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A serious topic of land exploitation, but too small in soul to carry its weight. Dakhal runs slightly over an hour and deals with the grave subject of landlords exploiting land ownership. The story revolves around Andi, a woman who was married for 12 years and bore two children before her husband's death. After his passing, the land should naturally belong to his wife and children, who are the rightful heirs. But a deceitful landlord tries to seize it through lies. In court, the tribal woman is insulted, called a whore, and forced to prove that she was indeed married and that the children are legitimate. Enraged, she lashes out at both the landlord and the judge. Seeking revenge, the landlord burns down her house, leaving her with nothing. Since she once lived as a gypsy, she is offered to rejoin the tribe, but as a human, as a woman, why should she accept that fate? This is essentially what Dakhal is about-a story that might have worked well as a short film, but stretched into a feature without enough drama or momentum to sustain it. Still, the artistic storytelling, strong performances, and technical finesse make it worth watching. Mamta Shankar leads with ease, rock solid as a widow with a commanding voice. The supporting cast shines in their brief roles. The cinematography has shades of foreign cinema, while the editing keeps things crisp. Gautam Ghose's film carries social importance, yet feels too small for a feature and too late for any true revolution. Still, the effort deserves appreciation. Overall, a decent film elevated slightly by Sushil Jana's writing, though the awards showered on it certainly misled me. Not as great as it is made out to be.

Andi is a young gypsy woman who falls in love with and marries Joga, a peasant of different caste and creed. Together they cultivate some land, but when tragedy strikes, their unscrupulous landlord conspires with the authorities to repossess Andi and Joga's land. Ignore the familiarity of the often repeated (in Bengal) story of the lower caste peasant fighting against archaic tribal and feudal systems, because you will be swept away by the honesty, beauty, and compelling structure of this very human drama.