Review: Chokher Bali (2003)
Starring Prasenjit Chatterjee, Aiswarya Rai and Raima Sen. Directed by Rituparno Ghosh. Language: Bengali.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Chocker Bali was a highly expected film from one of the best directors in contemporary Bengali cinema, Rituparno Ghosh. It was based on a novel by Rabindranath Tagore. I finally got to see the film today and came away with mixed feelings.
Chocker Bali is set in the early twentieth century Bengal, a time of tremendous social upheaval. Ancient customs were questioned, the fight against the British rule was gaining momentum, taboo subjects were broached with an audacious diligence. Tagore wrote this novel that had the disintegration of Bengal as its backdrop and focussed on four primary characters and, as the tagline of the film suggests, their "passion plays".
The film revolves around Binodini(Aishwarya Rai), a young widow who refuses to accept the fate of widows. Mahendra (Prasenjit Chatterjee), a rich doctor babu is newly married to Ashalata (Raima Sen) and quickly finds out that his wife is not in the intellectual level that he is looking for. He is of the type who writes Shelleyesque poems to express his love of his newly wedded wife. Ashalata is a naive girl who doesn't understand english. Mahendra's younger brother, Behari (Tota Roy Chowdhry) is an idealist upper class youngster who is into social reform and other nobler pursuits. Mahendra is quickly drawn towards the beautiful Binodini who can speak english and startles the men folk by mentioning that she is interested in listening to Bipin Chandra Pal. Soon, Mahendra and Binodini begin a passionate affair that quickly affects Ashalata and the household. Taboos are broken but the eternal conflict between the emotional guilt and physical passion leads to complex situations. I haven't read the novel, but from the movie, it looks like the novel would be a good read.
The novel has a lot of sub-texts: the independence movement, women's liberation, Behari's love for his sister-in-law who was supposed to be his initially, partition of Bengal, to name a few. Fitting all of this into a coherent screenplay itself should have been an arduous task and Rituparno Ghosh barely passes muster. There are extended passages with voice-overs, complete readings of letters and slides between scenes to move the story along. If one wasn't aware that the film was based on a novel, he might be put off by these techniques. I believe that the screenplay should not try to cover all that the novel covered, but be razor sharp in its focus on the main theme. Rituparno Ghosh doesn't believe that, apparently, and we end up with fleeting references to the sub-texts that distract us from the story. In fact, the movie ends with a note that Bengal was partitioned soon after, that doesn't make any sense within the context of the movie. This kind of incoherency sharply bogs the film down.
The film is well crafted and directed. The film is shot in a golden light background that gives it a period feel. The film is visually appealing and the art direction is done with an eye for detail. The house looks rich, with a few huge paintings hanging on the walls. I even identified a couple of Rembrandt nudes, including the famous "Bathsheba at Her Bath". The actors don't bring in a lot to the table, except for Raima Sen. As the loyal wife who finds her husband cheating on her, Raima Sen easily overshadows Aishwarya Rai. Aishwarya Rai coasts on her role as Binodini focussing more on her looks than on her histrionics. She does little justice to her role. But for the market value, I don't see why Rituparno Ghosh needed to have Aishwarya Rai do this role, since Ghosh's previous films had powerful performances by their heroines. Debasree Roy and Aparna Sen in Unishe April or Indrani Halder in Dahan or Kiron Kher in a magnificent performance in Bariwali - All Rituparno Ghosh films, all of them with very powerful portrayals. Hence, I was disappointed with the way Aishwarya Rai had portrayed the complex character of Binodini.
Being an adaptation of a Tagore work, the film draws comparisons with Ghare Bhaire and Charulatha, both by Satyajit Ray. Ghare Bhaire has a similar theme of a spouse drawn into an affair with another person and their emotional struggles. Ghare Bhaire was very verbose as well. There were not as many voice overs as in Chokher Bali, but had longer conversations. Ghare Bhaire also had good performances, especially from Sowmitra Chatterjee. Chokher Bali has a much better visual flow than the Ray's film, but is a much poorer adaptation from a novel than Ghare Bhaire. Chokher Bali has a picnic scene with the two women on a swing, much like the momentous scene from Charulatha, but lacking the impact of the latter. For those who don't know about this swing scene, I would just say that this particular scene from Charulatha with its unique style is one of the most memorable scenes on screen.
Chokher Bali has the stamp of a director who is a master of his art, but has little else to support its grandeur.
- Balaji Srinivasan. http://balaji.yi.org/blog/
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