So, yesterday I watched another movie based on Suchitra Bhattacharya's novel: Hemanter Pakhi. I have always maintained that great movies and great literature makes you think long after you finish watching or reading them. And this was definitely one of them.
I love her stories and the way she leaves her endings open for interpretation. It’s like every time she shares a very real experience with us, and then leaves us at an important juncture, as if to ask us - what would you have done?
I still remember my first visit to her house. I was in my early teens, an introvert who was more comfortable being alone with a book than around people. She was giving away her old books and my father took me to see if I wanted any from Suchitra aunty. She gave me her old battered books to take away, one of which was "The Godfather" (I still have this). I met her quite a few times after that but never spoke to her much except for hellos and routine talks that you have with acquaintances.
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| Suchitra Bhattacharya with my Chotomaa (Aunt) in my father's Book Fair Stall. |
And then I saw Dahan. And, I realized how powerful she is, how fierce, how complex…and how I never realized how lucky I was to meet her. She left a deep impression on me unknowingly, because I would then go back and try to recollect how could she write such tales. You see I always thought that the best work comes out of pain. All my favorite writers mostly had a broken life and I thought that’s where the inspiration comes from. That angst, that pain brings out the creativity. But here she was – an ordinary woman who I used to meet few times a year in Boi Mela (Kolkata book fair) or Dhakuria market or at home, who seemed exactly like the other kakimas (aunties) I used to meet, and yet she could write such extraordinary stories!
These two stories, Hemanter Pakhi and Dahan, particularly move me...
Hemanter Pakhi makes you introspect your relationships and your identity. What if tomorrow you broke the routine of your life and did something just for yourself. How supportive will be your closed ones when their lives get disrupted because of this. And for how long?
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| It is available on Hot Star. Source: Google Images |
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| Source: Google Images |
Dahan portrays middle and upper-middle class women and their
society after an incident of molestation. The fact that it’s based on an actual
case of molestation in our urban city of Kolkata is by itself horrifying. But
what Suchitra Bhattacharya has done brilliantly is shown us the aftermath of the
incident. How lives changed for everyone involved after the molestation. How it
affected the ones close to you and brought out their strength or weakness.
Dahan is a difficult movie to watch, but watch it you must.
These incidents could have happened to me, and then would the aftermath be similar to the protagonists face? These questions that she makes you ask yourself are important and thought provoking. That the brilliance of her writing.
I feel every man should watch Dahan and Hemanter Pakhi to understand how patriarchy can be subtle and woven into their mind set. A man may not even realize when he does it.
It’s like a woman saying to her husband that she wants their child to have her surname. Will the husband agree or will he find it absurd?
Suchitra Bhattacharya’s feminism is of an
ordinary woman doing something equally ordinary, but nevertheless a very
uncommon an act – standing up for what is right for her! And, at the end of the day isn't that what every feminist is fighting for?
Read her work or watch them (if you are kachaa in Bengali, as I am). She gives you credit by never coming to a conclusion, never pointing things out for you. Instead she weaves her tale into the mundane lives of the character, asking us to form our own endings.
Any Bengali worth their salt will definitely know about her books and movies but in case you don’t, here is a list:
Few reads for the feminist in you:
• Dahan
• Hementer Pakhi
• Alochchaya
• Kaacher Manush
Few reads for the reader in you:
• Kancher Deowal
• Ichcher Gaach
• Bhangal Kal
If you are a non-Bengali, try looking for these movies with subtitles. You won’t regret it!
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