Subarnarekha (film)
| Subarnarekha | |
|---|---|
 A poster for Subarnarekha. | |
| Directed by | Ritwik Ghatak |
| Written by |
Ritwik Ghatak (screenplay, story), Radheshyam Jhunjhunwala (story) |
| Starring |
Abhi Bhattacharya, Madhabi Mukherjee, Satindra Bhattacharya, Bijon Bhattacharya, Pitambar, Indrani Chakrabarty, Sriman Tarun, Ritwik Ghatak |
| Music by | Ustad Bahadur Khan |
| Cinematography | Dilip Rajan Mukherjee |
| Edited by | Ramesh Joshi |
Release date | 1 October 1965 |
Running time | 143 min. |
| Language | Bengali |
Subarnarekha (Bengali: সুবর্ণরেখা Subarṇarēkhā) is an Indian Bengali film directed by Ritwik Ghatak.[1] It was produced in 1962 but was not released until 1965. It was part of the trilogy, Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960), Komal Gandhar (1961), and Subarnarekha (1962), all dealing with the aftermath of the Partition of India in 1947 and the refugees coping with it.[2]
In a critics' poll of all-time greatest films conducted by Asian film magazine Cinemaya in 1998, Subarnarekha was ranked at #11 on the list.[3]
Plot summary
The film tells the story of Ishwar Chakraborty (Abhi Bhattacharya), a Hindu refugee from East Pakistan after the 1947 partition of India. He goes to West Bengal with his little sister Sita (Indrani Chakrabarty) where he tries to start a new life. In a refugee camp, they see the abduction of a low-caste woman and Ishwar takes her little son Abhiram (Sriman Tarun) with him. He gets a job at a factory in the province, near the river Subarnarekha, courtsey his college friend Rambilas (Pitambar). Ishwar, Sita and Abhiram arrive at Chatimpur, a small settlement near Ghatshila where they meet Mukherjee (Jahor Roy), foreman of the foundry workshop, who greets them with love.
Abhiram is sent to Jhargram for education shortly after and Sita becomes lonely. Abhiram completes his study successfully and comes back on the very day Ishwar was appointed as the new manager. Abhiram finds that Ishwar had already arranged for his application in a German University to pursue his career further in engineeting, but to his foster-brother's surprise, he refuses and decides to become a writer instead. Soon after, he (Satindra Bhattacharya) and Sita (Madhabi Mukherjee) discover that they are in love. But at this moment, Ishwar's fear of prejudice emerges, as he does not want his sister, a Brahmin, to marry a lower caste boy. At the same time, Abhiram's caste gets exposed to the others also when he recognizes his dying mother at rail station in front of many people. Ishwar senses danger and asks him to leave for Calcutta when he gives proposal to marry Sita. During Sita's wedding with another man, the girl and Abhiram elope and go to Calcutta. Ishwar is angry and heartbroken.
Sita and Abhiram live in the slums of Calcutta and try to make ends meet. They have a little son (Sriman Ashok Bhattacharya). One day, Abhiram gets a new job as a bus driver, but this leads to tragedy: when he accidentally hits and kills a little girl, he is lynched by the crowd. In her desperate situation, Sita is forced to think about taking up prostitution.
In the meantime, Ishwar is living a lonely and sad life in the province. When his old time friend Haraprasad (Bijon Bhattacharya) comes to visit him, they decide to go to Calcutta on a binge drinking tour. They finally end up in a brothel, both completely drunk. When Ishwar staggers into one of the bedchambers, he is faced... with his own sister, whose first "client" he should become. Sita immediately recognizes him and cuts her own throat rather than have her brother see how far she has fallen. She dies. When Ishwar realizes what has happened, he breaks down.
At the end of the film, the now completely broken Ishwar meets Sita's little son, who is now his closest relative. Ishwar and Binu arrives at Ghatshila rail station. Just as the train leaves, Ishwar receives a letter from foreman Mukherjee from which he comes to know that he has been sacked from his managerial job because of his truthful ideology and all the legal matter he faced after her sister committed suicide. Mukherjee is now the new manager and he asks Ishwar to vacate the quarter. Ishwar, at first, feels lost but as he sees little Binu, he brightens up and decides to take the little boy into his clutches. The film ends with the two approaching the quarter along the banks of Subarnarekha, with Binu, not knowing the reality fills with joy to see his new home, the story he has been told by his mother many times, while Ishwar pants but still does not reveal the truth in order not to spoil his little nephew's dream.
Credits
Cast
- Abhi Bhattacharya as Iswar Chakraborty
- Bijon Bhattacharya as Haraprasad
- Indrani Chakraborty as Little Sita
- Gita Dey as Koushalya (Bagdi Bou)
- Mater Tarun as Little Abhiram
- Ranen Roy Choudhury as Baul
- Abanish Bandopadhyay as Hari Babu
- Radha Govinda Ghosh as Manager
- Ritwik Ghatak as Music Teacher
- Madhabi Mukhopadhyay as Sita
- Satindra Bhattacharya as Abhiram
- Jahor Roy as Mukherjee (Foreman)
- Umanath Bhattacharya as Akhil Babu
- Sita Mukhopadhyay as Kajal Didi
- Pitambar as Rambilas
Crew
- Story: Ritwik Ghatak, Radheshyam Jhunjhunwala
- Screenplay: Ritwik Ghatak
- Cinematography: Dilip Rajan Mukherjee
- Editing: Ramesh Joshi
- Sound: Satyen Chatterjee
- Art Direction: Rabi Chatterjee
- Music: Ustad Bahadur Khan
Soundtracks
- Aaj dhaner khete roudro chhayay...
- Ali, dekh bhor bhai... kahan jage...
- Aaj ki ananda, aaj ki ananda, jhulat jhulane Shyamchanda...
- Mor dukhuya ka se kahun... aaj'
- Khelan aaye... kuhar phuhar
Screening of Subarnarekha aka The Golden Line in different festivals
- 2017: Ritwik Ghatak Retrospective UK, at Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland, UK, Programme curated by Sanghita Sen, Department of Film Studies, St Andrews University, UK [4]
References
- ↑ "Subarnarekha (1965)". New York Times. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- ↑ Rosalind Galt; Karl Schoonover (2010). Global Art Cinema: New Theories and Histories. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-538562-4.
- ↑ Totaro, Donato (31 January 2003), "The "Sight & Sound" of Canons", Offscreen Journal, Canada Council for the Arts, retrieved 2009-04-19
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 May 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.