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10 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Revival of burnt out passions or de-ja vu?, 5 November 2004
Author: pablo16 from Kolkata, India

This can be categorized as another Ray short-of-a-full-length venture! The title could not be more apt, as COWARD is written all over the young writer(Soumitra Chatterjee)- especially after we are told of the past sequence. Some years ago, Amitabh had refused to marry lover Karuna in haste. He needed 'time' to think it over, the city was big, he was starting to work, he wasn't even established properly- how could he marry Karuna suddenly?

Many years later, his car breaks down and he is given shelter for the evening in Bimal Gupta's house- a successful tea planter somewhere in Darjeeling. The tea-planter is lonely in that part of the world with no neighbors nearby, hence he talks garrulously about his takes on life. Amitabha is now an established screen-writer who talks less but is astounded to meet Bimal's wife- Karuna.

A breakthrough performance by Madhabi Mukherjee, this is a wonderful movie which will not fail to appeal anyone.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
an unexpected reunion revives a young man's desire, 11 September 2007
Author: Senyales from Fraggle Rock

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Satyajit Ray's 'Kapurush' is a film that is set one night till the next. A writer Amitabha Roy (Soumitra Chatterjee) is waiting for his train but that's a very long wait. He meets a gentleman, Bimal Gupta (Haradhan Bannerjee), who offers him an invitation to spend the night at his place instead of waiting in the station all night. After arrival at Gupta's residence, Roy is surprised to see Mrs. Gupta. She happens to be his ex-lover.

Ray tells the story in a very concise way. It is very much a character centred piece. Chatterjee gives a brilliantly underplayed performance as the younger lover and the desperate man hoping to win back his one time girlfriend. Madhabi Mukherjee does very well as she keeps her emotions balanced and Haradhan Bannerjee is good too.

I was surprised to see that it was such a short feature film. The plot is quite simple, as it proceeds with Roy remembering the old days with Karuna, his rejection of her and now he wants her back. He's desperate to believe that Karuna is unhappy and that she will come back to him. The ending is beautifully shot and it makes one wonder whether she actually came to the station. A great movie for a rainy day.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
a Coward faces the veil of the temple of love, 28 May 2008
7/10
Author: fuzon from London, England

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Small, short, gripping film about a man who meets by accident the woman he loved but allowed circumstance to dissuade him from marrying. She now has a boorish older husband, and refuses to engage with him in the old way. The best moments are the shots of the woman's turned, scarfed head - she is unavailable now - "it will not be revealed" - and her headscarf becomes an eloquent example of all the veils the coward has to face, one he has not had the gumption to walk into love's temple. The performances are excellent, with frequent close-ups delineating the suffering of the protagonist and, in the flashbacks, the woman. The revelation of the husband's acquiescence to social conservatism, the caste system and subsistence on alcohol as a way of getting through life is slyly shocking. Many meanings of the word coward are explored, and each of the three characters might be said to show some cowardice.

The feel is pretty gritty and realistic, and reminiscent of a 1960s BBC Wednesday Play.

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The most fascinating quality about Kapurush is its brevity..., 7 May 2009
10/10
Author: Soujatya Dasgupta from United States

The most fascinating quality about Kapurush is its brevity – the brevity of the film runtime (74 mins), its terseness in dialogues and the concision in expressions delivered by the protagonists of this film. It is a remarkable craft.

It's hard to imagine for any film maker of international repute to deal with a subject like Kapurush and tackle in-depth human emotions and consciousness, so succinctly and precisely, in just about 74 minutes. Some filmmakers would take alteast the normal 120-140 minutes length to be able to deal with a subject like Kapurush in order to give a wholesome cinematic form. Satyajit Ray took just 74 times to tell a story revolving around 3 main characters, depicting their psyche and intense mental turmoil – all unspoken but using subtle eye movements and small body gestures. The film is the finest example of optimal usage of speech, gesture, expression and length. The film highlights Ray's prowess in the economy of speech and cinematic resources. Kapurush inevitably epitomizes Ray's mastery and control over every aspects of film-making.

The ending of the film is undoubtedly the most exciting part - as with many of Ray's films, it leaves the audience to draw several conclusions, and as a result makes you think. And that's what makes Ray's films so unique – they are all subtle, calm and composed films – but after you have seen them, they bore a deep imprint on your mind and makes you think. Kapurush is one of them.

Unfortunately, Kapurush is a highly underrated film, perhaps because Ray is impeccable and had consistently produced masterpieces. As a result of this, a film like Kapurush got overshadowed. For any other world-class film-maker of today, it would have been a jewel in his or her oeuvre. Well, as I always say – Satyajit Ray is the God of Cinemas....period.

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