Binodiini - Ekti Natir Upakhyan

Based on the life of Binodini Dasi, aka Nati Binodini, Ram Kamal Mukherjee’s Binodiini: Ekti Natir Upakhyan is a tribute to the woman who had ruled the Bengali stage in the 1870s. The story follows Puti (Swara Bhattacharya), a young girl who aspires to be an actress. Through the machinations of Golap (Chandreyee Ghosh), a prostitute, she gets a chance to act in theatre. Soon, she catches the eye of famous playwright Girish Chandra Ghosh (Kaushik Ganguly) who grooms and mentors her and launches her in his plays. Over the next few years, Puti became a well-known actress, gaining mass fame as Noti Binodini.

The director has a rather dramatic vision of late 19th century Bengal, complete with references to popular shops of yore, as well as the costumes and hairstyles to match some of the photos obtained of Binodini Dasi, Girish Chandra Ghosh and Ramakrishna Paramhansa. The story leaves out a lot of Binodini’s early struggles as an actress and focuses on the phase where she is already well-established.

Soumik Halder’s cinematography is impeccable. The film’s music (by Sourendro–Soumyojit) had a lot more scope, especially in genres like toppa. Kanha, sung by Shreya Ghoshal and Hori Mon Mojaaye (Shuchismita Chakraborty) are both well-orchestrated, the latter adapted from Girish Ghosh’s composition (with music by Jatileswar Mukherjee).

Rukmini Maitra is brilliant in parts as Binodini. Kaushik Ganguly plays a very convincing Girish Chandra Ghosh, while Gautam Halder as the deviously snarky Dashu Babu is quite a treat. Om Sahani plays the role of Kumar Bahadur, an influential man and a significant love interest in Binodini's life. He looks great, but has little impact. On the other hand, Rahul Bose’s character seems to have nothing much to do and could have been given more space. Chandreyee Ghosh as Golap/Ganga Bai is a strong presence, while the young Swara Bhattacharya is adorable in her portrayal. Go for the Bhansali-esque visual treat.