Charulata

It is somewhat pointless to write in such a blog about a classic. However, Charulata is different. It is surely one of the best five films I have ever seen, but that is not the reason. Charulata's presence on net is not as much as one would expect. This is arguably Satyajit Ray's best film. Immaculately crafted, everything planned in advance and superbly executed to give the viewer an ethereal experience.

It is the story of a young bored housewife, Charulata (or Charu), in Kolkata in the beginning of twentieth century. The story narrates how three people get together (or apart) in a relationship. The film is steeped in the coziness of affluence, and perhaps for this kind of relationships to prosper one had to be surrounded by affluence. This is very far cry from Ray's take on the famous Bengal famine in 'Ashani Sanket', for example.

The film is shot in black and white because this was still too early for colour in Bangla cinema. The quintessential charm of Kolkata's affluent elite forms the background. The women from such a family, however, had nothing much to do while the men were wondering about various social and political issues. And so if one of the womenfolk in the family had an extraordinary mind, she would be bored. Consequently, when Amal (pronounced Au-mol with 'Au' as in Author), a distant relative, comes to stay with them, Charu immediately has something to do. The bond that forms between them is the theme of the film. Also of course the effect this relationship has on Charu's husband Bhupati.

Ray once wrote that some of the new directors did not consider their job complete unless they had shown their protagonists' pubic hair. See his book Our films, their films, pages 13 and 14. Ray did not need any eroticism to portray the intimacy. He did not have the option either, being a filmmaker in the 1960s in Bengal. He loved to use the "power of suggestion which is inherent in all art". What is important is that in this case, he did not even need to suggest anything at all. The sublime beauty of the film Charulata lies in the fact that the intimacy between Charu and Amal was built on various mundane day to day things with one important exception - their common interest in literature. This was a common thread between them. One feels that intimacy between two human beings had never taken a greater shape than this. Various symbolism are spread in the film. A poignant moment occurs when Charu's husband, being cheated by the rest of the world, comes back to Charu for solace and discovers Charu's passion for Amal.

An altogether complete and enjoyable experience. The film is based on a story by Rabindranath Thakur. The story is good, but the film takes the story to a very different level.