Aarohan

Blind faith in horoscope predictions can destroy families and relationships. Pinaki Chaudhuris Aarohan spells out the tragedy of Suryashekhar Soumitra Chatterjee,a living example. His life is dictated solely by what his horoscope says. He decides to go to Benares with wife Mrinalini Sandhya Roy because his horoscope shows his death at 75. They come to stay at Moksha Bhavan,a shelter for dying Hindus who are permitted to stay there for one month and must leave if the person does not die within that time. Before leaving,the couple is thrilled to meet NRI grandson Arijit Samadarshi Dutta. Arijit uses sound logic to make his grandfather see sense,in vain. The drama of life reduces the arrogant,self-indulgent and stubborn Suryashekhar to a broken-hearted,defeated soul who returns to Kolkata with his wife and Kasturi Rituparna Sengupta,a Bihari girl who is pregnant with Arijits baby and disowned by her gay husband Rajesh Sharma .

Pinaki Choudhury explores a serious issue but loses his way in too many sub-plots that confuse the core content filled with repeated boredom and patronising speeches. The depressing scenes at Moksha Bhavan make the film morbid. The sub-plots such as Suryashekhars conflict with son Alok Siddhartha Chatterjee in the past and in the present,Arijits sexual encounter with Kasturi and her subsequent pregnancy,her husbands gay orientation,the kothewali-turned-spiritual womans dance in flashback and the caretakers confused attitude are needless intrusions into an original subject. Suryashekhars disillusionment with horoscopes is neatly undercut when he takes the unlettered,rustic Kasturi to Kolkata not because she is a pregnant woman thrown away by her husband but because she is carrying his progeny. His transformation comes from his sons sudden death and not from any inner realisation.

Within the layers of this serious issue,Chaudhuri uses a badly-choreographed and cinematographed kotha dance,a dream scene showing Kasturi singing and dancing in the fields visualising Arijit as a flute-playing lover,a well-orchestrated intimate kiss between Arijit and Kasturi,a crudely presented shot of gay sex,too many coincidences and just too many songs. The musical score and the songs are very good but they intrude into the flow. A voiceover in clipped English by N. Viswanathan reminds one of tourism-promotion documentaries. The film dips into Arijits American twang,Suryashekhars Indian English,the caretakers good Hindi,Kasturis Bihari dialect and Bengali. This takes away from the films Bengali identity to some extent.

Rituparna executes a multi-layered Kasturi beautifully. Kasturi is an aggressive,Bihari woman who is as brazen about her pregnancy sired by another man as she is responsible towards her dying mother-in-law,tending to Suryashekhar when he falls ill,vulnerable when left alone on the ghats of Benares. One feels sad that her lines seem to have been dubbed by someone elses.

Sandhya Roy is in complete command. Soumitra is good. Samadarshi is the very picture of a NRI Bengali caught in the tussle between his father and grandfather,his duty towards his widowed mother and the girl he wants to marry. He is refreshing,handsome and spontaneous.

Tulika Basu is moving but Siddhartha Chatterjee is a disaster. The confrontation between Suryashekhar and Alok could have been kept off-frame. The cinematography is good in the night scenes but tends to fall flat in the dream scene. The editing leaves room for improvement.

Ratring: The film deserves three stars 8211; one for the powerful subject,one for the acting and one for the musical score.