Antarmahal
is loosely based on 'Protima' by Tarashankar Bandopadhyay.
The film looks at 1878, Bengal. Bhubaneswar Chowdhury
(Jackie Shroff) is a wealthy and tyrannical Zamidar
with two major obsessions: his desperate attempts
for an heir, which even his new second wife Jashomati
seems unable to deliver; and competing with his
regional rivals to produce the most magnificent
effigy of a goddess for the annual Durga Puja
ceremony. This year he concocts a master plan
to try and aquire the title of Rai Bahadur - why
not change the face of the goddess to that of
the most powerful woman on Earth - Queen Victoria?!
Meantime his two wives Mahomaya and Jashomati
try to look out for one another especially as
Bhubeneshwar begins to sexually assault his younger
wife each night. Traumatised and lonely, Jashomati
is dangerously drawn towards the youthful sculptor
Brij Bushan (Abhishek Bachchan) who has been employed
to create the great effigy of Durga...Naturally
this leads to tragedy.
 In
Antarmahal, director Riruparno Ghosh touches
upon various issues - oppression of women, marital
rape, religious hypocracies and so on. Quoting
him,
"For
the first time I have done something which is
not just relationships or not just interpersonal
psychological transaction, but also has a firm
social base to it and it captures history of colonial
India in several layers.”
Ghosh
paints a fascinating and colourful picture of
19th century Bengal. Ghosh creates a world that
is largely confined to the inside chambers only,
only going out occassionally like the sequence
of the portrait of Queen Victoria being brought.
There are several sequences in the film where
Ghosh shows you his fine sense of film craft.
The gentle track of Soha and Abhishek's romance
contrasts well with the animal like way Jackie
takes her every night. The
scenes between the two women who on one hand are
rivals but only have each other to fall back on
in a strictly patriarchal society where they are
little more than pieces of furniture are sensitively
handled.
Antarmahal has some excellent performances.
Jackie Shroff is a revelation as the debauched
Zamindar. This is perhaps one of his finest performances
to date and it is said he as done his own dialogue
and dubbing in Bengali - commendable. In fact,
he was nominated at the Locarno International
Film Festival for Best Actor! Abhishek and Soha
are also adequate, the latter looking perhaps
the best she has, reminding you of her mother
Sharmila Tagore in Apur
Sansar (1959) and Devi (1960) but the
performance of the film has to be Rupa Ganguly's.
Admittedly she has the film's most well written
and multi layered role of the ageing first wife
having to come to terms with the fact that her
husband has abandoned her bedroom but she does
full justice to it. Be it under the influence
of opium or accepting her fate with resignation,
be it flashing herself before the priest or looking
for the sculptor's attention, be it trying to
help the second wife - she captures all the nuances,
shades and frustrations of her character completely.
It is a remarkable performance.
 One
of the major highlights of the films is Abhik
Mukherjee's stunning cinematography. The film
is lensed and lit up beautifully, the compositions
extremely evocative. Mukherjee has effectively
used light and shade to allegorise the disparity
between the perplexing interiors and the showy
outdoors of a household. This two time National
Award Winner and alumnus of the Film and Television
Institute of India (FTII) is surely and steadily
making his name as one of the finest cinematographers
in the country. Following Asukh (1999),
he has been Rituparno's regular camearman through
films like Utsab (2000), Titli (2002),
Shubho Mahurat (2003), Chokher Bali
(2003) and Raincoat
(2004).
The
film does flag at points due to its slow pace.
The portions of Abhishek remembering his wife
Raima Sen as he carves the body of the goddess
do not really work. With the undercurrant of romance
of Abhishek and Soha, the end twist can be seen
coming and hence the end fails to have the strong
punch it should. Also, though released with subtitles,
there are portions of dialogue, sometimes a few
sentences at a stretch, where the subtitle is
missing. This is something that should have been
checked.
All
in all though, well worth a look...
|
