Paroma

At the very outset, we are greeted with the sublime radiance of Paroma: the way she keeps the clock at her in-laws ticking is a treat to watch. Little can we conjecture then that this ordered edifice would crumble, though it seems like a lull before a storm. The sprouting up of the clandestine amour & it's being watered at an increasing frequency does Paroma in at last. Aparna Sen's direction here, as in 'Mr & Mrs Iyer', is so true & exemplary. The film is a feast of moving ideas, so to speak, & remains long after you have watched the film. We must not forget Aparna's skill in forging up such a moving story & turning it into a plausible script.

Parama is a housewife in Calcutta whose life is turned upside down when handsome photographer Rahul returns from America and decides to make a photoessay on the traditional Bengali housewife; Parama is chosen as the quintessential example of such. Superficially Parama is fulfilling her traditional role, she is living the bourgeois hoped-for life, running a well-to-do household, her husband is very successful. But we quickly learn that Parama is a shell of herself, taken for granted by her husband, and the artistic part of herself has shrivelled away, she has sleepwalked into self-death.

Rahul helps her to push her boundaries (visualized by a perilous rooftop climb) and to remember her true self. She falls in love. She starts to play the sitar again, and yearns after a beloved plant variety from her childhood, the name of which she has forgotten.

Various adventures and the obligatory incaution that develops in romantic affairs follow.

My favourite memories are of Parama playing the sitar whilst it rains, it is almost like she is creating the raindrops, the scene made my hair stand on air. Also there is a nice visual of the pair of lovers climbing a spiral staircase, spiritually ascending as it were, to their love nest. I note that the plant in the movie is likely different from the genus named. In the movie the plant is referred to as Euphorbia, but Euphorbia are very visually distinguishable by their chartreuse colouration. I think rather that the name is used because of its meaning in ancient greek, "true joy". For Parama, to connect to the world of feelings from her childhood is true joy.

The lesson we are meant to learn is that life is nothing without creativity, autonomy, and without your foundations.

Parama, the Bengali word means a lot: the great, the best, the original and beyond everything in femininity. In traditional sense a lady identified with the best of the qualities is Parama. The film uncovers the ruthless confinements of gender in traditional patriarchal social setting. In the name of tradition an honest and helpless lady Parama is compelled to pass through the painful experience, though she reaches a great private realization. The articulate narrative may also be (re)viewed as a critical discourse on an ethical emancipation of a particular individual, of gender identity and also of the concerned society from within. On doing so the film effectively questions the orthodoxy, insensible norms and redefines (ab)normality.

Parama, the central character of the film--greatly represented by the actress Raakhi Gulzar-- is a common, sincerely devoted, housewife in an urban, affluent, middle-class, joint family living traditionally in a third world metropolis. Parama looks bright, yet indecisive and unmindful in her lonely moments. The film authentically portrays the stereotypical life of Parama, whose sacrifices of individual potential and desire for the sake of family belong to the ideal traditions of the society. Nothing would have been wrong with the smooth life of innocent Parama and her relatives unless much younger Rahul would have started to feel for her. Even the screenplay takes a new turn after the arrival of Rahul. The close shots become more frequent. Introvert Parama emerges prominent and sensitive among diverse members of the large family.

Bengalee in origin an American photographer Rahul comes to Parama's family in Kolkata for recording the lineage tradition of celebrating the largest sacred Bengali festival. Parama-sakti, the central deity is the most sacred local goddess. Almost as a sequel of it Rahul chooses Parama to feature an ideal Bengalee housewife. In featuring her Rahul also accompanies Parama to a nostalgic and unconventional journey to her beloved past in Kolkata. The movements of camera, the uses of long shot and the variation of light significantly match the contexts. A viewer, now, might realize the success of Aparna Sen in transforming the mere non-human elements into characters, which authentically enhance the depths of the contexts. An old mansion, a room in an attic, the traditional utensils, the corners of an old city, a few plants etc. appear in those physical details, which suggest their own biographies and silent roles to create an interactive background in the play. In such free play memory is supposed to get a new life.

The freedom of desired commemoration, a rebuilding of the private identity as well helps a different Parama coming out in the fullest of her grace. She recovers her vision about some of her unanswered quarries of the past and crosses the limits of present social norms. She enters into a different present with his (ab)normal friend Rahul. The consequence of the exposure of her secret private identity takes its own "traditional" course of public responses. Parama is socially exiled and made "meaningless". After experiencing prolonged trauma Parama moves beyond the fear of death. She recovers her honest feelings, which reject either to find out any guilt for loosing her "prestigious" roles or to regain the same. She reaches a new life. Two representations have their real and metaphorical support to the recovery of Parama: the desperate desire for freedom of her "abnormal" aunt, who was confined in a remote room and her another bold friend, who infrequently appears only to respond to the felt problems of Parama. The narration concludes when in the wonderful, soft light of afternoon the camera zooms in the Rahul's gift of a living plant--the name of which beloved plant Parama forgot to remember after childhood.

The screenplay, the cinematography, the casting, the editing and above all the direction are fascinating. Only Mukul Sharma, as Rahul is oddly stiff in that sensitive masculine role. The critics also recognize the popular regional blockbuster as a genuinely easy and outstandingly artistic treatment of the theme, which transcends the boundary of its particular narrative. In historical context of Indian cinema Aparna Sen remains a pioneer in addressing the urban gender situations with such a different and general appeal.

I watched this movie several times - I love watching movies which are realistic / life like and are different / not routine Bollywood dramas. This one scores the most in my opinion.

Rakhee is beautiful and has performed superbly as Paroma. Her innocence as a housewife is characteristics of many women in real life. She represents many housewives in Indian society for whom the family constitutes the entire world and they are content and happy in that role. It is very rare that some stranger will come and disturb this harmony - but in this case Rakhee's beauty attracts a young photographer and her life changes drastically. They fall in love and also have sex affair. This is unusual but may be happening more than we know - mostly underground affairs are not brought out in light.

The movie also sheds light on the double standards existing in society where women are held to higher standard of morality. Her husband had affairs himself but still could not tolerate his wife having an affair. Such is fact of life - the movie captures these kind of facts beautifully.

Superb direction....Great job by all