|
|
Tolly
Film Review - Chokher Bali
|
| |
 |
Chokher
Bali : The main theme is based on the pre-independence
era of early 20th century Bengal. The beautiful Binodini,
widowed after only a year of marriage, meets up again
with Mahendra and Behari, two men to whom she had once
been promised. She becomes the mistress of Mahendra, who
is married to the naive Ashalata, but feels close to Behari
who is committed to the battle for national independence.
The two women become great friends, but Binodini's presence
sparks a sensual and passionate conflict amongst the young
people.
|
|
The
film is directed by Rituparna Ghosh and produced by Shree Venkatesh
Films. The main story of the film is an adoption of famed Indian
writer Rabindranath Tagore's "Binodini". It's the
story of a widow in early 1900s Bengal, set against the backdrop
of political resistance against the occupying British.
In 1902, Binodini's (Aishwarya Rai) hand in marriage is given
to two medical students from Kolkata, the fun-loving Mahendra
(Prosenjit Chatterjee) and the scholarly Bihari (Tota Raychaudhuri).
Neither accepts the offer, and Binodini marries a local resident
who then dies.
Bihari gets engaged to Ashalata (Raima Sen), but instead Mahendra
ends up marrying her. The newly-widowed Binodini then arrives
at the latter's house to become a companion to his bossy mother,
Rajlakshmi (Lily Chakrabarti). There she meets Mahendra and
Bihari (who visits frequently) as well as Ashalata. The highly
educated Binodini becomes friends with the naive and old-fashioned
former and begins to realize the lifestyle she lost when Mahendra
rejected her.
|
The
basis of first portion of the movie is Binodini attempts
to divide and conquer the household, while maintaining
the role of a dutiful widow. Eventually the liberal Mahendra
falls in love with Binodini, and causes the shocked Ashalata
to leave for Benares.
Near about the half of the film, Binodini makes a shocking
move that throws the entire household into turmoil. This
forms the basis of the second half as well as the rather
disappointing climax. |
 |
|
Other
supporting characters of this film are Sonali Chakraborty, Sudeshna
Ray, Mousumi Saha, Shuchita Raychaudhuri, Zarin Chaudhuri, Abhishek
Bose etc.
Performance-wise, Aishwariya Rai is in great form with a wonderfully
graceful and subtle enactment of Binodini's character. The viewer
is never quite sure of the latter's motives, a testamount to
Rai's acting. Among supporting actors, Lili Chakrabarti and
Raima Sen lead the roost with great performances, followed by
a so-so performance by Prosenjit Chatterjee as the westernized
Mahendra. However, Tota Raychaudhuri is not believable as the
cartoonish Behari. The selection of characters might be more
realistic or accurate regarding to the original novel of Tagore.
|
 |
At
over three hours, Ghosh attempts to portray Binodini's
situation as a reflection of the political climate. In
this regard, he fails, as the two do not mesh particularly
well. The movie moves at an extremely slow pace, which
will test a viewer's patience. Also, the initial reels
are quite overloaded with information, and need to be
simplified. Viewers may also find some of the more minute
details that are packed into the film quite confusing,
and that needs to be corrected as well.
|
|
On
the whole, 'Chokher Bali' will have a tough going - largely
reliant upon dialogue, the film drags the patience of the audiences
quite a lot. Many audiences may find it quite boring. Domestically,
the film might achieve a fair amount of success in the box office.
|
|
|
Previous
|
|
|
