Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996) - full transcript

I wish i could be like her.
Also me...

But you're a servant girl, Maya

I must go, she'll be waiting
- And i?

You can't go.
But i'll come and tell you everything.

So kama sutra,
the greatest book of love ever written.

"Kama" means...

Love.

And "sutra" means?

Lessons?

Very good.

So, we have it.



Lessons on love.

An ancient book on men and women
and their relationship through life together

Now, why do we study it?
You may all ask,

When it was written
so many hundreds of years ago?

Because love remains as meaningful
and myterious today as it was then.

The kamasutra teaches us
the many ways we use our body for love.

lt also teaches us

That the ways of love are much deeper

But of course, it tells us
we must learn to use our body well, so...

Lift up your skirts,

And look at your...

Feet.

One doesn't pay much attention
to one's feet or toes.

But believe me when i tell you...



If you touch the toes and feet

ln a certain way,

It can bring great pleasure to you lover.

Maya, is that you?

Why do i have to wear Tara's clothes,
when she never wears mine?

What have i done in my past life
to inherit you from my mother?

Just because Tara and biki drank from
my breast they let you play with her.

So what if you bathe with Tara?

That doesn't mean you can become
a maharani yourself.

Be grateful they let you dance her.

Maya.

Biki.

Just because you're a prince,
you think you can spy on me?

One day, i will be King,

And you will be my Queen...

And my slave.

I'm no one's slave forever!

I want to know everything Tara knows.

You are truly pagli.

My mad one.

Hips just like your mother.

And then she dance one, jahlak.

And the room would be still.

You'd better deserve those
dancing bells she left you.

Very good, Maya.

We are doing the dance of enticement, Tara.

You are the ones with beautiful eyes,
so, play with them

You have to mesmerize with them.

Don't give up, princess Tara.

Come on, come on. Try.

Beautiful dancing, Maya.

Come my princess Tara.

My darling.

This is for you.

New clothes? For me?
I've never had new clothes.

Thank you, Sahib.

Tara.

How is it?

..Looks like leftovers.

You can wear it at my wedding.

I am going to be married
to the great Raj Singh.

Such a tender flower,

Still unopened.

Women, being of tender nature,
want tender beginnings, eh?

The wisdom of the kama sutra is such,

It teaches us not to rush.

For the first 3 days after marriage,
the girl and the boy

Should abstain from sexual pleasures.

Oh, yes!

On the 1 0th night,
the King will begin gentle love play

To create confidence in you.

He will embrace you with the upper part
of his body in darkness,

Because he doesn't know you well.

You should at this time
accept his embrace,

And allow him to put betel nut in your...

God bless the alliance
of our 2 Kingdoms.

Now let's see if the King's bride
is worth her weight in gold.

He's coming.

He's so young.

Small price to pay
for such beauty.

Let's hope she's worth it.

Tara, he likes you.

Go to your room.

Woman: and when will
this flower open? Oh, my.

I wait upon that night.

And what a night that will be.

Please come. Please come.
Come here.

Masi.
Oh, Maya.

That's her.

There she is--
My lotus woman.

Maybe that was my padmini.

I found her.

l lost her.
Seeing things again?

What says the doctor?
Examining, examining.

Pulse tells all.

Hey, Maya.

Maya.

Easy on those sweets.

That's hot stuff.

Aphrodisiacs.

Put one in my mouth, Maya.

Open your mouth and close your eyes.

Yes?

Forgive me for disturbing you, great King.

Your name?

Maya.

Could you be anything but Maya?

I've brought you something.

Some malida to sweeten your tongue.

This is all i need.

This is all i need to sweeten my tongue.

Tara...

You're leaving us forever.

Tara...

Ma. Ma.
Ma...

Please get Maya for me.

I want to marry her.

This is for you, Maya.

Tara...

All my life i have lived
with your used things.

But now...

Something i have used is yours forever.

Maya!

Maya. I'll leave this place forever!

Maya.

Maya, listen to me.
Listen to me.

Think about it.

Biki loves you.

You're almost like Tara.

You a princess, and she, a Queen.

I'm supposed to just say yes to everything?

To Tara's clothes,to her used dowry,
and now to her brother?

It's our destiny, Maya.

I'll make my own destiny,masi.

Please.

Let me be.

She said no?

Thank god.

l could never show my face.
Daughter marries King, son marries servant girl.

Come, ma.

Come, ma!

You whore!

Please!

Please, i beg of you, no.

Biki.

I'm so sorry.

Maya.

Masi...oh,

You had better go, my pagli.

Your mother's blessings are with you.
Go!

And take these bells
with you,

So the world will know
the whore is coming!

For the blood.

I know about the blood.

Just put it underneath you
at the time of the pain.

What pain?

Just like the tearing
of a back tooth.

One moment there, one moment gone.

Enough.

She is ready for you,my son.

Your good luck charm.

One day you are your father's property...

Next day you are your husband's property.

Must be difficult.

Why not put that around me?

I will not do it again
if you embrace me.

l cannot.

You can.

You even want to.

No. Please.

I will press the marks of my teeth and nails into
your breasts and i will say i found you this way

And that another man had done it.

And what will you say then?

I will say i am innocent.

Who will believe you?

Maya.

Maya?

You just called me Maya.

Are you trying to read my mind?
No.

Did they not prepare you?!

Didn't they tell you never
to question your husband?!

No!

Get me the chief courtesan!

My name is jai. Jai kumar.

I am the royal sculptor,
and i saw you at the King's wedding.

You don't know this,
but you inspire my work.

I work in stone,
like these temples.

It's hard to believe
she's made of stone.

Why?

Stone has life.

Padmini.

It's not right.

Don't move.

Maya!

l'm sorry.

Let me explain.

l work with my hands.

I didn't want to frighten you
or embarrass you.

Why do you feel so free to touch me?

And don't talk to me as if
i was your servant. I'm not your servant.

A servant is a master in disguise.

Where do you live?

Come, i'll walk you home.

You do have a home to go to?

Listen, i know somewhere.
lf you agree,i can take you there.

She is wonderful.
She teaches the kamasutra

Everything i'm trying to understand
about love in my work, she knows.

When you dance
the dance of enticement for a man,

You dance like he's
the only one left in the world.

Come on. Come on, try.

Play.

Rasa.

Jai kumar.

And to what do we owe this honor?

This is Maya. A new friend.

She needs a place to stay.

Come, Maya. Join us.

Play.

So Tara was being weighed in gold,
and she insulted me before the King, so i...

You what?

l went to the King's chamber,and i gave myself
to him, the night of his wedding.

Ohh. Was he as good as his father?

Oh, rasa devi,
the fuss, the shame.

Shame?

Now, that is an ancient word.

When the King i served
as chief courtesan, went to war,

The Queen, being the dutiful wife she was,

Washed his feet with holy water.

She drank the same water
every day he was gone.

When he came back...

He rode straight to my door.

Do you think that honored the Queen?

Honor and shame

May be 2 sides of the same coin.

It's so beautiful here.

You are welcome to live with us here, Maya.

Some become courtesans in the King's harem.

Others become wives.

I teach my girls kama sutra--

That the art of love
is much more than the act itself.

Come.

Rest.

You have it in you
to be a great courtesan, Maya.

Reserved maybe for Raj Singh himself.
- The King?

And why not?

No, rasa devi, never.

Hush.

We shall not speak of it again.

You stay here as a daughter.

And if you change your mind...
you come tell me.

I used to worship inside temples...

Until i saw that everything
around me was holy...

The waterfall...

Stone...

Grass.

All pure spirit.

Now like a madman,

I worship everything i see...

Like you.

There's a story told about the
neighboring King and his favorite courtesan.

This courtesan became pregnant
at the same time as his Queen.

She gave birth to a son a few days
before the Queen had a daughter.

The courtesan knew that her son would be considered
a threat to the throne, so ...

The eunuchs would be dispatched
to kill her child.

She was determined to save him.

It was diwali,

And the potters came
to gift their vessels.

Suddenly, the courtesan had an idea.
She..

Begged one of the potters to smuggle
her baby out, in an unused urn.

Did the courtesan
see her son again?

Yes, she did.

Every few years the boy would be dressed as a girl
and smuggled into the inner court.

Why?

Men can't enter the harem.

So they dressed the boy up,

And his mother would take him
along secret passages.

They would spend
a few hours together.

Then he would be smuggled out...

And the courtesan knew that it would be

Some time before she saw her child again.

A few years later she died.

Maya, come.

And this position is called

Twining of the creeper.

Now we add to this what the kama sutra
calls the throbbing kiss.

And this is the way for both lovers to have the
pleasure of kissing the lower lip at the same time.

This was gentle.

What about when love feels intense?

On the first union, for example, or when...

Angry lovers are reconciled?

Or when one is intoxicated
and full of energy?

How can we express our passion then?

Called by the kama sutra...

"The blade of the saw."

A woman who sees the marks of her lover's nails
on her body, becomes excited again.

Always remember,
there should be variety in love sport.

Jai, your padmani's there.

There, there. She's been
waiting for hours. Go.

I forgot to return this
to you the other day.

You touch me, and i don't know
if it's about your work or...

About what?

Something else. Don't ask me to name it.

Is what you do different from them,

From the men in the street?

You're the same as them, aren't you?

You're accusing me of being
the same as those men?

I'll take you somewhere tonight,
and you can see for yourself.

But you will have to dress like a man.

Examining. Examining.

Leave. I'm going in as a commoner.

Can i have some wine?

Kumar.

Sahib?

You don't know me, kumar.

Tonight, i'm one of you.

Come here, you...

There is joy in 3 things--

Eating meat, riding meat,
and putting meat into meat.

l need a woman.

Chandra bai, can you
get me a young one?

May i entreat you to see
a special flower of mine?

A virgin as yet unknown to men.

l had a virgin not so long ago.

A strange girl
with a face like a Queen.

Sometimes, i still long for her.

All the way from the himalayas.

Padmini herself.

A fresh rose of the gutter
to bloom only for you.

Almost the face of a Queen.

I'll take her.

Enjoying? Huh?

Oh, rasa!

You have seen how some men
can be like animals.

But it is not all men.

I don't believe jai kumar is like that.

And since when is woman
simply a helpless animal?

Just like men, we are awake
and filled with longing.

But--
No buts.

Passion remains the spirit
behind existence, Maya.

Nothing will ever change that.

It's how we use our passion
that is of essence.

Now we must listen to what
kama sutra teaches,

That the true union
between man and woman

Can take us beyond this
animal lust into total trust

And merging with the other,
where each becomes both.

Imagine such bliss.

The story you told me
about the courtesan and her son,

It was you, wasn't it?

Jai.

l made some coconut rice for you.

I know you don't usually eat when you work.

Something's wrong.

What is it? Tell me.

l'm worKing differently.

But that's good, isn't it?

She's beautiful.

Something about being with you has...

When i work, i see you all the time.

You're with me at every moment.

Is that all you see in me,
your work,

A piece of stone?

What if i can't work
properly without you?

You don't have to. We can work together.
No.

I've never needed anyone.
l've never needed to rely on anyone.

We can't be together.

Don't fall in love with me.

You were the one that
talked about love all the time.

And now it's facing you,
you run from it.

Sometimes things don't
make sense immediately.

I have known him a few years now.

He is used to being alone.

Be patient, Maya.

Be patient.

I loved being with him.

I would have done anything
just to be with him.

What kind of love are you talKing about?
Real love?

If you're looKing for real love,
you've chosen the hardest task of all.

The work for which all other
work is but preparation.

But... i was ready.

l wanted to give myself to him.

Love does not mean surrendering,
losing yourself.

lt is a call to ripen.

Don't look for straight lines, Maya.

Life is never like that.

I want to understand
properly, rasa devi.

I want to learn about the rules of love
and how to apply them.

And if i can't use them
on the one i love...

I'll use them on the ones i don't.

Teach me. l'm ready.

At all times and in all countries,

There's ever been a little rivalry
between the chaste and the unchaste.

But while some women are born courtesans,
let's face it,

Every woman has got an inkling
of the profession in her nature

And makes herself agreeable
to the other sex.

One of the arts of the courtesan

Is that while she involves herself
in sex without love,

She conducts herself
as if love were indeed natural.

Because we all know that men love women
who apparently love them.

But even courtesans should
not always be welcoming, because...

We must know that men are apt to despise
things that are easily acquired.

You can hear all these rules,

But remember, once the wheel
of love is set in motion...

There are no rules and no order.

Salute the day!
Salute the hills and flowers!

Enough.

Is this the statue?

Whose is this?

lt's mine, Sahib.

Yours, kumar?

So imbued is this stone
with the warmth of woman.

I want to kiss the skin.

l have kissed the skin.

I have kissed this skin.

Who is she?

A young woman i found--
Bring her to me.

I wish i could, Sahib,
but she disappeared.

Then we must find her.

As a reward for your
most excellent work, kumar,

You shall wrestle me.

Vazir, pay the man
his weight in gold.

Sahib.

Sing.

You made her wait.

Now you will have to wait.

Listen! Listen!

We are looKing for the woman
who inspired jai kumar.

Her skin, the color of
freshly harvested wheat.

Her limbs long and languorous

Like the creeper.

Thank you.

Are you ready, my precious child?

I'm frightened.

I was frightened, too,
the day they came for me.

It is good to be a little frightened

Because it means...
you feel things.

Come.

Another courtesan, my Queen.

Name?

Maya.

Maya?

Enough!

Tara!

How long do you expect to languish?

All day?

I was longing to see you.

Get out!

My son has an eye.

I trained him.

Yours?

Of course.

'Tis the usual custom.

The usual custom no longer applies.

If a courtesan is not elegantly attired,

She will not exhilarate my husband.

Exhilaration is my department.

You get me something new,
or we will keep your husband waiting.

And i'm sure i will be blamed for it.

He is full of lust, and she is in the eye.
Get her something new and quickly, Tara.

Sahib?

What news from the stars?

There is news of the shah, Sahib.

Later.

Tell me the stars.

Jupiter, the sign of good fortune,
is placed in your house of love and marriage.

An auspicious time for love.

Good.

Sahib, we must speak.

I said later.

Vazir, matters of state
are your affair

As love is mine.

Adjust, my child.

It's an old story.

He had her on your wedding night...

Just the way rasa had my husband.

There are courtesans,
and then there are wives.

There are dozens like her,

But you are Queen.

The glory of god is in you.

Oh, it was a good night.

Kumar, whose artistry pleases my gods,

Whatever you've heard,
in the ring, we're equal.

With or without claws?

I can be lethal enough
without them.

Good.

You do that again, you'll have no arms.

Forgive me, Sahib.

Good fight, kumar.

We have some work to discuss.

Will you join me tonight?

People say i think too much about women.

What is there more important to think about?

To our great King.

Started off a great warrior,

Ended as an insect sucKing on a poppy flower.

Vazir.

Captured.

You draw the fleeting moment.

Show me the eternal.

You did make love to Maya, then?

You know her name?

I know everything.

Answer me.

I'm waiting.

Work can only be an act of love.

You will go to china to fetch another,
you clumsy son of a whore!

Yes, Sahib. Right away.

I have found your girl, Kumar.

Sit, sit.

l tell you she governs me
and winds me up at a whim.

My moods depend on her.

I want to open my eyes
to her under me...

In the morning.

You should be given
an audience with her, Kumar.

l want you to carve her
across the roof of my room...

But if i was god, i'd carve her
across the bright blue sky.

Poison.

Bitter as bile.

But when taken from childhood,
it makes you immune from enemies.

My Raj...

Now all your life,
you'll use mine.

So...

Tell me, are you happy now?

Tara...

l was young.

I had no idea then that what i did that night
would change your life forever...

And mine, too.

You got what you wanted.

He desires you.

At least one of us is happy.

Do you think that just because
the King desires me, it makes me happy?

Does it not?

No, Tara, it does not.

Sometimes...

When i catch a glimpse
of the world outside...

Trees,

Sky...

I wish we were free
like when we were children.

Tara...

We meet again.

Enchanted.

What shall i do?

Will you dance?

I like this position.

I did not agree to sculpting
by committee, Sahib.

Allow me the honor of a...
an artist's privacy.

Maya...

I love you.

You love only yourself.

How naive of me.

Maya.

Forgive me, please.
I was afraid of losing control.

Maya.

You hurt me.

l belong to him now.

No.

I belong to you.

I made a mistake.

Take me back.

I marry you... you marry me.

I marry you...

You marry me.

Dr. Mani, we believe
Queen Tara is hysterical.

We found her flushed
and without breath.

Her body does not
keep from twisting.

Have the spirits possessed her?
l want to know.

Her heart, please.

So?

Her pulse...

It's normal.

Examining.

Sahib.

It seems the opium
has made you half a man.

You cannot pass her over.

I've heard rumors that her own
brother is being courted by the shah.

Invaders like the shah, with or without that
hunchback, are no match for my strength.

It is not you that are strong.
It is your neighbors that are weak.

The gods protect me.

I will show you. Biki is nothing.

Just show me an heir
from the Queen...

Before i get a bastard
from one of your whores!

Sweet brother-In-Law,
this is your home.

You can have anything you want.

Now, what can i offer you?

More music?

Oh. Boys. Do you insult me?

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Or is it time you had women?

Ha ha! I always wanted women...

Ever since i... ha ha...stood up.

Women?

Certainly, women you shall have.

You shall have the pick of my harem.
How many do you want?

Three?

Four?

Don't worry, we'll blindfold them.

And tie up their hands as well.

I write this in the interest of the people,

Who are being neglected by a debauched King.

Now take this to the shah.

He has insulted my sister

And squeezes the common folk
each day, to feed his appetites.

He has put his affairs entirely in the
hands of his prime minister, the vazir.

I put myself in your
royal hands as an ally.

Prince Bikram Singh.

I want to be alone.

I want to be alone with you.
- Raj.

Just you and i... together.

Let me lie in your arms.

Give me some comfort.

Oh, please.

What?

l cannot.

Do you think you're the only woman?

l have hundreds waiting.
Go to them.

Once you wanted me.

I serviced you, that's all.

You have no power over me.

Go.

Go now.

My love.

I can't continue this way.

This is the last time
i sneak in like some rat!

I'm his courtesan, that's all.

Beautiful women are
a law unto themselves.

l no longer have any authority over her.

Life is strange.

Fight me.

Fight me, Kumar!

I want to sweat.

Claws!

And bleed.

Opium!

Strike!

Why did you do this?

I cannot stand this anymore.

Because i love you,

My work has a power
that even i cannot explain.

What do i work for?

To arouse this King of ours?

We leave tonight.

As soon as it's dark,
we'll find a way out.

Where's the whore with
the heart of a vulture?!

Where is she?!

Were you invited?

I didn't ask him in,
my love. Did you?

You.

You offend me.

It is a crime to offend your ruler.

Ruler?

You reign, Sahib. You do not rule.

You will die, Kumar.

You will die like
the bastard commoner you are!

Take him away
to the valley of stones.

No!

What are you going to do?

What am i going to do?

Tara!

I hate you.

All my life you hated me!

You could have finished me
off, but you didn't!

You know why?

Because i survived you.

I wanted to live.

Now you better survive me...

And your husband...

And anything else
that happens to hurt you.

They took him.

Who?

Jai Kumar.

You love jai Kumar?

We shall not surrender to despair.

This is really not so difficult.

l can show you how to dress.

I can show you how to
mark him and touch him.

Men are not such a mystery.

First, i will mark you.

He will know a woman
made these marks.

lt will excite him.

Maya. Jai is going to be killed...
and i cannot stop it.

l will help you see him.

Now is the time.

The doctor will help you.

Thank you.

Our deepest gratitude, doctor.

Vazir?

Who is it?

Speak up.

Greetings, Raj.

Tara?

Maya's taught you well.

In the end... it always
comes down to the wife.

The mark of a tiger's nail.

You are common to many women.

l would see you always...
so aroused by others...

Undressing them with your eyes.

How i loved you then.

And how i anguished.

You do hate me.

No, Raj.
I do not love you enough to hate you.

Embrace me, my love.

You have to be very brave, my love.

They take you tomorrow.

And i will be with you always.

Always.

Maya.

Bind me to you
with this hair forever.

I am yours.

Take me.

Cut this hair. It's yours.

My flower.

Jai... you have my heart.

I love you.

You came back for me.

Even like this, i want you.

You have me.

But i ask only one thing.

Please free him.

Please?

Please. I'm begging you.
Please.

I will do anything.

No! I want more than this!

I want your heart.

In your heart, please, give him up.

If you free him.

If i free him, you must
never see his face again.

Swear it on your
mother's name.

I swear it.

You're a lying whore!

Jai Kumar will die!
And i will watch him die!

Sahib!

Sahib.

A box was left at the gate
with a message from the shah.

He...he has entered
our Kingdom, Sahib.

His troops are advancing upon us.

Vazir.

Call the Queen!

Comfort me.

I need some comfort.

Maya!

Knowing love,

I will allow all things
to come and go...

To be as supple as the wind...

As rasa would say to me:

"Life is right in any case."

My heart is as open as the sky.