A Grain Of Sand: Chokher Bali

"Chokher Bali" is a recent Rituparno Ghosh 's movie adaptation of Tagore's short story. It is a period piece set in undivided Bengal (1902-1905).The subtext "Passion Play" is supposedly the main thread where some complex emotional turmoils are blended together into a single tapestry. Its a tough screenplay to get right and so far the movie seems to do good that way. The movie has this golden tinged filter which gives you that period movie aura.

The story revolves around 5 main characters namely the protoganist Mahendra(Prasenjit), his mother Rajlakshmi,Mahedra's wife Ashalata(Raima Sen), Mahendra's brother Behari and finally the supremely self-willed Binodini(Aishwarya Rai). The movie does injustice to the independence movement part of the play but thats okay.Tagore chose a tumultous time in the Indian history as the background which makes it tough to interpret the subtexts properly.Assumption here is either you read the play or watched the adaptation.

My first response (in the words stolen from Tagore himself) was :

"I am feeling listlessly comfortable and delightfully irresponsible." -Glimpses Of Bengal

Here is the metaphor that I perceived.That of the modern impulsive Mahendra being the manifestation of educated India at the time, Ashalata signifying the teeming simple minded millions in rural India,Mahendra's brother emphasizing the aspects of East Bengal( now Bangladesh!) and Mahendra's mom representing the India before the British Era.That finally leaves Binodini to be face of the british empire and its ambitions. I know this sounds so baseless and random but nevertheless I have fun toying with this idea.Watch it and give it a try. Due Apologies to our "dispenser of wisdom in 'Modern' India" :-)