On your face, parents!
I wanted ‘Bela Seshe’ to be nice feel good film but it ended up being one of the deep films I have watched in Bengal Cinema, in lieu of my all-time favorite Bengali film, “Aranyer Din Ratri”. When the film started with all the people and so much fun around that, I thought the film will make me forget the present and would make me happy for two and a half hours. Even though it did not happen, it took it one-step further and make me appreciate the life I already have, both the joy and sorry, problems and ecstasy. It is one of the rare breeds, which strikes the chord perfectly.
When I thought why in spite of all the time spent with each other, old couples still fight, wont it be better to divorce after the so-called “responsibilities” are over, if at all the relationship does not work. The films premise is exactly the same and made me think how selfish I was. Whenever I see my parents unhappy, I think the above as solution. Even if I get unhappy at their age, I feel that would be the wise thing to do. However, sometimes we are wrong. Just talking it out solves most of the problem, like it happens in the movie.
I remember a dialogue from Pasanga where a middle aged man advised another one on how he started keeping quite whenever he gets into an argument with wife, and how first the children sided him knowing that he’s correct and latter his wife too corrected the mistake. Similarly ‘Bela Seshe’ explains us what really works in an Indian family. The good thing about the film is it is so rooted yet does not fall into false pretentions of showing the value of culture. I guess this would be my go to movie to display to my parents on any occasion, like how ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is a family film during Christmas.
The beauty of the movie is, even though it is a movie about an elderly couple, Bishwanath Majumdar (Soumitra Chaterjee) and Aarati Majumdar (Swatilekha Sengupta), there are hell lot of characters in the form of their sons, daughters, grandfathers and granddaughters. And, each have their own life and their own problem. They do not fall into any template; they do not fit any equation. In fact, until the point where Bishwanath gives the divorce notice to his wife, we feel that the film would be about the crisis of various sons and daughters and how the elderly couple would solve it. That was quite a shocker to see that scene come up all of a sudden.
Even though all the children look busy for themselves and selfish with their perspective, the film was not about the money, which was beautiful to watch. Just the way, their daughters fight for their necklace shows it out so effortlessly. They want the necklace for its beauty and not for its value or some silly remembrance. That is a neat way to represent how the family is together in spite of not being always available. Guess only ‘Kapoor & Sons’ had a great family setup in the recent past. Otherwise, it would be either a disoriented family or a lovey dovey one like the ones in Karan Johar.
What I thought was dragging until that point where he announces the divorce became a great feel good film post that. Even when the judge says only they two have to go on a trip, Aarati takes the whole family with her. These nuances played out really well.
constantscribbles 