I couldn’t tell if Pintu-Pintu Surga was merely a propaganda film or if the creators actually believed what they put on screen, because it was very hard for me to swallow certain facets of the story. I don’t come from that culture, and so maybe I couldn’t catch its real essence. But I didn’t understand why, in this day and age, the filmmaker was trying to glorify the concept of polygamy, and that too in a manner that was not at all believable. The narrative tried its level best to portray the protagonist as some kind of messiah who wanted to marry another girl because he wanted to support her. And his first wife accepted it as her fate, calling it destiny and God’s will. I absolutely disagree with her because it was not God’s will that got her in that situation, it was her inability to take a stand against an oppressive and misogynistic society that does not believe in giving equal rights to women. That said, let’s find out what happened in the film and if our protagonist had his way and married a second time.
Spoiler Alert
What happened when Arman met Widya?
There was a new chairman to be appointed at the Al Khayr Foundation, and the central committee sent Arman and Sidik to oversee the transition. Arman had no clue that the person who was being appointed happened to be his ex-lover, Latifah, whom he was set to get married to back in the day. Latifah and Arman knew each other from their school days, and they always felt that they were meant to be together. But then, due to certain unprecedented reasons, they didn’t get married, and eventually they got busy in their respective lives. Latifah’s husband (addressed as Maulana) was diagnosed with a terminal illness, and within months of that diagnosis, he passed away. It was hard for Latifah to manage the entire household and also look after her son, Gandi, who was autistic and even suffered from ADHD. Gandi had these panic attacks where it was very difficult to calm him down. Many times, Latifah had to rush to Gandi’s school, as it became difficult for the teachers to handle him when he got those attacks. One day, out of nowhere, Arman arrived at Latifa’s office, and she was pleasantly surprised, as she had not expected in her wildest dreams for him to show up there. Arman had a wife, Widya, and a beautiful daughter named Arum, and though he loved them, his feelings for Latifah rekindled once he saw her. He wanted to spend as much time with Latifah as he could, not thinking about how bad Widya would feel if and when she came to know about it. During that period, Arman grew very close to Gandi too, and he came to know that Latifah was not his biological mother. His respect for Latifah grew even more as she’d never let Gandi realize that she was not his real mother. Arman didn’t know what he would do once he went back home, and he just did what he impulsively felt like doing. Obviously, living in an orthodox society, Arman and Latifah’s actions were going to have consequences. They were too into each other to realize that rumors about them getting married had started spreading in the entire neighborhood.
Why did Widya allow Arman to marry a second time?
The moment Latifah got to know that people were talking all sorts of things about her and Arman, she decided to stop meeting him. She didn’t inform him of this, she just made it very clear through her actions that she didn’t want to do something that would make others question her character. Arman was not happy with her behavior, and he didn’t understand why she’d decided to not see him all of a sudden. Arman went back to his hometown, and it didn’t take Widya long to realize that he was hiding something from her. Arman didn’t tell Widya anything, as he wanted to talk to Latifah first and then make a decision. When he met Latifah the second time, she told him that she didn’t want to meet him behind Widya’s back, as she felt very guilty about it. That’s when I believe Arman decided that he would go and tell Widya everything and leave it up to her to decide what she wanted to do. So apparently the law states that for a man to marry a second time (i.e., without giving a divorce to his first wife), he needs to take permission from the first wife. Arman went and told Widya that he had developed feelings for Latifah, and he really wanted to get married to her, and then he seeked brownie points for spitting the truth. Now this is where I had a problem with the narrative, because the writers tried to glorify whatever Arman was trying to do. I agree that he was a responsible man who would have looked after Gandi and Latifah and made sure that even Widya and Arum had everything that they wanted. But I refuse to agree that taking care of Latifah and her kid was his sole motivation. Obviously he was infatuated by her, and at that moment, he acted selfishly, not caring what his wife would feel about it. No matter how much the writers tried to justify the character’s action, it was adultery on Arman’s part. Widya realized that she didn’t have any other option than to accept the fact that she would have to share her husband with another woman. Also, after Widya met Latifah, she grew sympathetic towards her, and she could relate to some extent to her plight. Widya’s brother was born with Down syndrome, and she, to date, blamed herself for his demise. Widya’s brother and mother had met with an accident, and she always felt that had she supported her mother, that accident wouldn’t have happened. Widya consented to Arman’s second marriage as she felt that it was a way she could atone for her sins and get closer to God.
I felt Arman tried to play the victim, and he tried getting sympathy votes, but in reality he was really stubborn with what he wanted. I understand Latifah needed all the help in the world, but for that, Arman didn’t need to get married to her. For lack of a better word, I felt Arman couldn’t control his sexual desire, and he was a perfect representation of how males behave in a patriarchal society. And to justify his stance, he tried to play the messiah, as if Latifah was so helpless that she would not be able to survive if he didn’t marry her. I wish Arman would’ve been in a different country, so he could have gotten a reality check and some perspective.
Did Latifah And Arman Get Married?
It was decided that Arman, Latifah, and Widya would be one big happy family. Widya welcomed Latifah and Gandi with open arms, and she made sure that they didn’t feel out of place or awkward. The day of the wedding was decided, and everybody was on board with the plan, but then something unprecedented happened, and Latifah flipped all of a sudden. Latifah saw that their decision had put both the kids in a very strange spot. She knew that Arman would treat her and Widya with the utmost respect, and he wouldn’t let either of them feel any lesser than the other. She called Arman and Widya into her room, and she told them that she didn’t want to go ahead with the marriage, as deep down she felt like it was not the right thing to do. She asked Widya for forgiveness (as if the latter was dying to see her husband get married a second time), and she told her that they would still be one big happy family. It all ended well for Widya, Latifah, and Arman; they made peace with their choices, and I hope the debacle (as I don’t have a better word to describe the entire fiasco) brought them closer to each other.
