Umbertha (Marathi, 1982)

The difficulty of an educated modern woman finding a voice and her calling in life has not been explored in Indian films that extensively. Also the real picture of how many of the rehabilitation centers (for women in this film) in actuality runs as shady businesses for the powerful has been a rare subject in the cinema. These two-fold concerns makes Jabbar Patel’s 1982 Marathi language film UMBARTHA (The Doorstep) a distinguishing work embellished by the performance of the brilliant Smita Patil in the central role.

The film also highlights how the lofty idealism of those who set out to do good in this world gets shattered by the destructive elements that exists within the system. False allegations and victimization dogs such individuals every step of the way. Eventually they affect the dreams of the determined agents of change and leave them disillusioned. Through the protagonist Sulabha (Smita P) a city bred social worker who leaves her family temporarily and becomes the superintendent of a reformatory home at a rural area aided by her degree from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, the director JP explores several sensitive issues facing women in our society and even taboo topics for those day such as lesbianism. The director contrasts how the exploited women who faced oppression in the outside world themselves turn into being oppressors for their own kind within the rehab for immoral behavior such as when two of them were caught indulging in a carnal act.

There were a few scenes that seemed exaggerated to me. I couldn’t fathom how one mentally unstable woman could climb up to the top of a big building and positioned herself perilously on the roof (like Dharmendra in Sholay) with potential risk of the fall turning lethal when her rescuers were shown using a ladder to climb up to reach that same spot. The film directed by Jabbar Patel was based on a story ‘Beghar’ by Shanta Samil. It won the award for the Best Marathi film at the National awards that year. Smita Patil delivers a brilliant performance. The supporting cast includes Girish Karnad, Sulabha Deshpande, and others.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Khancha (Bengali, 2013)

Midway in the film there’s a scene in KHANCHA (Bengali for Cage) where Rituparno Sengupta looks out of her window from her apartment in a multistoried building. She discovers that her stalker and womanizer boss (Arijit Dutta) is calling out to her from his stately car from the ground below. This particular sequence and moment in the film draws a parallel between her life, an urban corporate woman, and the subaltern woman (Parno Mitra) whom she has been sheltering in her house from a trio of rogues who are part of a gang of woman traffickers. This moment in the 2013 made film is a telling commentary about the true plight of women in our modern society irrespective of the rural and urban divide. In 2023 we are now discussing and ensuring passage of the Women Reservation Bill in our parliament, an attestation that the fairer sex have remained behind in a patriarchal society.

Interestingly, I find that some Bengali filmmakers are making films of a kind of genre that may be loosely categorized as ‘social thrillers.’ They are made in a thriller format, but they aren’t so. They are more of an exploration of societal issues and a commentary on them. Think of Mrinal Sen’s Ek Din Pratidin & Ek Din Achanak, and this film by Raja Sen, and you would probably agree with such a labelling about these films.

Very subtly through the character of the corporate working woman, the director has brilliantly captured the struggles and biases the modern woman has to face and live up with on a daily basis. She may break down often looking for help and comfort when confronted with fear inducing incidents as shown in the film. What many may not notice is the brilliant contrast shown in an unstated way – that the woman who has been wronged by society which has snatched away her daughter from her and cast aspersions on her morals has the courage to come to the rescue of a distressed woman who is a stranger to her. In a world where fellow feeling is generally on the ebb, how far should an individual go for their moral duty for a perfect stranger when it involves a threat towards their life? Wouldn’t it be easier and safer to turn a blind eye towards the evil that breeds in our society?

I was pleasantly surprised by this film. When I looked up the web for reviews on this film, I found that the critic of TOI has given it a poor rating of 2.5/5. Yes, the film based on a story by Prafulla Roy is not without its weaknesses. For instance, who provided the three rogues with a police uniform when they stormed the house of the corporate lady?
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There’s also a romantic subtext in this film on women trafficking and molestation. Ritwik Chakrabarty as a reporter lending support to Rituparna is brilliant as usual. Overall, an absorbing and meaningful film that deserves a watch.

Rating: 4.1 out of 5

Paras Pathar (The Philosopher’s stone, Bengali, 1958)

The hallmark of a great director is his ability to capture societal trends and imbue his works with his personal thoughts. That Indians are crazy for jewelry especially gold is known to all. At least in two of his films viz., ‘Paras Pathar’ & ‘Monihara’, Satyajit Ray uses this obsession as a leitmotif and used it to tell a story rich in societal commentary, the first one aided by a ‘fantasy’ narrative and the latter using the “horror” route based on a story by Rabindranath Tagore.

A number of remarkable films have been made in Bengal using the elements of ‘fantasy.’ One can recall Mrinal Sen’s ‘Ichchapuran’ based on a Tagore story, Anik Dutta’s ‘Aschorjo Prodip’ & ‘Asiete Asiona’ among others. These films clubbed with ‘Paras Pathar’ and ‘Thana Theke Aschei’ have pushed the envelope for Bengali cinema in their depiction of the unreal becoming the central device to communicate a social message/commentary.

‘Paras Pathar’ (1958) was the third film made by Ray after two serious films in his career – ‘Pather Panchali’ & ‘Aparajito.’ It’s a film unlike any that Ray has directed ever before or since. Billed as a comedy, it’s Chaplinesque in its treatment of pathos. It also brilliantly captures the aspirations lurking beneath the mundane existence of the middle-class office going Bengali and also issues a pearl of cautionary wisdom along the lines of the Gandhian philosophy of wealth accruing out of a lack of labor having disastrous consequences. Tulsi Chakraborty, the main protagonist is brilliant in a role of a lifetime.

Some of the initial sequences of the film exquisitely capture the milieu of the 50s and its life in the ‘office para.’ (business area) Watch the sequence where Tulsi C reveals the formula to the greedy jeweler out to make money and observe how humor can be cerebral and needn’t always be loud or conveyed using funny mannerisms.

The influence of De Sica’s ‘Bicycle Thieves’ on Ray and on the making of his debut film ‘Pather Panchali’ is well-documented. There’s also a likelihood that De Sica’s fantasy-laden ‘Miracle in Milan’ (1951) could have inspired Ray to make his film ‘Paras Pathar’.  ‘Paras Pathar’ was based on a story by the scientist Rajsekhar Basu who wrote under the pseudonym Parashuram.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Nobel Chor (Bengali, 2011)

The film ‘Nobel Chor’ has an interesting fictionalized take on contemporary social issues based on a real life incident. The incident is the theft of the medal awarded to India’s sole Nobel Prize winner for literature, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. While unquestionably the basic premise of the film is weak, it nonetheless becomes an effective vehicle for a strong societal commentary. In retrospect, one feels that a surreal treatment of the film could have worked better, much like the Bhanu Bandopadhyay film of yesteryear ‘Asite Asiona’.

The probability of an innocent country bumpkin like Bhanu (played by Mithun with brilliance) finding a stolen Nobel medal in his field is as likely as finding God in our mortal existence. The prevalent rural urban values have been etched beautifully through a motley of character and the manner in which they hold in reverance Bengal’s biggest icon, Rabindranath Tagore. Soumitro Chattopadhyay, Rupa Ganguly, Saswato Chattopadhyay, Arindam Sil, Harsh Chaya and Sudipta Chakrabarty perform credibly in their cameos.The 2011 film was directed by Suman Ghosh.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Taxi Driver (USA, 1976)

Martin Scorcese’s ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976) has acquired a cult status over the last four decades or so. Along with Sidney Lumet’s ‘Dog Day Afternoon’, it was one of those urban angst films that rocked America in the seventies. Where angst is involved, can violence be far away? Yes, Travis Bickle, the protagonist, an ex-Vietnam War veteran, who now drives a Taxi in New York, can be described as someone seething with rage as to where American society is headed.

His job allows Travis to criss-cross the streets of the Big Apple daily. That opens up his eyes, and for a while, he remains a mute witness to the burgeoning pimps and dregs of society that seem to be everywhere in New York. He falls in love with a lady who is presently working on a campaign for a Presidential candidate. The romance doesn’t last long. When Bickle, in his naivety, takes her to a film, that turns out to be a ‘porn ‘, the relationship gets nixed by the lady. Spurned in love and a growing anger, Travis decides to kill the Presidential candidate. In one of his interviews, Ingmar Bergman said that “Martin Scorcese raises violence to the level of an art”. The film ‘Taxi Driver’ is an attestation to this statement of Bergman. The concluding sequence is bound to leave you wondering whether the incident is real or a surreal one, reminiscent of the ending of Antonioni’s Blow Up, or Bunnel’s Belle De Jour. Robert De Niro, arguably the greatest living actor, infuses his character with the right degree of controlled fury that the role demands, and delivers one of his best performances. For preparation of this role, De Niro worked as a cabbie in New York for a while.

I read somewhere that Marty was inspired to make “Taxi Driver” after watching Satyajit Ray ‘s “Abhijan”. I have watched both the films and feel that they are as different as chalk and cheese. The only common factor between them is that the protagonist in both is an angst-ridden cabby.

This is one of the greatest psychological thrillers of all times.

Rating: 4.4 out of 5

Urojahaj (The flight, Bengali, 2018)

Probably the most acclaimed Indian filmmaker internationally after Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen & Adoor Gopalakrishnan is Buddhadeb Dasgupta. Beginning his career with hard-hitting social and political films in the late seventies, he changed track in his middle phase and delved into a kind of deeply personal cinema, influenced by his favorite directors that includes Bunnel, Tarkovsky and Angelopolous. The Bengali film ‘Urojahaj’ (The flight, 2018) falls into the later category, and this particular film is his swansong before he passed away last year.
In his last several works, ever since CHARACHAR, he has been fixated on blending his cinema with a mix of dreams, fantasy, surrealism, other worldly characters and social realism. The endeavor has resulted in a kind of cinema that has never been attempted ever in Indian cinema. While some pundits are dismissive of these works, yet the distinctive style of the director shines through in all of them.
UROJAHAJ deals with the longing of a simple car mechanic to fly to different places in an aircraft along with his family. He lives in a rural district of West Bengal. One day, quite by chance, he discovers the remains of a World War 2 fighter plane, near his village. In his ignorance, he dreams of reviving the old aircraft, and give wings to his dream of flying. The film traces how even the simple dreams of the have-nots can turn into his nightmare in modern society…Just an 80 minute film that should appeal to most discerning filmbuffs. It is about dreams, aspiration and politics of the state that claim ownership on the resources that ought to be available to every citizen.

Rating: 4.1 out of 5

The ‘Impending Death’ Trilogy

The demise of Pinaki Chaudhuri, a Bengali filmmaker yesterday, made me look up one of his films on Youtube. I found one titled “Arohan” made in 2010 featuring the legendary Soumitro Chattopadhyay, Sandhya Roy, Rituparna Sengupta and others.

Watching this film reminded me of two other Bengali films made in the recent past that could loosely form a trilogy of sorts – the theme revolving around impending death among the elderly and the associated Hindu ritualistic tradition and their observance. The other two films are Raja Sen’s Attiyosajan & Suman Ghosh’s Peace Haven.

The trilogy has another common factor – in all the three films, the central protagonist is played by Soumitro Chattopadhyay. I wonder whether any other actor could have played these roles with such elan in film after film. With his passing, an era has truly ended.

Critics of Bengali cinema who are dismissive of it after the demise of a few legendary directors need to view some of these films, to discover that all is not lost, and that independent Bengali cinema still produces works that popular mainstream Indian films seem oblivious of the presence of such aspects of our lives. Some of these films, like Arohan, also touches upon “Hindu beliefs” and can educate the ‘willing’ ignorant a thing or two about the religion.

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Oka Orie Katha (The Outsiders, Telugu, 1977)

I have watched many a film of the veteran filmmaker Mrinal Sen. The kind of experimentation that imbues his body of work remains matchless till date in the history of Indian cinema. I also noticed that most of his films are peopled with a few characters, mostly a duo or a triad relationship based narrative. Think Neel Akaser Neechey, Baisey Shravan, Bhuvan Shome, Ichapuran, Genesis, Antareen & Amar Bhuvan, and you would probably concur with me. Add Oka Orie Katha to this list.

Mrinal Sen directed this pan Indian Telugu language film ‘Oka Orie Katha’ based on a story by Munshi Premchand titled ‘Kafan’ in 1977. As with a Mrinal Sen film, conformity with the original storyline is never assured. MS transported the story based on village life in the Hindi heartland to the rural backdrop in Telangana. Not knowing a single word of the language in which he had decided to make his film owing to the demand of the producer doesn’t deter a filmmaker like Mrinal Sen to take on the challenge and craft a masterpiece. Satyajit Ray is on record to have said that with this film Mrinal makes him jealous and has surpassed us all, so greatly Oka Orie Katha did impress him.

OOK requires multiple viewings and reading to appreciate its thematic novelty. The central characters in the film are an idle father and son who refuses to work hard because the industrious working class only contribute to making the landlord and the affluent richer. They while away their day sleeping, occasionally working or stealing to sustain themselves and drink merrily. They refuse to work hard to widen the social gap. Another instance of a film with a similar thoughtful meditation on societal imbalance and protagonist/antagonist is unheard of in World Cinema.

The contemporaneity of the film can be adduced to the fact that as per recent statistical data, one percent Indian hold seventy percent wealth of the nation. The depiction of rural life captures the hardship and the lighter moments of the subaltern characters. The debasement of the human with lucre whichever strata he comes from is complete in a Mrinalian world. Vasudeva Rao, Narayana Rao and Mamata Shankar enact the principal roles.

Rating: 4.3 out of 5

Aarakshan (Hindi, 2011)

Yesterday I saw this film on TV several years after its release. The title of the film and the stellar cast intrigued me. And a film that speaks of a controversial subject like reservation certainly carries an attractive pull on the audience. Satyajit Ray once told his filmmaker son Sandip Ray that a film is made on the editing table. However, filmmakers like Prakash Jha, the director of the film who had once made the award winning film Damul, doesn’t seem to believe it to be so. That’s why even with a strong subject the film meanders with unnecessary dramatic elements and song and dances in this tale of a pro-poor upright popular Principal who becomes the target of evil politicians and a section of his fraternity married to commerce. There’s also another big problem with the film. When you make a political film such as this, the director ought to make a directorial statement. For example, filmmaker like Mrinal Sen who made political films like Padatik (1974) questioned the direction the left political movement was taking. But Prakash Jha doesn’t make any assertion in his work about the pros and cons of reservation, the subject of his film. He presents the hardship the dalits face to get decent education, but is silent about the other side – the meritorious from the not so well off general category who face discrimination and injustices because of reservation. The cast includes Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Manoj Bajpayee, Saurabh Shukla and others.
Rating: 2.8 out of 5

L’Avventura (Italian, 1960)

The year 1960 saw two great Italian directors, Fellini and Antonioni, each make a film on protagonists on the search for sensual pleasures and bereft of any moral compass. The films were ‘La Dolce Vita’ by Fellini and ‘L’Avventura’ by Antonioni. Both these films are now hailed as masterpieces of World Cinema.

The two films are quite different in terms of the way they unfold. The remarkable aspect of this film by Antonioni is that nothing really happens in the movie. Outwardly there is a pretence of a story about a character who disappears from an Island while she was on a pleasure trip with her friends somewhere in Sicily. The film thereafter charts the lives of the lover and friend of the disappearing person. In doing so, it emerges as a brilliant portrayal of an Italian society in the late fifties in the throes of an existential crisis.

Two decades later Mrinal Sen made a similarly themed film EK DIN PRATIDIN about the rumblings in a family when a woman who is a bread-winner disappears for a night.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5