Director: Rituparno Ghosh

Made: 2003

Writers: screenplay by Rituparno Ghosh based on “The Mirror Cracked” by Agatha Christie

Genre: Crime / Mystery/ whodunit

Cast:

Sharmila Tagore ...  Padmini

Rakhee ...  Ranga Pishima

Nandita Das ...  Mallika

Sumanta Mukherjee ...  Sambit

Kalyani Mandal ...  Kakoli

Tota Roy Chowdhury  

Rajesh Sharma 

An unusual film not just for Rituporno Ghosh, but for Bengali art house cinema in general, Shubho Mahurat is a straight detective story, based on one of the Agatha Christie books, and featuring an armchair detective, a la Miss Marple, who manages to solve a crime the police are stumped by. The biggest paradox would seem to be in the fact that Bengali “art” or “parallel” cinema is known for its slow, meandering kind of narrative, with ample insignificant and “by the way” details that eventually throw light on their central characters. This would seem to be the exact opposite of what is required in a good crime thriller, where the audience has a right to expect fast paced action and a breathless sense of suspense. However, Rituporno has managed to combine the best of both worlds to create an unusual but unusually good whodunit. 

An ex superstar of the Bengali film industry, Padmini Choudhuri has returned to Calcutta to produce a film for her not-so-successful, director, second husband. The star of the film is another big name of the industry, and an actress that Padmini has worked with, often, in her heyday. Kakoli, the star, dies suddenly, after returning home from the Mahurat party for the film, and the only person present is the young journalist Mili, who has come there in the hopes of snagging an interview, for her first film assignment.

Although Kakoli, known to be addicted to drugs, is at first assumed to have died of an overdose, it soon becomes clear that she was poisoned, either accidentally, or willfully. As the police grapple with the investigation, another death occurs, making the case even more complicated and foggy. Howeve, before anyone else can figure things out, Mili’s widowed aunt (rangapishima), a great fan of Padmini, an amateur, armchair detective and puzzle solver, figures out the who and why.

Although this film may not be what one would expect from a typical murder mystery, it is definitely worth a watch, not just for the sterling performances by three of the greatest actresses of bollywood, past and present, but also for the fine balancing act that Rituporno manages, between suspense and empathy.

Buy Shubha Mahurat

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