They say marriage is about companionship, dependency and togetherness. But does love, the focal point of the institution, get lost in years of togetherness? How long should one compromise to make a relationship work? Is dependency on each other wrong?
Director duo Nandita Roy, Shiboprasad Mukherjee deliver a poignant story of togetherness and the need to work hard on one’s marriage in Bengali film ‘Bela Seshe’. Featuring veteran Bengali actors Soumitra Chatterjee and Swatilekha Sengupta in lead roles, the film perhaps churns out the best lessons on marriage in modern times.
The story is about successful publisher Biswanath Mazumdar (Chatterjee), who decides to divorce his wife Aarti Mazumdar (Sengupta) after 49 years of marriage much to the discomfort of his gown up children, their spouses and grandchildren. Mazumdar, a patriarch of sorts, gathers his brood for Durga Puja and announces his plans to separate from his wife on the last day of the festival. Needless to say, chaos ensues. While one daughter calls him selfish, the other resorts to spiritual interventions. How the couple and the family deal with the new crisis forms the rest of the story.
While the aged couple gear up to separate and in the process revisit the mistakes they made in the past, their grown up children- who are dealing with their respective marital problems get to retrospect their own relationship in the process. One starts valuing the husband and ends her extra marital affair, a young couple rediscovers love amidst high pressure job, a husband starts valuing his hard working wife once again. The younger generation gets to understand the value of marriage at the cost of their parent’s separation and in turn make the viewers rethink about their lives.
When was the last time you gave your partner a compliment? When was the last time you spend some ‘we’ time with them? Such questions are raised in the film beautifully and the story drives home such relevant points about relationships and marriage at large.
The film boasts of formidable actors, who in their respective roles deliver extremely convincing performances. Soumitra Chatterjee and Swatilekha Sengupta, masters of their craft, make for a believable aging Bengali couple. They have their regular tiffs, share private moments, complain to each other like any regular couple of their age does. The film also highlights actor Kharaj Mukherjee’s amazing comic timing. Along with Aparajita Auddy, who plays his onscreen wife, the duo delivers some of the best lines in the film.
Apart from the poignant story and good performances, what also works for the film is its cinematography and music. A scene where the whole house stuns into silence as one of the member plays Tagore’s ‘Tumi Robe Nirobe’ on sarangi is haunting and surreal. Then the scene where a middle aged couple rediscovers their love on a bridge on River Khoai on full moon night is breathtaking.
While there are a few impractical situations in the film, the story is such that one can easily overlook the flaws. ‘Bela Seshe’ gives important life lessons; about valuing the loved ones, saying things that matter to each other and to sometimes take time out of one’s hectic schedule to just discuss life with one’s partner. Marriage is a lot of hard work and it can only work when both partners are willing to give time and be patient.
While the film’s lead are played by two 60 plus actors, the film in reality, is for every generation. Watch it even if you do not understand Bengali language, the film comes with subtitles. And a word to the Bollywood filmmakers Shoojit Sircar, Rajkumar Hirani and the likes- make this film in Hindi, no? It is bound to do well.
Rating: 4/5
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