Bond of love or bound by habit, what keeps marriage going? As Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee's Belaseshe deals with questions pertinent to domestic life, Tollywood gets its first family drama of the year. At the heart of the film is a septuagenarian businessman, Biswanath Majumdar. He is the proprietor of a publishing house. His wife Aarti is 66 years old and the duo is blessed with four children.
Like most couples, the two of them have lived a so-called happy married life. But things change when the family gathers to celebrate their 50th marriage anniversary. To everyone's surprise, Biswanath declares he has decided to divorce his wife. Does the couple part ways after five decades of togetherness?
Throwing light on their film, Shiboprosad says, 'There was a time when going to the theatre was a regular outing plan for any family.
Sharey Chuattor,
Golpo Holeo Sotyi,
Dadar Kirti,
Utsab and
Lathi have all dealt with family values and relationships. Family has been the central theme of many a narrative that have appealed to the masses. However, the trend changed over time. In the age of nuclear families, even our films became protagonistcentric."
Celeb Speak: The importance of physical contact in a relationship The director reflects that today, most parents don't take their children to theatres as most films aren't suitable for being viewed by different generations together. 'In an age when finding time for your loved ones is becoming a luxury, a film that would make you laugh and cry together is a welcome change. With
Belaseshe, we are hoping families would go back to theatres together. From
Icche to
Ramdhanu to
Belaseshe, my endeavour as a filmmaker has been to come with stories that are close to my heart and family is of utmost importance to me," he adds.
Soumitra Chatterjee aka Biswanath says the audience will be able to relate to every character. 'Filmmakers like
Satyajit Ray, Ajay Kar and
Tapan Sinha used to direct traditional family dramas, which were appreciated by all.
Belaseshe is a film which shows how marriage turns into a habit with years and a couple's discovery of each other. Love and trust keep a marriage going and this movie is all about that," says the veteran actor.
Prosenjit Chatterjee who was part of many family dramas too stressed on the importance of it. 'Years back, women of a family would book noon and matinee show tickets to watch family dramas. Their word-of-mouth publicity would make Bengali films run for months. So, we need to make more such films," he says. Prabhat Roy, director of many family dramas, added, 'I have watched
Belaseshe and I am happy that the director duo has come up with a family drama that will be appreciated by all. In fact, such a film has been made after long."
Veteran director Tarun Majumdar said family dramas are the need of the hour. 'Shiboprosad and Nandita deal with family issues very well. I am sure they will be able to do justice to the issue at hand. With the face of urban families changing, new characters are coming into being. It will be exciting to see such a portrayal on screen. I hope the film brings back the bonding in families that had been missing," he says.
The movie stars Soumitra Chatterjee,
Swatilekha Sengupta,
Rituparna Sengupta, Indrani Dutt,
Kharaj Mukherjee, Aparajita Auddy,
Anindya Chatterjee and
Monami Ghosh among others.