Chokher Bali (2003)

Director:

Rituparno Ghosh

Writers:

Rituparno Ghosh (screenplay)
Rabindranath Tagore (novel)

Release Date:

23 August 2006 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Mahendra is a doctor circa British rule in India, who lives a comfortable life in a city in Bengal (which is now known as Bangla Desh)...

Plot Keywords:

Doctor | Beautiful Woman | Based On Novel

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Aishwarya Rai	...	Binodini
Prasenjit Chatterjee	...	Mahendra
Raima Sen	...	Ashalata
Lily Chakravarty	...	Rajlakshmi, Mahendra's mother (as Lilly Chakraborty)
Tota Roy Chowdhury	...	Behari
Sonali Chakrabarti
Sudeshna Roy
Mousumi Saha
Suchita Ray Chaudhury
Zarin Chowdhury
Abhishek Bose
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bharati Devi	...	Dying woman at varanasi

Also Known As:

Choker Bali: A Passion Play (International: English title)
Sand in the Eye (India: English title)

Runtime:

167 min | Germany:120 min (DVD) | Switzerland:120 min (Locarno Film Festival) | Germany:145 min (Bollywood Festival Stuttgart)

Country:

India

Language:

Bengali

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Calcutta, West Bengal, India

Company:

Shree Venkatesh Films

Trivia:

Though she is one of the highest paid actresses, Aishwarya Rai did this film for free.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Binodini comes to Kolkata before the Ambubachi festival, which falls in the month of June. But while talking to Behari in the picnic scene she says that she has been here since Shravana (mid July to mid August).

Movie Connections:

Version of Chokher Bali (1938)

Very slow-paced; Aishwarya miscast

First, I would like to admit that Chokher Bali was not my cup of tea. This movie was evidently not targeted toward the masses. It's the type that critics would enjoy watching. The hype and publicity were quite misleading.

I was expecting something very dramatic like Devdas. Understanding that the story and time-period demand it, I found the movie extremely slow-paced.

I'm a die-hard Aishwarya fan, and I regret to say that I thought she was miscast. The role of Chokher Bali required an actress who can portray herself as subversive, not innocent and naive. Everyone else gave a good performance. Tagore's depiction of the human condition does come across the celluloid to give the movie an interesting theme.