| Unishe April |
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Director: Rituporno Ghosh Made: 1994 Writers: original screenplay by Rituporno Ghosh, loosely based on the 1978 Ingmar Bergman classic called “Autumn Sonata” Genre: Family Drama Cast Prasenjit Chatterjee Dipankar Dey Debashree Roy ... Aditi Aparna Sen ... Sarojini
An ageing dancer receives a national award on the death anniversary of her husband. This in itself would have been enough of a fulcrum to build a powerful film on. Add to that a disturbed and emotionally overwrought relationship with a young daughter, rumblings of dissatisfaction with the life she has led, the daughter’s angst, the misunderstandings and the turmoil, and you have the recipe for a great “first attempt” by a director who would go on to become a well known name in regional as well as mainstream Indian cinema.
Sarojini has received news of a nomination, and then the confirmation, of a national award. This is undoubtedly the high point of her career as a dancer, of which not many more years are left now. In the flurry of recieveing calls of congratulations, and preparing to travel to Delhi to receive the award, she senses angst in her daughter. The daughter Aditi, is not only facing difficult decisions and situations in her own life, but is also angst ridden at the thought of her mother having forgotten that this day, 19th of April, is the day her father died. In addition, there is a depth of festering misunderstandings and anger, on both the women’s parts, against each other, which, heightened by a lack of communication, affects the relationship, almost totally destroying it.
The film is set in the time period of about 24 hours, from the morning of the 19th till early morning the next day. It covers a whole gamut of intense feelings and situations, and very deftly examines the uncertain and brittle nature of human relationships. It is a brilliant effort for a director’s first full length art house feature film, and clearly shows Rituporno’s talent at showing the inner workings of the minds of his characters, his deft touch at delineating 3 dimensional characters on stage, and his confident handling of big stars. In short, a must watch for anyone who enjoys good, meaningful cinema.
Buy Unishe April at http://bdbazar.com/nshop/product_info.php/products_id/2724
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