Kaalbela is a 2009 political film directed by Gautam Ghose. It was based on a famous novel by Samaresh Mazumdar. The film tells the story of a youth Animesh who comes from a small town Jalpaiguri to Kolkata for higher education and gets involved in the political milieu of the City. Kolkata was in the grip of a radical left movement in the Seventies and many educated youth were influenced by it and joined the struggle driven by idealism. The extreme form of this came to be known as Naxalism, the name after a place Naxalbari in North Bengal where it all started and spread across other parts of Bengal and other states. The film effectively captures the way several promising youths of Bengal got caught in revolutionary activities with the dream of building a just and equitable society. Along the way the movement lost steam mainly due to lack of honest leadership. The so called leaders in reality turned to self-serving individuals. Mrinal Sen had made a film PADATIK that too questioned the direction the movement took but KAALBELA showcases the story of these youths in a broader canvas and provide a ringside view of the political uprising. Parambrata Chattopaadhyaay and Paoli Dam are brilliant in the central roles. Their romantic sequences provide a welcome change to the otherwise gritty narrative. The portion of the film shot at Shantiniketan weaves in the milieu brilliantly. Soumitro Chattopaadhyaay, Santu Mukherjee, Moushumi Saha, Bratya Basu, Anandi Ghosh, Rudranil Ghosh & Santilal Mukhopadhyay chip in with wonderful cameos. The film also gives a nod to the three masters of Bengal Cinema – Satyajit and Mrinal in the opening using archival footage from Pratidwandwi and Calcutta 71, and Ritwik towards the end invoking Subarnorekha. Rating: 4.2 out of 5
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Kaalbela (Bengali, 2009)
Posted: April 27, 2021 in 100 remarkable Bengali films, 100 remarkable Indian films, Bangla 2001-2010, Bengali films, Gautam Ghose, Paoli Dam, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Samaresh Mazumdar, social commentary, Soumitro ChattopadhyayKaalbela is a 2009 political film directed by Gautam Ghose. It was based on a famous novel by Samaresh Mazumdar. The film tells the story of a youth Animesh who comes from a small town Jalpaiguri to Kolkata for higher education and gets involved in the political milieu of the City. Kolkata was in the grip of a radical left movement in the Seventies and many educated youth were influenced by it and joined the struggle driven by idealism. The extreme form of this came to be known as Naxalism, the name after a place Naxalbari in North Bengal where it all started and spread across other parts of Bengal and other states.
The film effectively captures the way several promising youths of Bengal got caught in revolutionary activities with the dream of building a just and equitable society. Along the way the movement lost steam mainly due to lack of honest leadership. The so called leaders in reality turned to self-serving individuals. Mrinal Sen had made a film PADATIK that too questioned the direction the movement took but KAALBELA showcases the story of these youths in a broader canvas and provide a ringside view of the political uprising. Parambrata Chattopaadhyaay and Paoli Dam are brilliant in the central roles. Their romantic sequences provide a welcome change to the otherwise gritty narrative. The portion of the film shot at Shantiniketan weaves in the milieu brilliantly. Soumitro Chattopaadhyaay, Santu Mukherjee, Moushumi Saha, Bratya Basu, Anandi Ghosh, Rudranil Ghosh & Santilal Mukhopadhyay chip in with wonderful cameos.
The film also gives a nod to the three masters of Bengal Cinema – Satyajit and Mrinal in the opening using archival footage from Pratidwandwi and Calcutta 71, and Ritwik towards the end invoking Subarnorekha.
Rating: 4.2 out of 5