Kashma Kash - Die fremde Ehefrau (2011) Online

A cinematic retelling of a Tagore classic where the predecessor (cinematic) boasted legends like Soumitra, Aparna Sen, Utpal Dutta & Rabi Ghosh is no mean feat. Rituporno Ghosh has attempted and succeeded in the hard task of presenting Tagore to a new generation of viewers bought up in this cyber era. Before you start watching you would wonder how a cast of Jishu Sengupta and the Sen sisters would hold up to the aforementioned cast. You would think that this endeavor would fall flat on its face due to the apparent inexperience of the present cast when compared to the old one but you would do well to trust the eccentric genius of Rituporno. Even though he has a habit of taking cinematic liberties (Chokher Bali for instance)this time he has stayed true to Tagore and interspersed the entire film with Tagore references and delightful selection of Rabindra sangeet. Its like a love song - a poetic tribute to our beloved bard. His knowledge of all things Tagore seems unparalleled. Its his effort that hides the acting inadequacies of this young cast. His presentation of this beloved tale makes you ignore that. You hardly even notice the lack of histrionic talent.

For a Tagore sophomore like me it was mesmerizing. And gut wrenching!! Tagore, through his work, had this ability to provide the entire spectrum of sheer joy and heart stopping pain. Such beauty! No wonder his work still outsells any modern work in Bengal. This movie combines the best of both world - Tagore's writing and Rituporno's direction. It should be watched by everybody who calls and thinks themselves Tagore lovers. This one linger long in your mind. Vintage Rituporno!! Feels like Tagore works are experiencing a renaissance....

Bhengeche Duaar, esheche jyotirmoy

Tomari hok joy!!!

"Noukadubi" is the original Bengali title for this film. However, the version available to me ("Kashmakash") was translated in Hindi--and the film was edited down a bit. I cannot compare the original to the one I saw, but assume the editing was probably a good thing, as the shorter version still has a very slow and deliberate pace--and didn't seem at all rushed.

The story is based on a story by the same name by Rabindranath Tagore. However, "Kashmakash" is the skeleton of the original story and has been changed a bit--which is not particularly surprising--especially since the original story was about 90 years old.

Ramesh is a law student who has fallen in love with Hemnalini. However, Ramesh's father has picked out another women, Susheela, for him to marry. While his first impulse is still to marry Hemnalini, it is the 1920s and he is also moved by Susheela's mother and so he abandons his original plan to marry his beloved.

When Ramesh is on his boat leaving with his bride, a storm breaks out and the boat is capsized. He survives and finds his new wife on shore--and he takes her home. However, eventually he realizes that this woman is a bride--but NOT his!! It seems that another boat was also capsized--his new wife died and this other one just happened to be nearby in her capsized boat! Now here is the part I didn't understand. Why didn't he just tell her of the mistake and return to Hamnalini--especially since they have never consummated their marriage even after several months?! Instead, he keeps it to himself and broods. Because of this, I really disliked Ramesh and wanted to see nasty things happen to him.

More time passes. The new wife, Kamala, sees an old notice in the paper and realizes she is NOT Ramesh's wife. So, she does what any good Indian woman would do--leaving him a letter apologizing for getting in the way and killing herself. BUT, she does not drown when she walks into the river and is taken in by some holy men who bring her back to health. Later, she is given a job working as a maid in the home of a doctor--who just happens to be the man she was to have really married!! But, by now, the nice doctor has fallen in love. And, coincidence of coincidences, he's in love with Hemnalini--the woman Ramesh fell in love with at the beginning of the film!! And, since Hemnalini has learned that Ramesh is married, she is free to give her heart to the doctor. What will become of this incredibly complicated mess?!

I must admit that the plot to "Kashmakash" is ridiculous. The number of coincidences exceeds the viewer's capacity to suspend disbelief. However, despite a story you can't possibly believe, the film works well for many reasons. It has great music and cinematography--and looks lovely. Also, it unfolds so nicely that you can allow yourself to let go and enjoy the film. I also liked the style of singing in the film. While the film does have the required Bollywood allotment of singing, they are not the huge production numbers you often see and are much more personal and subtle. And, overall, it's well worth your time even if I STILL have no idea why the guy didn't just set things right when he FIRST discovered the woman was not his bride.

Noukadubi (The Boatwreck) is Rituparno Ghosh's adaptation of the Rabindranath Tagore novel bearing the same title.

The plot of Noukadubi deals with a case of mistaken identity and the ensuing choices and about how it affects the lives of a number of people. Rituparno Ghosh, one of the best film directors at present, is a master of building films around human relationships and he does very well yet again with this Tagore novel.

Jishu Sengupta, Raima Sen, Riya Sen and Prosenjit Chatterjee play the four central characters. Dhritiman Chatterjee and Laboni Sarkar play other major characters. The plot is an integral part of enjoying the film in case one has not experienced the novel previously. Hence, this review steers clear of spoiling the plot, apart from stating that it revolves around a quadrangular interaction between Ramesh, Hemnalini, Kamala and Nalinaksha involving several twists in the plot and subsequently, in the fates of these characters.

The film is dominated in terms of screen time by Jishu Sengupta and Riya Sen, while Prosenjit's character has notably less time and presence. Jishu delivers a measured performance as does Raima. While one expects Raima to act out a character like hers here with ease, the revelation in this film is her sister Riya. Riya delivers a strong performance, which was critical to hinge the film together, in her portrayal of a victim of an unfortunate series of events. Prosenjit, in a guest appearance of sorts, shows his class truly. One of the more memorable sequences of the film for me belongs to him where he lip-syncs to a hymn sung by Srikanto Acharya sitting on a riverbank structure. The scene is magical in its serenity and is an enduring image from the film.

Talking of music, Rituparno has utilized the beauty and power of Rabindrasangeet with great sensitivity in the past and Noukadubi is an addition to that list. While a poignant scene between a father and his daughter is perhaps the best in terms of word-laden moments, the heavy score in the tunes of a more famous song by the bard fits another critical moment in the film perfectly and is bolstered by some stunning cinematography.

In conclusion, Noukadubi is certainly not among Rituparno's best but it is definitely a good treat for a Tagore aficionado. For an audience unfamiliar with Tagore, the goosebumps could be missing in cases where Rituparno's love for Tagore is resonating and vocal in how he describes emotions through the novelist's own words and tunes, but it is beautiful cinema nonetheless.

Whenever Bengali cinema dines with Tagore, it ends up painting a rather poignant picture. This could not be truer for Rituparno Ghosh's Noukadubi (Kashmakash). I watched the Bengali original so can't really comment on the Hindi dub-over.

However, the film itself is breathtakingly haunting. On the face of it, Tagore's world of emotional upheavals seems overly dramatic to the 21st century eye and yet Rituparno's script presents the story in all its elegant heartbreak.

Raima Sen was as graceful and poised as she was vulnerable and devastated, a shining persona for Hemnalini. Jisshu Sengupta's Ramesh was measured to perfection. The real tour de force of the epic was Riya Sen, however. Her Kamala was playful and innocent and yet could bring down the whole audience with a flutter of her lashes and a quiver of her lip. There was a disarming kind of innocence which would surely leave audiences devastated when she found out the falseness of her world.

The only criticism I had was the length. The weight that the songs had on the story was apparent (especially in the original Bengali) but to have so many full length songs added to the length of what was already a graceful promenade of a film. In the end, audiences who've never heard Rabindrasangeet may think the film about the songs as much as the story.

All things considered, however, the story as presented by Rituparno's masterful script and direction is one which should be seen by everyone but is one which is probably suited to a specific niche.

Kashmakash class-clash When you have Rabindranath Tagore scripting a story for you and a director of stature like Rituparno Ghosh has it, there has to be a classic touch with it. Subhash Ghai roped in Gulzar to help Hindi audiences to narrate the Bengali story Noukadubi. This film was made in 70's both in Bengali and Hindi, while Dilip kumar played the protagonist in the previous make. Earlier Ghosh has taken Tagore's Choker Bali and painted in silver screen with a grace. The national award winning director again got inspired from Tagore on the likes of Satyajit Ray and Guru Dutt.

The camera was superb in portraying rich India in 1920, where the story was set. Though it moved very slow but was able to capture the beauty in its best. The costumes were perfect especially the wedding sarees. The Art had a vintage touch through out the movie. Most of the movie was shot indoors with long shots. The camera moved slowly with poetry of Gulzar sahib. The story may not look feasible for those born in 2000 as there were pair of husbands and wives who didn't see each other's face even days after their marriage, wife could not speak out their husband's name and the nobility was such that you really stand on your words. But we all know India was such in early 1900 in villages. The social norms were always male dominated. However like Guru dutt, Ghosh also portrays his female leads strongly, better than those times.

The actors played their best performances, esp the sen sisters. Raima sen did deliver her best with those cajoled eyes. She played a strong girl yet vulnerable. Her dad played by Dhritman Chatterjee was one of the matured character and Dhritman did the justice completely. So was the male protagonist Jissu, He held his expressions for the silence. He got very few lines and more screen presence. When you have a story like this, its a director's job to make sure e does a good casting. While Prosenjit had a very few frames, but he did averagely. When we talk about the lyrics, Gulzar was not at its best , but the poetic verses were very likable. The songs (Singers and music) could not do justice to the literary giant. The screenplay was good and gave a impact of early 20th century. On the flip side, the movie dragged a bit. It was slow but definitely not tardy. The Hindi dubbing spoiled the mood and the expressions a bit. The lip sync was not at all good, but I will appreciate the effort to bring this cinema for Hindi audiences A serious watch for mature audiences.