Iti Mrinalini, Aparna Sen’s latest offering, is the story of an ageing actress who has decided to end her life, and while she contemplates on the life that she has led and the various moments that she has lived, elaborate flashbacks show us her entry into the film industry, her stardom, her relationships and her personal tragedies. The film’s premise, therefore, was not just worthy of attention, but brilliant too. Unfortunately, the director, who is decidedly not in the best phase as a filmmaker, failed to transform the arresting story into an equally captivating script. A number of interesting elements were not developed enough (the role and subsequent death of her college-life fiancé, for instance, should have been better explored), the proceedings regularly alternated between soppiness and highbrow philosophy – both of which should have been kept at a bare minimum, and though the character dynamics were reasonably well explored, the arcs for most of the characters were not fully realized. This is not to say that the film is bad, as there are some aspects about it which are praiseworthy, only that it is disappointing. The cast has done a good job, especially Kankona Sen Sharma as the young Mrinalini, Rajat Kapoor as a famous filmmaker who has Mrinalini as his mistress, and Priyanshu Chatterjee as a newcomer who manages to get the now-retired Mrinalini back in front of the camera. The lilting score and the opulence in terms of the set-design and costumes made the film worthy of a watch, but the rather bland script and poor characterizations ensured it remains in the realm of self-indulgent melodramas.
p.s. And there goes my 6ooth review for Cinemascope. Cheers!
Director: Aparna Sen
Genre: Drama/Showbiz Drama
Language: Bengali
Country: India
2 comments:
Congrats Shubho... Keep up the excellent work...
I remember seeing Aparna Sen's The Japanese Wife, which has a wonderful script but the plot development was lacking is what I felt..
Had heard of this movie but had not watched it.. But if the script is not strong, as you say it is, then I might give this one a miss for some days now..
Neways Cheers again on 600 !! waiting for 700 .. 800 .. 900... and many more..
Thanks a lot Avinash. Yes, my journey with Cinemascope (and cinema) has just begun, so to speak :)
I too wasn't really impressed with Japanese Wife. This too had great potential, but I was left a tad disappointed in the end. You might give it a try though - after all, its not necessary that everyone would react to a movie in the same way.
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