Love and other Variables

A smouldering (Tushar) Jisshu Sengupta emerges out of a pond. Drops of water trickle down his bare torso and a young Chapal (Rituparno Ghosh) checks him out blatantly. There is raw desire in his eyes and a playful banter ensues. We never get to know if they ever consummate their relationship and we don’t really need to know it. It’s the moment that brings forth the dynamics between these two characters with such effortless decency that you end up presuming that Kaushik Ganguly must be a really sensitive man. Ganguly’s Aarekti Premer Golpo dwells in such moments. The politics of the film,its subconscious emerge in these poignant sequences. It is a biopic on theatre veteran Chapal Bhaduri’s life,but it also has another love story woven into it.—that of an urban gay couple grappling with their own problems. There are times when you feel that it’s trying to do too many things,being too politically correct,but one can’t really grudge Ganguly for that. It has its heart in the right place. Ghosh in his debut film delivers a commendable performance. In the flashback sequences,where he plays a young Chapal,he almost surrenders to the veteran’s personality,alternating between the playful and the melodramatic. The rest of the cast supports him with studied diligence,but it’s Chapal Bhaduri who manages to steal the show. It must have been more than difficult playing himself,but Bhaduri,who has worn many masks off and on the stage,probably took this new assignment to heart. Hats off to Ganguly and his team for what can be best described as a consummate film experience.