Contributed by Kathryn Myers / As an artist and longtime collector and curator of India’s unique and dazzling Mithila art form, I was deeply moved by an inspired new film, Sama in the Forest, which enlivens and re-contextualizes an ancient folktale while offering a privileged glimpse into the process of creation in Mithila art. Distinguished by its exquisite network of complex lines rendered in ink with shapes of brilliant color, Mithila is one of India’s many indigenous and tribal art traditions. Over decades it has evolved from colorful household murals to more widely shown works on paper that include illustrations of India’s extensive mythologies and, more recently, contemporary life.
Coralynn Davis, Presidential Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Bucknell University, filmed Sama in the Forest during extended visits to rural Mithila in the state of Bihar in northeastern India, bordering Nepal. She brings to the production her extensive research there, particularly on its storytelling traditions. In collaboration with the film’s director Carlos Gómez, a community-based filmmaker, and writer M.S. Suman, a native of Mithila now living in New Delhi, Davis immerses viewers in a community of individuals who serve as narrators, actors, artists, and commentators. The dramatic retelling of Sama is staged at a crumbling palace in a lush grove of trees – a key contextual setting for Mithila art – while the commentary and conversations alternate between the residents of serene villages and those of the bustling town of Madhubani. The film’s careful pacing ensures a clear narrative arc while allowing the exploration of the many branches and asides that enrich the original story and illuminate its evolving relevance, including cultural customs and geography.
The story begins with the Hindu god Krishna, married and living in a palace with his son Samb and daughter Sama, who are devoted to each other. Samb eventually leaves home, while Sama, wishing to break social boundaries and see the wider world, ventures out into a nearby forest where she meets, and begins to care for, a sage and gets to know his kind and handsome son Chakeva. They fall in love but are betrayed by Chugla, a jealous palace servant, who spreads malicious gossip and discloses their relationship to Krishna. Upon hearing of his daughter’s unacceptable behavior, Krishna is enraged and turns Sama, Chakeva, and all the sages of the forest into birds. After Samb returns home and learns what has happened to his sister, he vows to meditate in the forest for 10,000 years to return Sama to human form. Meanwhile, Chugla sets the forest on fire to kill the two lovers. Villagers sympathetic to them force Chugla into the burning forest and he perishes. In time Samb’s meditations do bring Sama and Chakeva back to human form, after which they marry.
Alternately narrating the film are Davis, Gómez, and Suman, who contribute different tones and perspectives. Suman’s lyrical voice sets the stage as she muses about what has made her feel so bound to women who gather to tell stories. The film then proceeds through interspersed moments that include scenes of contemporary life in Mithila, a theatrical staging of Sama, artists painting the story, and recurring conversations with actors, artists, and members of the community. These strands emphasize traditional elements of the story while also considering Sama’s plight and her relevance to women in contemporary India, particularly rural society. The myth embodies potent metaphors about the damage caused by gossip and Indian restrictions and cultural codes, and the continual process of retelling and analysis imparts considerable intimacy and nuance.
In recurring segments, joyful banter between celebrated mother and daughter artists Vinita and Nisha Jha shows Nisha’s sympathy for the web of entanglements her mother has endured as a woman in a large family. Vinta responds with a keen sense of agency, insisting that her “forest” does not belong to her father or her in-laws but is of her own making. While holding his baby daughter and working on an exquisite painting of Krishna, artist Ranjan Paswan movingly recounts how proud he will be to see his daughter excel and succeed in life. Actors Arjun Rai and Prabhat Ranjan acknowledge the social and familial constraints women face, such as disapproval of working outside the home or dancing at parties, which could make it difficult for them to marry. Davis’s participation in some conversations shows the sense of ease she has developed from her long relationship with this community and the esteem it has for her.
A highlight of the film for me and my art students, who were learning and creating Mithila-style art, were the scenes of artists painting. The students were moved by the ongoing sense of community and camaraderie that Mithila artists shared as they worked under a picturesque pavilion in the village or at Mithila Art Institute in Madhubani, a unique – but unfortunately now discontinued – school where seasoned artists taught aspiring painters. Gómez’s camera glides unobtrusively among the artists in moments of intense concentration or animated conversation, capturing subtleties of their painting process. This generous window into the the development of a painting from crisp ink lines and decorative flourishes and patterns to the fluid application of color – sometimes, to my students’ amazement, from their bare hands functioning as palettes – enriches the experience of viewing a finished work.
As the film progresses, culminating in a ritual ceremony celebrating the brother-sister bond, so do the gorgeous paintings, which chronicle the drama’s advance. Steeped in ethnography, anthropology, and mythology, this film uniquely evokes what is often overlooked when viewing works of art: the spirit and process of creation.
Sama in the Forest, produced by Coralynn Davis, directed by Carlos Gómez, written by M.S. Suman. Distributed by Documentary Educational Resources, 2023.
About the author: Kathryn Myers is a professor of art at the University of Connecticut. She is a painter, curator, and the producer of Regarding India, a video series of conversations with contemporary artists in India.
