Indrani

'Indrani' stars the legendary pair of Bengali cinema Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. Both actors are as likable as ever. In 'Indrani' they play two lovers who get married against their parents' wish. Then trouble arises in paradise when Indrani (Suchitra Sen) gets a job offer at a prestigious school while her husband struggles to find employment. After a spat, the husband leaves for another city and comes across a stranger who shows him how he can put his education and knowledge to good use without struggling for a job. Inspired by the stranger, he follows his lead and gradually makes something of himself by investing in others. When Indrani hears of this, she takes time off work and rushes off to tell her husband how proud she is but will he turns her down and asks her to leave.

I think the story could have been better balanced as it tend to drag at some portions. Moreover, Indrani seems absent in the second half (considering that she is the title character). The songs are nice but a few of them are repetitive. I absolutely loved the background score. So nostalgic! So whimsical. I particularly liked the flute pieces.

In spite of its faults, I still liked 'Indrani' because it was fun to see Uttam and Suchitra play a married couple and they are just magic on screen.

It seems this movie becoming more relevant amid the post Y2K digital age Indian movie buffs. As the storyboard(of Indrani) is so ahead of it's time(released in 1958)that it's importance ignored but the movie was commercially successful just like any other predictable Uttam Kumar- Suchitra Sen starrer. The egocentric problems related with educated smart & working Bengali housewives were not so frequently reflected in Indian silver screen at that time of Nehruvian economy based India. But,Niren Lahiri's Indrani exactly did penetrate into that zone. Later,but soon after, Ghatak's MDT & Ray's Mahangar with much more brilliance penetrated with that zone again,& both of MDT & Mahanagar are naturally included within World class cinema's essential & frequently verified lists. Yes,Indrani just can't be considered as a movie with International standard.,unlike MDT & Mahanagar & even Saptapadi or Jotugriho(another great movie by Tapan Sinha that deals with the working Indian married couples turmoils). But,through it's storyboard this Uttam- Suchitra starrer is becoming more inspiring & appealing to the new age educated self-confident Indian womanhood ,thus it's still relevant.