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Reviews
Ganashatru (1989)
Surely not the best of Ray
Ganashatru is a straightforward film that highlights the impact blind superstition can have and how superstition can be cynically misused by the administration. Dr Ashok Gupta questions the quality of the water used in the local temple and for preparing the 'charanamrit' (holy water) people drink. It hurts the religious sentiments of people whose blind faith will brook no stigma against the local temple. The businessman sees a loss of business, the bureaucrat a loss of tourist inflow and everyone is up in arms. No matter that Dr. Gupta is not against religion. No matter that he is willing to present scientific evidence. No matter that, in the past, he has been much admired by the very people who now vilify him. As the juggernaut nearly overwhelms Ray's protagonist, hope raises its head in the form of the youth who rally behind the beleaguered Dr. Gupta.
Ray is clearly sending out a message against religious dogma in this film. In a way he was foretelling the strife that occurred in India barely two years after this film was released. Ray, the humanist, still sees hope, not in the old guard who profit from dogma but from among the educated youth, for they will make the country of the future.
But this film is certainly not among Ray's best. In fact, together with Sakha Praskha, this film represents the nadir of Ray's great career. For a master of detail, Ray makes elementary mistakes. He forgets that Public Health is not the responsibility of the Municipal Body alone, and there is a full Health Department, whose job is to monitor such outbreaks and take remedial action. It is there in every district and small town. Dr. Gupta as the city hospital in-charge would have had regular intercourse with such officials. Ray (In the form of Dr. Gupta and his brother the Municipal Chairman) does not seem to know that small town judges cannot hear public interest litigation and that even a biased judge would need to counter scientific evidence when presented. There an numerous such small and large errors.
The film moves at a very slow and stilted pace but picks up momentum towards the end. The best part of the film is the acting. Soumitra id very good, but he is overshadowed by Dhritiman Chakraborty and in some scenes by Dipankar Dey. The ladies have a limited, supportive role, but Ruma Guha Thakurata does well as the long suffering wife who stands by her husband and admires him for his ethical stand.
Technically, camera work of Barun Raha is competent and not flashy. Music by Ray is wonderful as usual.
Its good to see Criterion/Eclipse bringing out Ray's works. The DVD is the best available in the market, although the images could be a little sharper and there is some hiss in the audio.
Yugant (1997)
Mish-mash of ideas and rather superficial
Deepak and Anusuya are two very creative people. Deepak is the Creative Director for an advertising agency and Anu a Danseuse who has established a dance school. Dipak stays in Bombay and Anu in Cuttack. Over the years they have drifted apart but they decide to spend a week together in the remote seaside village where they once spent their honeymoon.
Dipak is selfish. His Bohemian lifestyle is disliked by Anu but he refuses to see her side of things. Yet Dipak is also the idealist. Even if he can analyse a situation calmly and cynically, he can also throw up a lucrative contract because it clashes with his ideals. Anu can empathise with the poor, but in every situation it is her dance and her school that come first. She is willing to sacrifice her idealism and even her baby for her magnificent obsession.
Once upon a time, Anu was the sensitive one who could hear the call of the waves. Dipak was the intellectual who could talk about existentialism. But the passage of years has changed all that. Dipak can now be sensitive about the timelessness of nature and Anu is the one who can put up a dance drama and get noticed in the intellectual world.
One one plane, this film is about the clash of these contradictory elements in two supremely creative people. On another plane this is a film about the greed of Man and the desecration of the Earth Mother. Aparna Sen's Yugant is a dark brooding film that does not have a happy ending. It hints at the end of an era but does not raise hopes for a better tomorrow.
Comments: Issues first. Watch this film for some superb photography. The scenes of the sea are beautiful, but it is the shots in the darkness that really are marvelous. Not for nothing did this film win the National Award for best Photography in 1995. I was a little disappointed with the editing. The jump cuts were sometimes a little disjointed. The music is unobtrusive and therefore a pleasure.
I was disappointed with the story and the screenplay (Both by Aparna Sen). I expected she would analyse the characters in depth. The depth was missing. The delineation is based on superficial elements. I also thought Aparna Sen had mixed too many themes and was not able to do justice to any of them. There are too many emotional threads that are not not examined in depth. The Director swings between mythology and science as she moves towards the climax but in the end, she serves up a mish-mash that is deeply unsatisfying. The climax is hugely artificial and leaves you unconvinced.
This film does not leave you with hope. Its dark brooding and often sharply critical. But it does make you think, especially when it deals with human emotions, which Aparna Sen understands. It also makes you seethe at the simplistic treatment of environmental issues and mythology which Aparna sen does not understand is is rather naive about.
All said a film different from the usual Bollywood/Tollywood fare. It was rated the best Bengali Feature Fim in 1996.
Amar Geeti (1983)
Sachharine with some beautiful music
This film is about Ramnidhi Gupta or Nidhu Babu. Tappa is a form of light North Indian Classical Music. Tappa uses verse (usually romantic) but adds a classical tune to it to express the meaning of the words. Traditionally the verse used in Tappa is in Hindustani or Punjabi. Nidhu Babu set the verse in Bengali amid considerable opposition from all quarters. His verses and the songs are called 'Nidhu Babu's Tappa' and have become an inherent part of Bengali culture/music.
In real life, Nidhu Babu was a quite corrupt low level government official with a genius and passion for music. This film is more of an eulogy. It converts Nidhu Babu into a saintly figure (a rather fanciful interpretation) and also adds a saccharine sweet romantic angle. It is directed by Tarun Majumdar but I would probably forget the video, close my eyes and listen to the music instead. You may find it a bit difficult to appreciate the Tappa or the folk tunes without some idea of the language.
I give it 6/10 just for the music. Minus the music, it would get a 2 or 3.
Akaler Sandhane (1981)
A film about making a film on famine.
'Aakaler Sandhane' (In Search of Famine) to my mind is one of the best films Mrinal Sen ever made. His superb touch, some puckish humour and sense of drama is backed up by some wonderful acting. No wonder this film simply ran away with every award in India and the Silver Bear in Berlin.
The story is about a film company which sets out to make a film on the Great Bengal Famine of 1943. They select a village in rural Bengal for outdoor shooting and start work. The story weaves around the trials of the troupe in the village.
To me, the best part of the film is the way Mrinal Sen interlaces three distinct themes. The first is the superficial story of the film company and the difficulties they face. The second is the class distinctions conservatism and prejudices that permeates village society and the third is a scathing criticism that 50 years after independence, stark poverty still exists and famine still stalks the land.