Choker Bali: A Passion Play

May be this is my most favourite film otherwise how could i saw this movie for 100 times? Each and every sequence is excellently portrayed. 4 major cast did tremendous job. I specifically liked the work of tota as Bihari. When Binodini went to Bihari's place alone, omg what a beautiful conversation they had. I can see this movie at any time, plus this movie also shows the Bengali culture and the context of colonial period in india. Another special part is the poetry used in this film and background music.we a mild criticism should come for the dubbing done for ashwariya. Apart from it everything is perfevt Absolutely love this movie. Thanks to ritu for gifting us this piece of art.

Visually beautiful. With good messages. I not sure if I understand it fully but still I like it. P.S. Most unrealistic part- 2 guys rejected Aishwarya just by looking at her photo. :/

it is a really great novel and a well done movie capturing the different emotions tugging the characters in opposing directions... the mother's jealousy for her new daughter in law that her son selected to marry himself, rejecting the proposals she had brought to him. The closing of the door representing the shrinking "control" that the mother has on her child. In this setting it makes sense that she introduces a counterpoint of a beautiful ally in her household, to later live to regret it. I love that things in the story do not have an expected story arc. Having researched the bengali tradition of treatment of widows (of which there were many as the Kulin Bramhin tradition forced young girls into polygamous marriages to "high caste" old codgers), I can see why a young widow would want to experience life (ownership, materialism, sexual congress and the associate powers) for herself.

This is a typical Bengali story. Dark, depressing with an overwhelming air of gloom. It was interesting enough but dragged and went on and on a bit too much. In the original language it is probably very good. The Hindi version was not quite up to the mark. Aishwarya did not do justice to her role. Apart from looking like a beautiful young widow, and beautiful she certainly is. Everyone else acted admirably. The period settings were very good as were the costumes. Overall, I found it a bit too gloomy. Not sure what exactly was lacking, but the film could have been shorter and more tight.

Its very tough to portray a Tagore novel along cinematographic lines.And if you forget an obscure production of 1967 then its the first time that chokher bali has been done on a grand scale. Overall the sets looked fantastic with the right touches for making a successful period drama.Prasenjit,so used to doing crass commercial stuff made a good effort.I saw the Bengali version and found that Aishwariya's voice was dubbed,which made her dialog delivery a bit poor. While the director did a good job portraying each of the characters with finesse,yet there was very little in the way of meaningful plot,probably a lack of the story itself.However the development of the characters including those with minor roles seem to be the strongest point.Its tough to make some Tagore stories into films,as only the visual parts seem to get realized.

It seems a lot of Europeans and Americans see Indian movies for the wrong reason; I see some people are complaining that this movie did not have any dance sequence! A class apart from their Hindi counterparts, Bengali movies tend to be more realistic. Rituparno Ghosh is one of the best young directors in India, being widely known for his choice of subjects for the movies and the strength of his scripts. 'Chokher bali' is a perfect example. A faithful adaptation of the Nobel laureate Tagore's novel dealing with the pursuit of sexual pleasure of a Bengali widow, the director gives a new dimension to the much acclaimed and controversial work.

Ghosh's new film has source material of high pedigree (Rabindranath Tagore's novel), sumptuous production design and gorgeous sepia-toned photography, but is self-indulgently, unnecessarily long. The big crime—-in my eyes—-was not using that time to properly tie up the narrative threads. It ends with a couple of unresolved plot points, and new unrelated themes introduced in the final minutes...probably meant to demonstrate the mysteriousness of the inscrutable East, but which reeks of shoddy film-making. I am annoyed by directors who hide behind cultural exoticism (you know: how could you foreigners understand it all because we Indians are from a culture where there are many unanswered questions, and other such nonsense) and are needlessly opaque in their narrative. Anyway, former-Miss World Aishwarya Rai looks ravishing without tops (it's a period piece; none of the women wear blouses for most of the three hours...in fact, the Brits are credited with introducing the fashion of blouses, according to the film) and turns in a decent performance as the manipulative, victim-of-circumstance young widow Binodini. Not a "powerhouse, tour-de-force performance", as the Indian press is giddily trumpeting, but merely a decent one. Just a minute: do not get too excited about the topless bit; the actress is demurely covered by her saree, save for one scene where you see her bare back.

What do you do if you're Aishwarya Rai, coming off of a blockbuster film like 'Devdas', with some skeptical critics still relentlessly unsatisfied with your astounding performance or convinced by your strong screen presence and stellar acting skills, what do you do? Go home, sit down and pout? No. If you're Aishwarya Rai, you sign yourself up for the next strong period piece that comes along and continue to prove yourself worthy of all the praise, kudos, great scripts and equally great roles. And that's just what she did with and in 'Chokher Bali - a passion play' where she stars and shines as Binodini, a young widow who causes controversy way ahead of her time. Directed by Rituparno Ghosh {who later goes on to direct her in the equally stellar 'Raincoat'}, Prasenjit Chatterjee {Devdas in Bengali} costars.

The Hindi version of the film is 121 minutes. Set in Bengal in the early 1900's, the film (based on Tagore's novel) draws an analogy between the British colonization of India and the subjugation of women. An educated and beautiful woman, Binodini becomes a widow within a year of her marriage, but she does not accept the constraints imposed on her as a widow by her society. The film has a beautiful look to it but perhaps Aishwarya Rai is out of her depth in portraying Binodini's strong character with its subtle combination of idealism and deviousness. Binodini's idealism does not come across, and as a result, the analogy between women and colonization remains somewhat buried.