This personal sketch of Paro Devi is written by Saadat Hasan Manto in the day-and-night sequence of a film studio. Minto was also associated with the same
At the beginning, Saadat Hasan Manto has given some details about being in debt to a film company and suffering further financial losses due to various reasons, after which he has been told that here he is asked to prepare a propaganda story, and then Manto and his colleagues see a new face in the studio. This girl named Paro came here to try herself as a side heroine of the same propaganda film. Minto further writes:
More about Paro:
One day, Ashok, Wacha, Pai, and I were sitting in chairs outside the studio talking about how the company had wasted so much time and money that Ashok revealed that the fourteen thousand rupees that Rai Bahadur had, Mumtaz had given it to Shanti; he had borrowed it from her. Ashok made this revelation while scratching his black leg in a way that made us all laugh uncontrollably, but immediately fell silent.”
“On the gravel road ahead, a strange woman was making her way to the make-up room with our heavy-duty hairdresser.”
“Datta Ram Pai opened his black, thick, and disfigured lips, displayed hideously protruding dark straight teeth, and elbowed Wacha. He addressed Ashoka. ‘This… who is this?’ ‘”
“Wacha shook dust on Pai’s head. “Salle, tu kon hota hai pukhnawala?” Pai got up to retaliate. Wacha grabbed his wrist. “Sit down, Saleh. Don’t go here. Your shape. She will run away as soon as she sees it.
Pai gritted his dark, straight teeth. Ashok, who was still sitting quietly, said, “Good luck!” I looked at the woman for a moment and said,
“Yes, it doesn’t go unnoticed.”
“Ashok didn’t understand my meaning. “Where does she not pass…?” I laughed. “”I intended to say that the woman who was here before Seeing her does not burden the eyes. Very clean. But her height is a bit short.” Pai then showed her ugly teeth and said, “Hey, chale gi. Why put it?”
“Vacha, instead of Pai, addressed Ashok. “Grandpa Mani! Do you know who this is?”Ashok replied. “I don’t know much. All that Mukherjee knew was that a woman was taking the test. arriving today. We viewed and heard the results of camera and sound testing on screen and provided feedback. Me, Ashok, and Vacha didn’t like her at all because her body movements were “chobby.”. There was artificiality in every movement of his limbs. Pi found him charming despite the unappealing smile. Thus, he repeatedly flashed his unattractive teeth while telling Makarji, “Excellent screen.” There is a fee.
“Datta Ram Pai was a film editor. He was an expert in his work. As Filmistan was an institution where people from all walks of life had freedom of expression, Datta Ram Pai used to benefit us from time to time with his opinion, and especially he used to make fun of me.
We had made our decision, but S. Mukherjee selected this woman, whose name was Paro, for a role in a propaganda film, so Rai Bahadur Chunilal immediately offered her a film contract for a modest monthly salary. Done.”
“”Paro then began visiting the studio on a daily basis. She was a very funny and sloppy prostitute. Meerut was her homeland, where she had the approval of almost every colorful noble in the city. She was called the scissors of Meerut” , because she used to cut and cut big. Played for thousands. But it was her passion for movies that brought her to Filmistan.”
“”After having an honest conversation with him, I discovered that Hazrat Josh Malihabadi and Mr. Sagar Nizami also used to visit him often and listen to his speech. His language was very clear and quick, and I was very impressed. Her bare arms were like ivory in a short-sleeve ruffled blouse. White, shapely, well-proportioned, and beautiful. The skin had a smooth sheen that looked like “willow” wood. Born from walking. I came to the studio in the morning. I was washed, clean, bright, dressed in a white or light colored saree, and saw an ad for soap. In the evening, when she left for home, despite the day’s passing, there was a cloud of dust. Not even an iota could be seen on it. It was as fresh and fresh as it was in the morning.”
“Datta Rampai became more obsessed with him. The shooting had not started, so he had leisure. That’s why he was often chatting with Paro. He was not aware of her scowl, harsh tone, or darkness. How could she put up with her straight, dirty teeth and her uncut nails? The only reasonable conclusion is that a prostitute can tolerate a lot if she so chooses.”
“The story structure of the propaganda film was handed over to me to study carefully and to make such modifications and deletions as I could understand.
“When the new structure appeared before the ‘Full Bench’ of Filmistan, I was in the state of a criminal. S. Mukherjee gave his verdict in these few words. “Okay, but enough of it. There is room for improvement.”
“Only someone who has developed a story for a propaganda film can truly comprehend the challenges involved in crafting one. The most difficult thing for me was to find Paro, his looks, his stature, and his technical weaknesses. The look was to be included in the story. However, after much deliberation, all the steps were decided. The story came out, and the shooting started. We consulted each other and decided that the scenes in which Paro works be filmed at the end so that Paro becomes more familiar with the atmosphere of the film and the camera hesitation comes out of his heart and mind.”
“Any scene was shot equally between us. He was now so honest with Datta Ram Pai that jokes were told. Pai’s teasing would have been very funny to me. In Paru’s absence, I used to make fun of him. Kum Bakht would brazenly say, “Sale to Kum Jalta.”
“As I previously stated, Paro was a very witty and laid-back sex worker. To every studio worker, she was a big, carefree big shot. That’s why she got so little attention. became popular during the period. The lower classes started calling her Paro Devi out of respect. It became so common that movie titles read Paro Devi instead of Paro.”
“Datta Ram Pai took it a step further. He fought some such tips that one day he reached his house. He sat for a while. He took care of Paro for his sake and left. After that, he regularly practiced twice a week. He started threatening me here.
“Paru was not alone. She was accompanied by a middle-aged man. Twice her height I think I saw her two or three times with Paru. He was less Pati Dev and more ‘Thamo’.” It was known.”
“Pai used to talk about his meetings with Paro in the canteen with such pride and in a semi-romantic way that it was laughable. Sawakwacha and I used to make fun of him, but he was so stupid that it didn’t affect him. Never. Sometimes Paro was also present. Even in her presence, I used to make fun of Pai’s raw and unrepentant love. Paro did not mind and kept smiling. With that smile, how many hearts would she have cut with her scissors in Meerut?”
“Paro did not have the flamboyant charisma of ordinary prostitutes. She could sit in civilized gatherings and converse with great politeness. This may be the reason that her visitors to Meerut were not well received. He belonged to that section of society that indulges in immorality just for the sake of entertainment.”
“”Mercury now fits in the studio environment rather nicely. It often happens in the film world that when a woman or a girl becomes a new actor, she is immediately snapped up. She is the ball. Which is hit by someone with a bat and the players standing in the field waiting for it to come into their hands. But this was not the case with Paro. Perhaps because Filmistan is much more than other Nigar Khanas. One of the reasons could be that Paro was not in such a hurry.”
“Pie’s condition was now all the more ridiculous. Paro had invited him home one day. He had given him two pegs of Johnnie Walker whiskey from his own hand. When he was very drunk, Paro had laid her lovingly on his couch. Now he was convinced that she was dying over him and that we, having failed, were burning with jealousy. How did Paro react to this? It was; I don’t know.”
“Shooting was going on. Veera was the heroine of the film. The side heroine was to be played by Paro. She was to play a feisty, feisty girl from an independent jungle tribe in Burma. As her scenes were being shot, my apprehensions increased. I was afraid that she would not pass the exam and would be the cause of our downfall.”
“We all tried hard to somehow get rid of her artificiality and ‘cheesyness’, but to no avail. The shooting continued, and she never recovered. She had no fear of the camera or the microphone, but on the set she was unable to show the essence of acting as intended. What could be the reason for this other than the leaders of Meerut? However, there was so much hope that one day or another, she would fade away.”
“Because I was so disappointed by him, I started acting on his ‘roll’. He got to know about my trick through Pi. So he used to watch me in his spare time. She started coming to me. She used to sit and talk for hours. She used to praise me in a very polite manner, in appropriate and appropriate words that did not seem to have the color of flattery.”
“He even extended an invitation to visit his home a few times. I might have gone, but he was very busy in those days. All the time, I had a propaganda film scene on my nerves.