Change Your Image
antarapanda
Reviews
Mausam (1975)
A season's beginning or end?!
One look at the movie poster and my mind was made up! Two of my favourite actors, Sanjeev Kumar and the very sexy Sharmila Tagore, sure promise a few hours of good cinema.
Mausam (season) though decades old, stills remains an attractive movie owing to Gulzar's candid story telling. While the plot itself is not what I would rave about, its the way Gulzar and his actors have handled the story, that glues you to the expected end. Amarnath Gill (Sanjeev Kumar) guilty of a failed relationship with a small town vaid's (local village doctor) daughter Chanda (Sharmila Tagore) and incidentally, twenty odd years later stumbles upon the remnants of Chanda's life, in an off-season vacation in Darjeeling. Filled with remorse and regret, Amarnath embarks on a journey to seek what remains of his lost love, Chanda's daughter Kajli (also Sharmila).
Of the several paths that this story could walk down, the choice of simplicity and bare truth exposed in the character s feelings makes the movie so convincing! Without actually dwelling on the notes of sympathy (for Kajli's life as a prostitute), or revenge / hatred (for Kajli towards Amarnath, the lover who failed her mother) or self-loathing (for Amarnath who realizes the cost of his erroneous choices in life), the movie paces on, leaving it for its viewers to experience this basket of emotions.
Some rather nice tracks, befitting its generation, accompanies this movie. Take those hours off and grab yourself a copy of this film.
Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa (1998)
An insight into peoples' lives...
This much acclaimed film is a narrate of Sujata Chatterji's (Jaya Bhaduri) discovery of her son's (Brati Chatterji played by Joy Sengupta) life. Made in the backdrop of the Naxalite uprising in Bengal's Naxalbari, the film mostly deals with Sujata's quest for understanding her deceased son's ideologies and outlook to life. Starting off with a mere corpse number '1084' (which lends the film its name), she establishes her son's true identity, despite the social barriers surrounding her.
What appealed to me the most was Sujata's character defined as a simple minded mother whose love for her son gave her the strength to not only discover his pursuit in life, but also, find meaning in her own. That apart, Govind Nihalani brings out a nice diagnosis of the varying ideologies of an entire generation - how a protected and almost shrouded environment can co-exist with an uprising that seeks to change the very foundation of society. The movie explodes at a point where Sujata questions this very oddity, thus marking a moment of change in her own life.
The film has some rather intense moments in Nandita Das's portrayal of the character Nandini . In almost a monologue, Nandini converses with Sujata where she not only brings to light a revolutionary and romantic episode of Brati's life but also rescues a mother dwelling amidst ignorance and compromises. A stark contrast to the dignified and contained Sujata, is Somu's mother (Seema Biswas) who despite her troubles, has has seen more meaning and truth in her motherhood.
The film has tremendous talent in its actors like Anupum Kher, Seema Biswas, Nandita Das, Joy Sengupta, Milind Gunaji and of course Jaya Bachhan making a comeback in 1998 after a long gap in her cinema career. On a slight con side, I think the cinematography on occasions could do better. Overall, a very good film to watch.