Life changes so fast … last January was all about excitement, anticipation, anxiety … an unseen future, an unknown country … the dawn of the new year broke with a new hope, a new vigour albeit stained with the little pain of leaving home. But the unforeseen prospect, the enchantment of a dream like realm named Singapore enveloped the mind … then came the “going away” time and I left my home, city, country to embrace the new and to be true Singapore overwhelmed me with love and acceptance.
Then suddenly came the returning home time in June and for the first time I understood how I missed my city and cared for it in the midst of thousands of complaints against the traffic, pollution etc etc. I ‘returned’ to Kolkata for a month long vacation, “the return of the native” … I enjoyed … then ‘returned back’ to Singapore …till the December came with the thrill of Indian winter … It was ‘Going” home time!
Today after shivering through my joyous days in Kolkata winter … I am ‘returning’ back to Singapore … and then it struck me…
Now I no longer “return home” … I “go there” to “return back” to Singapore …or do I return to both?
The "other" is always intriguing. The “other” by virtue of their non-conformity are always on the wrong side. It never needs to be anti-establishment with a full galore, but just a little deviation tags someone “other”, the demarcation faces the fundamental question of righteousness though! And our society, by the primal urge to multiply, has therefore accepted the heterosexual world to be the supreme, the one and the only one, the “straight”. Societies are essentially phallo-centric, so one phallus’ submission to another probably endangers the epitome position of males in this society, thought to be dominated by them!
But it is not only Gay … the ‘subaltern-no-person’ existence is not even doubly marginalized, they are totally obliterated. The gays are marginalized, the are the women (may be) but this remaining oblivious towards the third sex altogether negates them from the societal periphery. Interestingly enough this concept is not new to Indian culture, cross-dressing had been a part of it from its inception, as obvious in the description of Vishnu as Mohini or Arjun as Vrihannala. But modern society remained always hushed up. It needed a jerk from the root to let the society face itself in a mirror with all its gleams and scars embedded on its face. Now it is up to the society to decide whether it will accept itself as it is or put the veil again to conform to an apparent ‘normalcy’. Kaushik Ganguly’s Arekti Premer Golpo (Just Another Love Story) hits the punch … frames after frames, scenes after scenes , dialogue after dialogues …it explores 3rd sex, bisexuality, vulnerability , hypocrisy and pathetic plight inflicted … lives are ruined but all are busy keeping up to that ‘expected normalcy’.
Arekti Premer Golpo is a path breaking movie in many ways. Seldom is the issue of androgyny used in films, more particularly Indian movies. The issue of man to man love has been there in many films, but such serious sensitive portrayal is remote. Onir’s My Brother Nikhil dealt with it, true, but the vulnerability of those involved in it and the cruel intrusion of the society was not portrayed there.
The most interesting part of the film was undoubtedly the plot and the subplot played by the same people. The story of Chapal Kumar Bhaduri , the yester year theatre legend, who enthralled audience by his feminine roles and who happens to be the first self-proclaimed gay actor of Bengali stage, is just a trope. Kaushik deftly uses his story to hinge upon his own story of androgynous people in the society, whose existence in almost wiped out for some obscure reason. The story of Chapal Rani is the sub-plot which universalizes the main plot where the Delhi based Roop makes a documentary on the legend. Roop’s boyfriend is Basu ( played by Indronil) , a bi-sexual man and his wife is played by Churni ( character’s name Rani). The story unfurls through the intricate psychological proceedings in the characters.
Rituparno stands out as usual … what an actor! He plays the role with aplomb. Both his young Chapal and Roop are piteously vulnerable at the hands of the society. They are used, abused, misused before being thrown away. They exist in the ‘abyss of nothingness’ and even being great exponents in their fields they ever remain the butt of all ridicule.
Indronil stuns as the helpless bisexual man, torn between love and social restrictions. He fails out in his balancing acts and seek recluse in a woman, albeit betraying himself. The last scene will remain one of his best ever acting … so helpless, devastated … he had loved Roop genuinely but could not gather himself to discard the society, his wife and the unborn baby. He acts under absolute compulsion and obligation … his desperate clinging on to Roop is heart wrenching.
The wife seemed to be as helpless as scheming. If she had to accept Roop or Chapal in her husbands life, that I felt was not out of her liberation. Rather in Chapal’s case she accepted under compulsions as she was bed-ridden and she had children. In case of Basu she waited for the baby to come as she knew that she could score over Roop in that point only. She didn’t have an answer when confronted with the question ‘what would have been her reaction had Roop been a woman?’
Jisshu plays a silent admirer in both the plots…almost a foil to Indronil.
The film is complicated … raising questions after questions …who gains from shunning these people? Rather people could have gained if they were let to live the life they wanted to. The film is an absolute mature deal with the issue. Even if a wee bit of the cine-goers change their outlook towards these people … the film will be a grand success … Bengali filmdom with this movie has finally attained adulthood. Its not bold enough to portray nudity only … even without that this film stands out in its time … a film that will curve out a niche for itself … not for its content only, but for the handling of the same too.
