The Stranger (1991)

Mamata Shankar: Anila Bose

Photos 

Quotes 

• Anila Bose : Why did you leave home? Mother told me everyone loved you. And you were a fine student with a bright future.

  Manomohan Mitra : But yet why did I leave home?

  Anila Bose : Yes.

  Manomohan Mitra : There's a lovely word in German: Wanderlust. It means the irrepressible urge to travel.

• Sudhindra Bose : A fake uncle is better than no uncle. Is that what you wish to say?

  Anila Bose : I wish to say only one thing. What's the need for a letter or a telegram? He says he's coming here on the 17th. Let him come. If I find him a fake or is real, but has come with an ulterior motive, then you won't have to do anything. I myself will whisk him away with a broom.

  Sudhindra Bose : Bravo.

  Satyaki Bose : Just think, a fake great uncle!

• Anila Bose : I'm convinced.

  Sudhindra Bose : That he's your uncle?

  Anila Bose : Yes, and a very nice man.

  Sudhindra Bose : So you are gullible, after all. In these few hours, you found out everything about a man?

  Anila Bose : Women are capable of that. They take people on trust. And surely you can tell a lot from the way a man acts and walks and the look in his eyes.

• Sudhindra Bose : [on the phone]  Ask to see his passport. Passport! There's no better proof of identity than that.

  Anila Bose : Are you out of your mind? You think a woman can do that? You do that when you meet him. I can't be bothered.

• Anila Bose : I have one favor to ask of you.

  Sudhindra Bose : What?

  Anila Bose : Please pay your respects to him and touch his feet.

• Anila Bose : [singing]  Who is playing the veena? Who is playing the veena in such dulcet tones? Who is playing the veena? Showering melody upon my secluded life, Who is playing the veena in such dulcet tones? Who is playing the veena? My heart opens up like the morning lotus, My heart opens up like the morning lotus, And waits for a pair of damp feet to approach me, Who is playing the veena?

• Sudhindra Bose : Did you have the least idea that he'd spent half his life in this fashion?

  Anila Bose : None at all. An extraordinary life, full of strange experiences. It's certainly been an education listening to him. But at the same time, I felt a distance growing between us - and uncle is someone you can warm to. In this case, what you feel for him is reverence and respect.

  Sudhindra Bose : The problem is, erudition works on the brain, not on the heart.