2 New Bengali Movies of Varied Emotions

Amidst watching the recent viral OTT shows, such as The Family Man and Delhi Crime, I also managed to catch a few movies. The recent Bengali films released are mainly Dramas, dealing with varied emotions. I have watched a few of those and will write about the ones I liked, which are definitely worth watching.

1. Grihapravesh: Titli is a housewife who lives with her in-laws and awaits the return of her estranged husband. She decides to open a homestay in her huge house. And then Megh arrives, her first guest, who slowly but surely breaks all the boundaries that she had built for so many years around her, of trust and dependability. 

Directed by music director-turned-director Indradeep Dasgupta, this movie runs like a slow and steady Raaga, enjoyed with calm and patience. The transformation of Titli's character from someone who has cocooned herself and her emotions to a free-spirited butterfly, ready to take its first flight with hope, is beautifully portrayed in the film. Her choice of involving herself in her duty towards her ageing in-laws and of maintaining the household, to conceal her emotional outbursts of rejection from her husband and intense pain, is shown with so much maturity. When she finally reinvents herself through Megh and starts to build a nest of hope, enthusiastically, the final blow that comes in her life collapses her once again. 

Grihapravesh belongs to Subhashree Ganguly. The way the actor has evolved in recent years should serve as a lesson for all newcomers. The intense moments of Titli's loneliness and the suppression of her emotions - everything has been portrayed with such honesty by the actor. Kaushik Ganguly shines in the movie's final moments. Although the dialogues and screenplay could have been improved, I liked the use of evenings and nights as the major backdrop throughout the film, with days shown sparsely, mostly when Megh and Titli come together on screen, as if playing a metaphor for Titli's state of mind. 

2. Putulnacher Itikatha: Adapted from Manik Bandopadhyay's novel, one of Bengali literature's most cherished treasures, this film, directed by Suman Mukhopadhyay, has won several prestigious awards.

Shashi is a doctor who returns to his village with the intention of pursuing further studies abroad. His father, a wealthy moneylender, opposes this idea and wants him to settle as a village doctor. The movie revolves around Shashi and the various characters that come into his life.

The film's shocking beginning leaves a mark on the casual approach to death- a charred man standing amidst a huge banyan tree, struck by lightning and dead. That he is dead can only be realised once one takes a close look. It serves as a metaphor for the decaying state of village life, which appears to be alive but is dying underneath, burdened with illiteracy and superstition. 

Shashi's character also represents the same slow decay, once a newly passed medical practitioner with ambition in his eyes, of moving away from village life for better prospects, as his life gradually deteriorates into a hopeless one, as though life has betrayed him and projected him as a failed son, lover and doctor. His trajectory is introduced in a single line by Pandit Mosai, who predicts that he wouldn't be able to leave the village, as he had a heart.

His relationship with Kusum stands alone as an epiphany of hide and seek, all throughout. While initially, Kusum invests in him, he enjoys her advances but still rejects her, leaving her heartbroken. When, in the end, he realises that perhaps only she had his best interest at heart, and advances towards her, it is too late, and he is abandoned by her. 

Putulnacher Itikatha is a lyrical representation of the novel. Each character becomes prominent through their words, actions, and silence. Even the dead characters- the charred body of Moti's father, Haru and the dead boy Bhuto, for whose death, Shashi keeps on blaming himself- turn a tree into a symbol of death, quite contrary to the idea of a tree being the source of life. So, throughout the film, every character becomes important and meaningful. 

Abir Chatterji, as Shashi, perfectly portrays the character's various nuances. He brings out Shashi's initial balanced persona and its deterioration to desperation impeccably. One of the most poignant scenes is when he demands his dues from Bhuto's father, as the latter is leaving the village. He almost starts a fight; his sudden rudeness, although it appears to be a simple demand for money, is actually a manifestation of his frustration at being unable to leave the village, unlike Haru's father, who, despite being illiterate, had gathered the courage to do so. Jaya Ahsan- what a brilliant actress she is. Every part of her body moves and owns the character she plays. She embodies Kusum with her sensuality and child-like mischiefs, which she brings out only in front of her Chotobabu. In a small role, Parambrata Chattopadhyay shines, and so does Surangana Bandopadhyay.

The film features various simple yet meaningful details. I can write pages on that. Overall, I can say that, out of all the Bengali films I have watched this year, Putulnacher Itikatha has been the best experience so far. Kudos to Suman Mukhopadhyay for bringing us such a beautifully captured representation of the novel.