उनिशे अप्रैल

Well for starters, I do not comprehend Bengali..Still I was compelled to watch this national award winning epic..The story is simple, but layers of complexity in the lead characters is evident..Was just blown away by the performances of both Debashree Roy and Aparna Sen..the conversations between the mother-daughter is extremely well etched..There is an inherent freshness in the movie..mostly because of the splendid cinematography..

Unfortunately, India is associated with Bollywood..Maybe its time to check out the so-called parallel cinema movement in India..Unishi April is one such gem that you cannot refuse..

UNISHE APRIL marked the arrival of Rituparno Ghosh as a major filmmaker. Though it was his second film, it catapulted him into prominence winning quite a few National Awards in its wake. The strong point of UA is its performances - Aparna Sen and Debasree Roy act superbly in this mother- daughter tale of a missing bond between them. The film is inspired by Bergman's AUTUMN SONATA.

The weakness of the film lies in part on the script - it is a bit strange to hear that when Aditi (Debasree Roy) is in deep love with a Delhi based boy (Prasenjit) and their relationship was on for quite some time yet the fact that Aditi's mother is a Nationally renowned dancer is unknown to her paramour. The harping on suicide as a release from inner turmoil and the outside storm sequence during the night symbolising the inner turmoil of Aditi appear rather clichéd (even Satyajit Ray did this in CHARULATA towards the climax) . The supporting cast includes Dipankar Dey, Boddiswata Mazumdar and others.

The story and screenplay of the film is credited to Rituparno Ghosh.

Rating: 3.9 out of 5

Almost being a good translation of 'Autumn Sonata' by Ingmar Bergman, it gave the space and gateway to Ghosh and really set the mood in front of audiences about what Ghosh is going to make in the coming years. People say that 90's was the darkest time for indian cinema - not only bollywood, but regional ones too - and art filmmakers from every state was trying their hard to make experimental films more communicable and big budgeted movies with more vocal camera, art and editing. Unishe April was one of those torch bearers. Entirely shot in indoor sets, its script give the actors enough screen time and more than enough dialogues. And the actors, mainly the leads - Debashree Roy and Aparna Sen - filled those sets with their acting skills. This style was much unique then and stayed with Ghosh until he moved to the new, more expressive storytelling.

Unishe April (Nineteenth April) highlights the complications of a relationship between a famous professional dancer and her daughter. This is one of the best films directed by Rituporno Ghosh during his early career. The acting of the movie was splendid and you would sense the special aroma Rituporno put in his films.

Compared to modern dynamic films, Rituporno uses a static style. He would take much less shots, optmial scenes, but EACH scene will attract the spectator like a magnet, however simple that scene is.

Aparna Sen putting 'tip' on her forehead, receiving phone, family taking dinner together- these very simple yet detailed scenes stay with me after the movie ends. The conversation and complications all were perfect. There wasn't a time when you could pick a side, the mother's or the daughter's, it was so compelling.

It will stay as my all time favorite one!

This movie gives you an insight of a scattered family and the way the director has projected this upon it's audience is absolutely amazing, though I felt like the crying of Debashree Roy was too much but the acting was right up to the mark.

It gives you a sense of care for your family even if there's hatred filled in for it and somehow we all want a happy ending and closeness for the characters.