Sunil Mukherjee
A bus is setting out to Calcutta from a village in West Bengal. Meenakshi Iyer, who is from a strict orthodox Hindu background, is leaving to Chennai for her husband, with her young child, after the vacation with her parents. By chance, she gets a co-passenger who is also to Chennai, Rajah, a photographer, introduced by one of the friends of her father. During the journey they build a good relationship. But a Hindu-Muslim communal riot sets out in the meantime, in some areas they had to travel. Then she comes to face the fact that Rajah is not a Hindu but a Muslim whose real name is Jehangir. Even though she curses herself at that time while some Hindu fanatics evade their bus she saves him introducing as Mr. Iyer. But they have to reach their destination while the other passengers know Rajah as no one else but Mr. Iyer.
Sadhan Bose a small-time businessman leaves for work, Sadhan, incorrigibly, hasn't read beyond the opening page of the morning newspaper. Nabendu his neighbour, brings him abreast of a gruesome murder. One, Sibdas Mullick has been found beheaded. A Madhusudan Maity appears the prime suspect. Sadhan shudders. His mind flies back four years to his room on Patuatola Lane. Sadhan Sibdas & Mudhusudan deal cards in a game of Flush. Mudhu makes a killing. Sadhan smells foul play & voices his misgivings. Suddenly Mudhu is without himself. Flashing a flick knife, he threatens to avenges Sadhan's jibe one day... Evening. Back home, a grim-faced Sadhan tremulously eyes an oversized package on his table. None has hint of the parcel's sender/origin. Meanwhile the police drop by to interrogate Sadhan about his past conditions. Deep into the night. Sadhan site wide-eyed & pale. His hair bristles at the though of Sibdas backed head in that package & Madhu's bloodshot eyes....
Sasanka (Subrata Nandy) grows depressed as his house and his career as a theater actor both crumble around him. When his cold-hearted, widowed sister-in-law Saraju (Aloknanda Dutt) arrives with her adorable young son Kanu (Aniket Sengupta), Sasanka's mood eventually changes. Kanu and Sasanka become fast friends as the youngster benefits from his uncle's wisdom and acting ability.
This powerful and realistic film is a study of poverty, illiteracy, natural calamities and the toll they take on the human soul. the story of a rural couple who're trying to survive on the road with many others like them, after their village was destroyed by a flood. the wife gives birth to a deformed baby, which is pronounced as a 'child of the devil' by the local pundit (Hindu priest), who forces them to abandon the child and exiles them from the community. the journey takes the couple towards a bizarre and heart-breaking conclusion
When an Untouchable wins the elections for mayor in his small village in northeastern India, deadly rioting forces an impoverished couple to escape to Calcutta where they can hopefully find work. Instead, they end up sleeping on the streets until they have a chance at earning a little income -- a man has asked them to take his herd of pigs across a fast-moving river. The current is dangerous, and worse, the wife is pregnant and this would not be an easy task even if she were not. Undaunted and desperate, the couple accept the job and enter the river to face their destiny. Both the acting and the cinematography and music are excellent in this slow-paced, but engaging drama from director Goutam Ghose.
The film documents one of the largest Indian religious fairs, the Kumbh Mela, which is held at the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati. The action is seen through the eyes of Shubhendu Chatterjee who has come to the Mela not out of any religious sentiment but to see and understand people and seek the reason why “….multitudes upon multitudes of the old and weak and the young and frail enter without hesitation or complaint upon such incredible journeys and endure the resultant miseries without repining.” (Mark Twain after visiting the 1895 Mela)
