The prisoner’s reformist tale has attracted filmmakers since V. Shantaram’s DO AANKHEN BARA HAATH (1957). This film revolves on that same theme. When the wife of a public prosecutor (Rituparna Sengupta) thinks of staging Tagore’s VALMIKI PRATIBHA using inmates of a prison, one could be sure there will be spanner in the works. As one might easily guess, inspite of the hurdles such a film ought to end on a pleasant note. The director duo, Sibaprasad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy doesn’t disappoint on this count.
RS essays a powerful role and this is another feather in her cap. Kharaj Mukherjee, Bratya Basu and Deb Shankar Halder act in supporting roles.
Interestingly Tagore had written a story MUKTODHARA wherein he advocated to inculcate a scientific temper in the midst of irrational beliefs. Were the directors also questioning our widely held beliefs that criminals are beyond reform, accusing us of being irrational? As a counterpoint, can we also not say that the directors are being romantic in their assessment, even when there are instances of criminals turning over a new leaf …
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