Reviews

I've seen this movie 'Dekha' (Vision) for quite a few times I must admit it is wonderful presentation of cinematography by Gautam Ghose. I must thank Gautam babu for the significant movies he has been presenting us for these years.

The story revolves around a blind poet Sashi Sekhar Sanyal (played wonderfully by Saumitra Chatterjee) by who gets glimpses of the modern world through his vision. In his youth he was a Marxist revolutionary, a talented poet but equally indisciplined, at the same time. He had a wife and a daughter, but they left him for the States which made him a frustrated drunkard and a perverted man. After he got blind, he ceased writing poetry and his days used to pass in his living room, smoking and listening to music. He was every moment nostalgic, and felt happy collecting his lost colourful days. One of his poems written in Bengali goes likes this, 'You are a dot of light swinging in darkness, surrounded by tranquil nostalgia..' Sarama a divorcée, the daughter of one of his teachers, lived downstairs with her son and looked after him. Another important character of the film was Reema, a young journalist and a fan of the poet Sashi Sekhar. She used to visit him often and turned out to be someone close to Sashi Sekhar. There has been a presentation of another character Gagan, a blind orphan youth who lived his days emerged in nature and singing. The film ends with the change in Sashi Sekhar's views- he became positive, learned loving life, started to look forward drawing his eyes from the past and once more began writing. He wrote.. 'Someone came and said, 'Your room's left damp Let me freshen it for you..' This poem is no doubt dedicated to Reema, for according to the film she was one of those who encouraged and supported him to return to his past life. A scene I liked very much was Sashi Sekhar and others listening Reema singing on the piano (which belonged to Sashi Sekhar's dead mother.. He was tied in affectionate bonds with her) and Sashi Sekhar recollecting memories of his childhood. ( A bit like the sequence of the 'Piano' by DH Lawrence) The song sung, 'Tomar sur sunaye je ghum bhangao, se ghum amar ramanio..' was equally significant. It was one of Rabindranath and ideal with the circumstances. The music, plot and the direction of the film is remarkable. It records the vision of a poet and it presents simple daily-life happenings in a deeper wider meaning. It is an over-all display of Gautambabu's depth and talent.

'Meghe dhaka tara' or the 'Cloud-clapped Star' is definitely one of the best films ever directed in Bengali,and it vividly portrays the directing skills of Ritwik Ghatak. The story revolves around a lower-middle class Bengali family, who lived in the refugee colonies situated in the outskirts of Kolkata. The father of the family was a English teacher and his eldest son 'Shankar'(Anil Chatterjee) was a promising young classical singer while the youngest son 'Montu' played football. Nita and Gita were two sisters, the former being somewhat responsible, caring, loving while the latter was simply a beauty conscious,lazy, insincere flirt. Owing to circumstances, Nita had to work as a private-tutor in order to feed her family as no one else had any urge, capacity or rather consciousness about their poverty. Another important character of the movie was Sanat, a talented Physics research fellow whom Nita sponsored for she had affections on him. According to the story Nita a working woman, couldn't spare time on him and Gita, her sister began having relations with him and eventually they married. Nita was heartbroken and neither Sankar nor their father supported their marriage. Sanat after his marriage didn't continue his research and found himself a job of high salary. Eventually Sankar established himself as a singer, Montu found a job in a factory, while Nita's health began deteriorating. It was found she was suffering from TB. She was sent to a sanatorium upon the mountains to recover and the film ends with Nita's death. One the last scenes perhaps the best of the film wonderfully shows Nita's love for life, her urge for struggle and her positive thinking. The film's one of the most impressing assets is the song, 'Je raate mor duar Guli' song beautifully by Debabrata Biswas. It was really suitable with the sad situation after Gita's marriage. The film over all portrays the life-struggle of a promising family with contemporary middle class livelihood. Actings of Anil Chatterjee and Supriya Devi is of high quality and the over all direction, screen-play, music equally good. The 'Lost Love' by William Wordsworth finds a perfect match in the movie.

Like all other Satyajeet Ray movies, this one too is wonderful. As the name signifies, Mahanagar or 'The Metropolis' is about Kolkata of the 1960s. The position of women, the biased views of the older generation, helpless conditions of banks and offices find a perfect blend in the movie. Bhombal supports his parents, sister, wife and children and works a clerk in a bank. Wife Arati understands their present day situation and decides employ herself as a sales girl. No one in the family- her in laws, her father, Bhombal and even her son liked her position though they had to completely rely on her after Bhombal lost his job. In her work, she met an Euro-Indian girl- Edith with whom she made friends. Eventually Edith got sacked from her job due to false charges and Arati, who protested against it, resigned. The films ends with a wonderful scene- Bhombal and Arati walking amongst thousands of people in the streets of Kolkata searching for a job. I personally liked a lot the last dialog of the movie- Bhombal said, 'You did nothing wrong resigning, you protested against corruption.. who dare does such a thing in such circumstances? Don't lose hope Arati, won't any one of us find a job in such a vast city?.....' Personally I liked very much the screen-play of Anil Chatterjee and Madhabi Mukherjee. The movie is overall a dedicated, sophisticated work of Satyajit Ray.