চালচিত্র (১৯৮১)
By Mrinal Sen
I, despite being a fervent film enthusiast, did not get to see many films with my family as an adult. I will not elaborate on the agents that barred our way—but recently we've gathered together for a few limited film viewings. Naturally, I had to choose films shot in a language that would be comprehensible to my elderly parents as I suspected they would not bother to sit through a foreign film they didn't understand a single word of and I should note that they didn't have any experience reading the subtitles either. So when the time was nigh, I selected "Caleidoscope (chalchitra)" by Mrinal Sen from 1981.
A young, unemployed Calcuttan man, named Dipu, goes to a big publisher, the father of one of his friends, hoping to nail a writing job. Dipu appears to be smart, quick on his feet—and he is associated with small-time publishing himself, little mags and all. The publisher (played by Utpal Dutt, a veteran Indian actor) asks Dipu to document his own life, and the people around him, to make a report on the middle-class Calcuttan life.
Chalchitra is a cynical look at society through a monocle of comedy. Dipu discovers the internal struggles his family and neighbors regularly engage in for the first time in his life. He lives with his parents (as that's the norm in this part) in a suburb housing system where many families share a building where rooms are adjacent to each other and the families have to share a single courtyard and other facilities to function daily. As the daily clashes between families commence, Dipu finds material for his story. And when there are no stories, he proceeds to ignite one!
But the filmmaker isn't mocking the middle-class struggle, he actually plays the role of the benevolent protector. The curious eye of the rich that sometimes whimsically tries to seek out the ins and outs of middle-class life for the fun of it—gets gouged. In dreams of course. Can Dipu's personal ambition be separated from his middle-class milieu? I wonder that myself while representing a similar one.
Title photo is a screenshot taken from the film.
You can read more of my film and literature related articles on my hive blog page.
The film looks good in the first glance, but in fact - what amazes me to look at the subject that most of the talanted filmmakers are from Calcutta, who have shown a very fine touch of heritage and of art we see in their native films.
One thing pretty exceptional that looke to me, they never forget to add a distinct touch of their poetic sensibilities and the lifestyle Calcutta is famous for.
Maybe, a convenient time would be there to watch the film in Boom Box Set.
Nice review!, 👍
Mrinal Sen was born in Bangladesh, Faridpur to be precise. But he lived and made films in Kolkata. I essentially do not make a distinction here, he was an asset to the language and its speakers. True, the film's setting is Calcutta, but the same lifestyle could easily be seen as that of Puran dhaka.
I gotta take a look at it again. How was the print? Is that a 'MUBI' film?
The print was good, yep, saw this on Mubi.
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