Konkana Sen's Directorial Debut and much awaited film from Indie circuit finally released in India for theatre audiences this Friday after winning hearts at MAMI, TIFF and BUSAN International Film Festival. The film not only opens up a different genre for cinema in India (or revisits a lost one) but could also be considered as one of the best directorial debuts from India.
'A Death in the Gunj' keeps you engaging throughout the journey which starts with a bunch of cousins, friends and old parents going for a family holiday to the countryside (called 'Gunj' here). The film is set near Ranchi in Bihar (now Jharkhand) in 1979 and everyone in the film is still very much in the 'Colonial Hangover'. The house is an old and huge one which would have been constructed during the colonial times for the very purpose of holidaying.
The film is essentially the story of twenty-three year old 'Shutu' who though a grown up man but is bullied, unknowingly and knowingly, by his elders. He is 'treated as a girl' for not being able to toughen up as a man. His bullying ranges from being physically beaten to as subtle as the elders telling him to do petty tasks for them while he is busy with something else ( 'Shutu, get me my shawl', 'Shutu, get me a cup of custard', 'Do this' or 'Do that'). While Shutu tries to ignore their bullying and spends most of his time with the eight-year old daughter to his cousin, the others remain ignorant to Shutu's feelings.
'A Death in the Gunj' is a beautiful story with the essential depth that's present in only the good literary works. There is always a sense of mystery and spookiness throughout the film due to it being shot in the coutryside. It's the same feeling you get when you visit such a place for real. The extent of mystery and spookiness never overgrows to overshadow the aspect of realism, which is very rare for a stroyteller. There is no narration in the film but it progresses in way that you feel it is being narrated.
Personally, watching this film was an experince similar to watching a Satyajit Ray film or reading a Rabindranath Tagore story. It's a film to be watched and celebrated. Also watch Aranyer Din Ratri by Satyajit Ray if you come to appreciate this film as much as I do.
'A Death in the Gunj' keeps you engaging throughout the journey which starts with a bunch of cousins, friends and old parents going for a family holiday to the countryside (called 'Gunj' here). The film is set near Ranchi in Bihar (now Jharkhand) in 1979 and everyone in the film is still very much in the 'Colonial Hangover'. The house is an old and huge one which would have been constructed during the colonial times for the very purpose of holidaying.
The film is essentially the story of twenty-three year old 'Shutu' who though a grown up man but is bullied, unknowingly and knowingly, by his elders. He is 'treated as a girl' for not being able to toughen up as a man. His bullying ranges from being physically beaten to as subtle as the elders telling him to do petty tasks for them while he is busy with something else ( 'Shutu, get me my shawl', 'Shutu, get me a cup of custard', 'Do this' or 'Do that'). While Shutu tries to ignore their bullying and spends most of his time with the eight-year old daughter to his cousin, the others remain ignorant to Shutu's feelings.
'A Death in the Gunj' is a beautiful story with the essential depth that's present in only the good literary works. There is always a sense of mystery and spookiness throughout the film due to it being shot in the coutryside. It's the same feeling you get when you visit such a place for real. The extent of mystery and spookiness never overgrows to overshadow the aspect of realism, which is very rare for a stroyteller. There is no narration in the film but it progresses in way that you feel it is being narrated.
Personally, watching this film was an experince similar to watching a Satyajit Ray film or reading a Rabindranath Tagore story. It's a film to be watched and celebrated. Also watch Aranyer Din Ratri by Satyajit Ray if you come to appreciate this film as much as I do.
