A Film with Subtle Message of Feudalism that Still Exists in Rural India Despite the Digital Age
This Friday, you have two movies releasing this Friday, which include Chauranga. The film is directed and written by Bikas Ranjan Mishra who has made his debut in filmmaking in B Town. It is produced by Onir and Sanjay Suri under the banner of Anticlock Films. The film has already created buzz in the media for being applauded at the global film festival events like Berlin International Film Festival and Locarno Film Festival and the ScriptStation of Berlinale Talent Campus that came in association of National Film Development Corporation of India. The film managed to get the Golden Gateway of India Award for Best Film at the 16th Mumbai Film Festival. The film has Sanjay Suri, Tannishtha Chatterjee and Soham Maitra in the lead roles. Now, let’s have a look inside this film as under:
Plot
There is a 14 year old Dalit boy played by Soham Maitra is seen growing up in an unnamed corner of India. His aspires to going to a town school unlike his elder brother played by Riddhi Sen and in reality, he is keen to take care of a pig that his family owns. He has only one escape in his life wherein he sits atop a Jamun tree and loves to adore his beloved played by Ena Saha when she passes by on her scooter. His unspoken love is as real as his mother’s helplessness who is a domestic helper at a close by mansion. When his elder brother comes for a vacation at his village, he realises his younger brother’s infatuation, he then helps in expressing his love for the girl and thus helps him write a love letter. Now, what happens next is interesting to explore.
Script Analysis
The director helps the audience to get a view of social microcosm found in rural Bihar wherein the world is divided as per the class and caste systems. Despite the end of feudalism, the village has the same setup of mismatch caste systems, day to day discrimination, exploitation and humiliation of women as per the caste. The myriad characters found in the film do not just exist in the village has hampers the social fabrics and its power play. Mishra is seen trying to weave with little details along with adding a love angle in it, which can remind a couple of movies in the past. However, the social message the filmmaker is trying to make here makes the film a masterpiece, which is being applauded at different film festivals.
Star Performances & Other Stuff
The film is all about giving the audience a strong message, which is free from loads of star value unlike seen in any other B Town film. Thus to check the performances of the characters would be a bit weird thing to do. Yet checking the performances like that of Sanjay Suri in the role of a Zamindar have tried to put the shoes the right posing the right accent and body language of rural landlord. Next is the village priest who is played by Dhritiman Chatterjee who did a wonderful role in it giving a right performance over the silver screen. Both the sons Bajrani and Santu played by Ridhi Sen and Soham Maitra can be called as a fulcrum of home and hopeless scenario. The direction is mind blowing considering the fact that the film has as debutant director, yet the kind of applauds he has managed to collect for the film is noteworthy. The other elements like music, screenplay, editing, location and other technical stuff remain apt and makes a worthy film to catch.
Chauranga – Last Word
Chauranga can be called as cryptic, dark and provocative kind of look and feel wherein issues like cast oppression is put forth in the perspective of a young innocent boy. This film can be called as similar like Nishant from Shyam Benegal and Damul from Prakash Jha, but this film looks more murky and clumsy. You can find too much of pushing, fondling and touching, which may not appear to be apt, yet the kind of message it gives to the audience it worthy to be caught in the theatres.
