MAYURAKSHI --
a film review
This review is for those who asked me to see the film and
post a review so they can decide whether to see it or not. Apologies for not
being on the page for some time and taking time to post anything!
In fact, after “Paddigton”,
“The World’s Greatest Showman” and then “Ashche Abar Shobor ” -- there was nothing much to say apart from
the fact that they failed to add any value to your precious experience of
bothering to go to the theatre to expect something worthwhile other than a few
hours of snoozing.
“Mayurakshi” maybe a slight departure from it.
Directed by Atanu Ghosh, who is also the man behind the
story and screenplay, the film is about an aged, loving father and a caring,
dutiful son trying to come to terms with the anxiety of losing one’s grip on
life and loneliness that engulfs man with the fear of mortality.
Atanu Ghosh has strung some beautiful and poignant
moments between father and son together instead of telling us a story per se. Low key background music by Debojyoti Misra presenting sombre renditions
of Tagore songs has also added much to the intensity of some moments of
internal crisis.
The story is not uncommon today in the present urban
scenario where bright young men and women leave the country in search of success
and recognition overseas leaving their aged parents in the care of others.
The deepest thread of concern for Sushobhon (Soumitra
Chatterjee) is the well-being of his twice
divorced son living overseas alone, while the son agonizes over the slow and
ultimate end of his father in the care of a couple of paid hands. Carefully
crafted, in a tapestry woven with great intensity, the film appears sentimental
but never borders on melodrama that could ruin the movie.
Sushobhon’s discomfiture and restrained pain battling
dementia and rapid decline with neurological problems is palpable. Even in his
lonely struggle he asks his son to find Mayurakshi
and marry her. But Mayurakshi is untraceable. She is the mirage in a desert
that travelers look for in vain as a flicker of hope they can cling to.
Aryanil (Prosenjit Chatterjee), the son, tormented by the psychological
pressure of the situation is also a disturbed soul. He has the potential to be
an escapist unable to cope with myriads of problems that he encounters to deal
with in life. He has faith in his conscientious and intelligent house-keeper,
Mallika (Sudipta Chakraborty), to look after his father when he must leave.
Sudipta’s restrained acting is refreshing. She has always played her roles with
instinctive naturalness. In fact, acting is the main strength of the film where
all the major actors behave and communicate more with their body
language and eyes -- often without uttering a word.
Yet the film weighs you down as it appears too close to
reality. It represents our society today in the web of a point of
no return; something to ponder over and reflect on what we received from our
parents and what we give back and what values must be instilled in the generation
next. That, of course, is an enigmatic tall order.
Dola Dutta Roy © January 2018
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