellow cloth spreads the stain, I implore

pull over a blanket, hide. Outside, the drizzle hits me.

The kohl lines... smudged black clouds

The kohl lines... smudged black clouds

Rains!

Open the sandalwood door, gently, the windows

Tell me the tale, Kamala

Where is the beginning in the Chandrakanta, Siddhi?

Chapal had no need to turn beautiful...

Later...

Then the gaze rested on one more terrifying sight.

The hands slashed at the wrist holding a vicious dagger.

This wrist belonged to a young and fragile women.

Perhaps as the hand fell, the bangle slipped off.

...and broke scattered on the ground

So that no gaze would recognize her, she had to...

...change her face.

Outside the twelve-doored place, she sat on the ghat...

...and began to sing of separation.

Chapala had no need to turn beautiful...

But...

Delicate body

Go and bring her, whose voice has filled my palace.

Wonderful! You leave me wordless!

A woman like you wandering the night alone...

...fills me with wonder

I am the Gwalior Kathak dancer's daughter.

Chapala is my name.

My father was a great singer

A man stirred my heart but, hurt by my words, he left.

It is in search of him that I wander at night.

Seems that the moon has slipped behind a cloudlet.

Fear not.

The mistake is your effort. Don't think, don't imitate!

Listen, someone walks into a jungle, deeper and deeper...

...and sees in the distance a hut made of leaves.

But reaching there realises he is deceived.

In that space are such trees which curve to the ground...

and mingle to seem from afar like a hut made of leaves.

Listen...

He sees through those trees a glimmer of water flowing.

On both sides of the stream are fragments of shade-bearing...

...trees which seems to keep the water in shadow.

I hear Abdul Azim Khan Sahib stopped playing the sarangi?

Wash it.

Wrap it in cloth

Listen...

Weave stitch wash cook... then you will realize thumri.

What a name your mothers have made the last hundred years!

- Sing again!-

Bestow your call on me any moment

Your call on me bestow any moment

I am not time past

My dark one wanders abroad Rain haze my eyes

Crying night and day Kohl like a black cloud

Bow curved brow. Separation Comes to me in dark

No path to be seen wherever, Eastern winds sway my mind

The bird calls your name Rampratap, the lonely one

Can she bear the pain?

Parrot calls on terrace O Rama!

Come, sing!

My head desires Your body to embrace

Again and again I worship My worshiper...

...that sullen one! My beloved

Why have you turned Your gaze away from me

Look at him making eyes at me

O friend, what magic my beloved makes, O rama!

If desire go unfulfilled, why would anyone pay money?

But there are courtesies in this profession, too.

By taking the child's life whom are you threatening?

Save your aging self - respect.

Hold your tongue!

Certainly not! These are not slave quarters!

- Beware, Siddhi!-

It is appropriate that you Leave this house immediately.

How dare you presume to walk the path I walk!

My head weighs heavy as a mountain.

The lone courtyard torments...

Why did I go to the river for water, my friend

As soon as I saw him I was no more my own.

What are my feelings? I myself do not understand.

It is my Guru's grace.

If I earn two rupees, one would go to my Guru.

After my Guru's death, I took care of his wife

She had relatives, but she considered me her son

When I talk about those days my heart becomes heavy.

Siddhi... Siddhi...

Above us, a lion's head could be perceived.

As the neck stretched, a camel's face materialised

and in a swift moment took on an elephant's body.

Following, rifle in hand, a hunter. But while aiming...

...he spread out into smoke.

Siddhi... Siddhi...

What are you seeking in the sky, Siddhi?

Dark clouds are rising bound to some peak.

Mind wind on a swing swing me, I swing

With the branch, the tree sways

Mingling she from eternal sleep awakes!

Ascending the terrace to the sleep of joy.

Stay away, away...

...entire night with the other awake...

...returning at dawn, what will you say?

Playful one, born a liar who would trust sweet lies

Stay away, away

During the festival of the swing...

...there was one kept at Raja Munshi Madhav Lal's

All the singing women would attend. Jagan Bai, Shukar Bai

husna bai, Vidyadhari Bai, Rajeshwari bai- my aunt

During the festival of the swing people would gather...

and sing one after the other

Someone would take a taan and someone the words

look at him making eyes at me

O friend, what magic my beloved makes

This is the kind of thing we would sing.

Someone from the swing, someone from the other end

Everyone would be wearing peach-coloured sarees.

Aturban was presented to Bismallah Khan's uncle

What a perfect accompanist!

Vazrif Jan, Karnal Baksh were out of this world.

When Shukar Bai found her voice it was another plane.

So much force, so wonderful. There was also big Moti Bai

At the time these people were quite young

They all sang together. Before the monsoon.

I was a mere child then. Very young.

At break of day my love returned...

I came awake at his touch

A hundred and fifty years ago, amongst my ancestors

Rati bai earned green fame Then Maina Bai

Her daughter, Rajeshwari bai was my mother's sister

My mother died young

Today, our music has spread everywhere

But earlier, the listeners were something else.

Nowadays, those who sing on microphones try to sing in..

The old way, their heads will explode

In the singing today, there is less alap, more taans.

They race their throats to grab the stars of paradise.

The rasa has diminished

She,who has seen all the palaces of India seen all...

...the gathering, received immense fame and money...

...she is a mother to me

My aunt Rajeshwari Devi lost her temper at me

She threw me out of her home

The clothes I had on my body-that's all

I was invited to a concert, but how could I go?

It is to Vidhyadhri that I went. She said I am there!

Now these weak stone staircases, attached...

to these iron railings half-fallen twisted, hanging

A small room, a stove, kitchen things

The Gandharvas are eternal

We follow the rules of Gandharva marriage

As far as possible spending a life with one man...

...was considered ideal.

In here there is an entire world. Search and you may...

...even find a remedy for a cold

These rough village paths are not for you.

What can I do for you?

I have left everything and lie here. Once I entertained...

the world, now only two syllables(Ra-Ma) I sing

Our time, no matter how hard you seek, can never be found

Gohar Jan, Nanua, Bachhua, Acchan Bai, my friend...

They have all gone. The time has gone.

The old singing was indeed short but there was pain

Today, sing-play the whole night, but all that you get...

...is confusion

- Where is the tanpura? - There is no power.

A boy has taken it out for a day or two

Earlier in Banaras under an Ustad, it took twelve to..

...thirteen years of study.

Which Ustad exist today who can with the sound...

...of his first note tear your head?

Why from me, have you turned your gaze away..

Love, how do I come? Love, how do I return?