Jukti, Takko Aar Gappo

This not a fiction. It is not a documentary. It is not 'experimental'. It is hard to categorize this film. It is definitely an attempted comment on worldly existence, an essay. Though wholly subjective and completely personal. The essay is 'written' with some fictional elements, some documentary evidence and some autobiographical sketches. It is a truthful and honest account of a man, from under whose feet the mother earth was pulled away as if it was a flimsy rag. He does not want to fall, but he is falling. He is perpetually drunk. His family has deserted him. His ideology is shattered. No one gives him the attention he deserves. He is not in full control of his senses. Everything that he can feel with his senses, seem to be out of control. He wipes his face with his large paws as if to wake up from a stupid nightmare. With supreme courage he attempts a heroic journey 'inwards', towards the womb.In the end ghosts come and dance. He is confused.

This is the best of him, and maybe the most post-modern bengali film of all the time. This is the most experimental and self aware movie of Ghatak. He made this after all the ups and downs, life from the Coffee House to Poona through Khalasitola and hence, being under heavy medication. Ghatak plays a semi-self version, comments on his artist and leftist friends and even, cites commentary on himself by the latter generation. I like this to be the final film, or maybe the magnum opus of his work. There is ensemble too, loudly does present. This is about the story of a journey of an urban artist to villages and suburb. In a way, he questions himself about his past work, his negligence to his family and the futileness of everything in front of the eternal sorrow of poor people. Surprisingly, he did not try to justify the long-done self-obstruction here, but wanted to know what others think about it. How many film-makers does have guts like this?!

This movie is really getting a lower rating by the people who really don't understand what is serious movie making. This must get a 10 out of 10. This is not only my opinion but opinion of many others who have seen this movie.

The director of this movie Rwittik Ghatak also acted in this movie and demonstrated how painful a life could be with lost direction. Not having direction seems to be a fundamental problem of life for many people who think seriously about it. The division of the country ( India and Pakistan ) has painfully rooted among many who really suffered; we just realize that how painful it can be through this movie.

For serious movie watchers this is a must see movie. For casual watchers, don't see it! There is no entertainment in this movie..entertainment in common sense , I mean..there is of course, intellectual entertainment.

Ritwick Ghatak used this film as his final swan song. He brought out the bitterness that came from the lack of appreciation that he got from the viewers for his earlier films. It became the story of the forgotten genius who has lost his way and lost everything in life. His love for unified Bengal and the tragedy from the partition as well as futility of the Naxalite movement is depicted here. The other area he goes deep is the loss of creativity and culture and the blatant pimping to commercial success which he is not ready to do in real life as well as in the film. Any one who appreciates Ghatak needs to watch this film as a tribute to the wronged and forgotten genius.

This is one of the classic Indian films of the period 1970-1980. In a time when West Bengal ( the Indian portion of Bengal after the Partition of India) was in the turmoil of Naxalite politics Ritwick Ghatak comes up with this masterpiece. It should be noted that he wrote the script, produced and directed "Jukti Takko Aar Gappo'. The film has long sequences (shorter though than Ghatak's other films) and is edited quite well. The music draws heavily on Tagore's compositions and Bengal folk music and also includes much instrumental music composed by Ghatak himself.

Ghatak was affected by the Indian Partition in his personnel life and which greatly moulded his outlook to the world. He leant heavily on leftist political themes in his work but he always manages to deliver a message. Nilkantha is a hopeless drunkard who cannot rid himself of his addiction. He eventually loses wife and son and is forced to set off on a road in search of food and shelter. He takes along with him a wretched homeless women who has crossed the border from Bangladesh and his younger relation of his. While on the road he meets many similar people out on the road with him. He likes those who find solace in the bottle like him, a theme which comes up in a repetitive way in the films. Ghatak manages to show many sights and sounds of rural Bengal. In this depiction he is a master and depicts his homeland with an expert eye. The song by the Bangamala sounds quite melodious while she's singing but reality for Nilkantha and his groups starts immediately when it stops. To use film as a medium to show this is quite Ghatak's achievement considering the long sequences that he uses. Ghatak is a master in showing the world of the alcoholic with its bouts of drinking, wandering and loitering. Eventually the aimless alcoholic meets his end by an arbitrary police bullet just when he is to be reunited with his son. The police carry his remains away and silence descends on the forest. Life goes as ever. Can an alcoholic, even after many failed attempts, be eventually cured by contact and love of his family? One cannot tell because the state intervenes with bullets intended to kill terrorists (the Naxalites were branded as such in the 1970s) and the wretched alcoholic is caught in the crossfire and dies.