Charulata
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| Charulata | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Satyajit Ray |
| Produced by | RDB Productions |
| Written by | Satyajit Ray Rabindranath Tagore (novella) |
| Starring | Soumitra Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee, Sailen Mukherjee, Syamal Ghosal |
| Distributed by | Edward Harrison |
| Release date(s) | 1964 |
| Running time | 117 min |
| Language | Bengali |
| IMDb profile | |
Charulata (The Lonely Wife) is a 1964 film by Bengali director Satyajit Ray, based upon the novella Nastanirh (The Broken Nest) by Rabindranath Tagore. It features Soumitra Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee and Sailen Mukherjee.
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[edit] Plot summary
The film tells the story of a lonely housewife, known as Charu (Madhabi Mukherjee), who lives a wealthy, secluded and idle life in 1870's Calcutta. Her husband, Bhupati (Sailen Mukherjee), runs a newspaper, The Sentinel, and spends more time at work than with his wife. However, he notices that Charu is lonely, and asks his cousin, Amal (Soumitra Chatterjee), to keep her company. Amal is a writer and is asked to help Charu with her own writing. However, after some time, Charu and Amal's feelings for each other move beyond those of a mentoring relationship.
[edit] Swing Sequence
The famous scene of Charu (Madhabi Mukherjee) on her swing singing Rabindranath Tagore's song "Fule Fule Dhole Dhole" while looking at Amal (Soumitra Chatterjee), is referenced in the Bollywood film, Parineeta (2005 film). Indeed, Parineeta 's Lalita (Vidya Balan) is dressed to resemble Nashtanir/Charulata 's Charu. Furthermore, Parineeta (2005 film) is based upon the novel Parineeta by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay who was a noted contemporary of Tagore (and who also wrote novels concerned with social reform) [1], [2].
[edit] Analysis
Many critics and commentators consider Charulata to be Ray's greatest achievement, with Ray famously remarking that it had the "least flaws" of all his movies, and Charulata (the character) also was Ray's favorite among his many films. This movie belongs to the Indian tradition of parallel cinema, and Ray cited the influence of French New Wave directors such as François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard in the making of Charulata.
[edit] Awards
Charulata won Satyajit his second Silver Bear for best direction in Berlin in 1964. He had won in the previous year with Mahanagar. The film also won the Golden Lotus Award for Best Film at the National Film Award for Best Film in 1965.
[edit] References
- Biswas, Moinak. "Writing on the Screen: Satyajit Ray’s Adaptation of Tagore"
- Chaudhuri, Neel. "Charulata: The Intimacies of a Broken Nest"
- Cooper, Darius.The Cinema of Satyajit Ray:Between Tradition and Modernity Cambridge University Press, 2000.
- Nyce, Ben. Satyajit Ray : A Study of His Films. New York: Praeger, 1988
- Seely, Clinton B. "Translating Between Media: Rabindranath Tagore and Satyajit Ray"
- Sen, Kaustav "Our Culture, Their Culture:Indian-ness in Satyajit Ray and Rabindranath Tagore explored through their works Charulata and Nashtanir"
[edit] External links
Pather Panchali (1955) • Aparajito (1957) • Parash Pathar (1958) • Jalsaghar (1958) • Apur Sansar (1959) • Devi (1960) • Teen Kanya (1961) • Rabindranath Tagore (1961) • Kanchenjungha (1962) • Abhijan (1962) • Mahanagar (1963) • Charulata (1964) • Two (1965) • Kapurush (1965) • Mahapurush (1966) • Nayak (1966) • Chiriyakhana (1967) • Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1969) • Aranyer Din Ratri (1970) • Pratidwandi (1971) • Seemabaddha (1971) • Sikkim (1971) • The Inner Eye (1972) • Ashani Sanket (1973) • Sonar Kella (1974) • Jana Aranya (1976) • Bala (1976) • Shatranj Ke Khiladi (1977) • Joi Baba Felunath (1978) • Hirak Rajar Deshe (1980) • Pikoor Diary (1981) • Sadgati (1981) • Ghare Baire (1984) • Sukumar Ray (1987) • Ganashatru (1989) • Shakha Proshakha (1990) • Agantuk (1991)
