Utsab

It just a story of well crafted bengali bonidi family. The qesessential drama of a joint bengali family well excuted

Simple plot with complex emotions that was conveyed in a perfect manner by Rituparno Ghosh. Came to watch it after watching Raincoat (which is another masterpiece by Ghosh). Mamata Shankar was a treat to watch in the movie.

The very start of the movie will take you to the nostalgia of Durga Puja. You will start to feel the vibe if you are familiar with village durga puja. Everyone in the family has came to village for the holidays. But their personal problems has accompanied them. The problems deepens when Shishir, one of their cousin has proposed to buy their house. All the family members need to solve some of the problems in a subtle way to reach to conclusion to decide whether they should sell the house or not.

I have always enjoyed the films of Rituparno Ghosh--one of the greatest Indian filmmakers. While rewatching "Utsab" recently, I couldn't sit through it without some exasperation creeping in from time to time. The film offers a family drama but lacks the nuances often present in Ghosh's other films. Other than the doomed romance of the star-crossed lovers and "taboo" relationships within the family that create some heart-wrenching moments, the drama mostly devolves into drab sentimentality. The movie has a stellar cast featuring the likes of Madhabi Mukherjee, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Mamata Sankar, Rituparna Sengupta, Pradip Mukherjee and others. With a cast like this, the film looked like a missed opportunity. The writing seemed shoddy, the cinematography unremarkable, and the characters pretty forgettable. The film was carried entirely by a group of actors just doing their jobs.

Shot in Bengali with English subtitles, the subtitles are many times hard to read (white on white).

The first act is hard to follow because you flip back and forth between too many characters. With so many characters it is hard to care about them all. I was overwhelmed with characters. I noticed that several audience members walked out at this time. I think it would have helped establish the characters if the video shot during the first act (by one of the characters in the movie) would have been shown in the first act instead of at the end of the story. Then the audience could have come up to speed on who the characters are.

Overall the story and the acting are more on par with an American soap opera.

The film did, however, provide cultural insights: we see servants always working in the background in what appears to be an upper middle class home, the telephone service is not working for the holidays so communication is put on hold, the word "puja" I later learned means worship, "Brother's Day" is held in appreciation of your sibling, you touch another person's feet and then move your hand to your head and downwards like a slinky to bathe in their goodness (good karma), a vermilion powder is used to create the eye for the soul although in the movie a plastic one is applied in the morning by one of the characters, writing 'Durga' 73 times is part of the religious festival featured in the movie.

The music is sparse except at plot points that convey sadness.

There is a sprinkling of, but not enough, humor.

The plot follows the "all's well that ends well" ending so loose ends are very neatly tied up--ahh, how convenient!

I was told that the movie was shot in 15 days, which may explain many things.

'Utsab' starts off on a slow and quiet note. In a away it reminded me of 'Gosford Park' in how the characters were introduced. But soon after introduction, the story builds as the quality of the relationship between the characters, their intentions and the secrets of the mansion gradually unveil on screen. Here there's hardly a background score. What the viewer gets to hear are raw sounds within the mansion and surrounding neighborhood. It adds to creating tension within the mansion (where the entire film is set).

Rituparno Ghosh doesn't shy away from mentioning the influences of greats like Aparna Sen and Satyajit Ray. 'Utsab' does have a very Ray-like feel to it especially in its subtlety. At the same time it's very poetic and the Ranbindra Sangeets (poems by the late Rabindranath Tagore) add to the depth of the story. The cultural depiction, such as family interaction and religious ceremonies are well displayed.

The performances are solid. Madhabi Mukherjee is wonderfully restrained. Pradip Mukherjee, Bodhisattva Mazumdar, Alaknanda Roy, Anuradha Roy, Prasenjit Chatterjee and Ratul Shankar Ghosh are very good in their respective roles. However, the scene stealers are Mamata Shankar and Rituparna Sengupta. Both actresses deliver very subtle and nuanced performances and seem to have no problem owning every one of their scenes.

'Utsab' works on multiple levels. It is atmospheric, it can be viewed as a study of characters or a study of a culture. It may not be everybody's kind of cinema but it is among Ghosh's most underrated films.