Bhuter Bhabishyat: Demands Attention

Anik Dutta’s Bhuter Bhabishyat is primarily a commercial comedy film. But, this is not that mindless blunt comedy that evokes laughter only. The film combines the popular Bengali film culture with Bengali intellectual middle class and therefore needs considerable amount of attention towards certain facts that are needed to be told in a much simplest form. Anik Dutta uses his satirical text to discuss such things with careful choice of characterization, acts and frames.  Apart from that, the film brings back nostalgia. Let’s see how.
A tinge of satire was already there in the first half of the cinema, when Param Brata, as the aspiring film director was answering his production manager’s rather blunt query, ‘if a producer spends money for my film, certainly I won’t make a film that surpasses the audience and hit the blank wall! A film should be made in such a way, that everybody understands the message it contains.’ This criticism of modern, intellectual, art cinema came back once again in a much toned-down form, when Sabyasachi, the narrator himself mocked the so-called ‘intellectual’ films containing ‘messages’ that the common mass fail to understand! Anik is right in his point, although not entirely.
The film tells story of the future of the past, that is, ‘Bhuter Bhabishyat’. All the characters, from the 18th Century British-lover Bengali Zaminder Raibahadur who loves to hear ‘Thungri’, ‘Toppa’, to the present day pseudo-intellectual band singer who always wears a Che Guevara T-shirt and creates horrendous cacophony in the name of singing a ‘modern’ song. The servant of British East India Company sings ‘Auld Lang Syne’ as the reminiscence of the past glory. His latent racist crudeness comes out when he says, ‘would it have been the British era, the promoter (Ganesh Bhutoriya) would be hanged!’ That clearly defines that even though he lives with the ghosts from different genres and ages, his true British self does exist and bites back with nostalgia. The Bengali film actress of 40s, successfully portrayed on screen by Swastika Mukhopadhyay, sings and haunts the palace with a typical nosy sound that brings back the memory of the Kanan Devi period of Bengali cinema. The modern day English speaking Bong girl Koyel, always wears a jeans and makes herself a successful portrayal ‘hip and happening’, who cannot even speaks her mother tongue properly. Here comes the dogma of Social Satire which only develops through the narrative. The film, through its many layers and outstanding characterization actually mocks certain popular Bengali periodical images (which are more filmic than real) that have been depicted in the so-called period dramas through ages and made absolutely ‘stereotyped’. Through a lengthy conversation between actress Kadalibala and Koyel, the director ridicules modern ‘Bong’ culture. Koyel firmly criticizes Kadali’s ‘retro’ attire which is absolutely unacceptable to today’s young generation (true to the core), and vividly describes what should be the gesture of a modern 21st century young lady. Through this portrayal of a typical ‘Bong’ character, the director mocks an entire English-educated, middle-class generation, who always wear Western outfit, speak Bengali in such a way as if they do not know how to speak it out, to whom ‘cool’ and ‘hot’ bear same meaning! The modern Bangla band songs have been firmly criticized too, where the lyrics sometimes become meaningless (Juddha Esechhe, Buddha Hesechhe) and fail to create certain ambience that is desired by the lovers of melodies. Thus, whenever Pablo (not Picasso or Neruda but Patranabish) tries to ‘play’ a song, (this is what he says) everybody either moves out in the other direction or just vanishes in the thin air (they are ghosts after all)!
Apart from the bend of satire, through the dialogues, gestures and frames, the film brings back nostalgia. The film, like many other Auteuristic creations, gives tribute to Sayajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Robert J. Flaherty. The film even contains a dialogue from Ray’s legendary ‘Hirak Rajar Deshe’, ‘Baki raha khajna, mote bhalo kaaj naa!’ The ringtone of the would-be film-maker’s mobile phone breaks the eeriness of the alleged ‘ghost mansion’ with the voice of the ‘King of the Ghost’ in Ray’s Goopy-Gayen-Bagha-Bayen, that articulates the three boons. The revolutionary Naxalite martyr and the famous chasing and gunshot sequences from the 70’s political cinema, bring back the memory of Mrinal Sen’s ‘Kolkata 71’. As a whole, certain portions of the film depict a period of uncertainty, fear and anger. The maker has very successfully combined the idea of Naxalite movement with today’s Maoist Guerrilla Warfare. Why not? After all, the ideology is more or less same, though the period and portrayal are different. There is, even a brief remembrance of Nandigram (the place which brought change in Bengal politics), remember?
The Eskimo ghost describes himself as ‘Nanook’, during the interview arranged for ghosts in the ghost-mansion. Nanook, the name itself refers to the famous documentary by Robert J. Flaherty on the Eskimo life, ‘Nanook of the North’. Thus, the film gives tribute to the legend too.  Through the characterization, the film brings back nostalgia too. From the Muslim bawarchi in Nawab Sirajudaulla’s kitchen, British East India Company servant, Raibahadur Zaminder, post-partition refugee, actress from 40s Bengali movies, Bihari Rickshaw puller, martyrs of Naxalite movement and Kargil War, down to the Rizwanur case, the film is all about recalling the history, the tales of the past that are needed to be told. It also describes the middle class Bengali culture that learns to mimic the master (British colonial ruler)!
Some people criticized ‘Bhuter Bhabishyat’ for its ‘stereotypical’ use of characters from different genres and periods. To me, the film itself mocks the excessive screen portrayal of ‘Stereotyped’ characters in the modern Bengali melodrama, which are not so ‘real’. Therefore, the film incorporates the artistic theory of Magic Realism at the same time, by presenting the characters from the past and breaking the rules of the ‘real’ world.
Only the last part of the film is a bit too commercialized. From ‘Pod Pradhan’ to the hilarious Mastaan (haat kata Kartik), everything is fine and serves the purpose successfully. Only, the commercial dance sequence was not needed to arouse Bhutoriya and horrify him by showing him the face of his dead wife, Laxmi, whom he had killed earlier for dowry. This part seemed to me a bit far-fetched. Apart from that, the film is successful in its purpose, with all the pros and cons, the ghosts achieve success by rescuing the mansion from greedy Bhutoriya and live happily ever after. Thus the film successfully mocks the dominant Bengali middle-class perception of history, which eliminates the cultural value of the self and incorporates the ‘other’.


Suchetana Chakraborty
 

Soni Sori: ‘The Prisoner of Concern’: Justice Denied?

She was lying on a hospital stretcher, immobile, groaning in pain. Her severely wounded vagina and rectum were bleeding incessantly. She regained consciousness before being brought to the hospital. The nightmare had not been over till then. The gruesome experience of being tortured and raped in the prison was still fresh in her mind. So as the grinning, ugly faces, shoving stones inside her… How she wanted to scream aloud, how she wanted to break free, but they didn’t let her. They continued to torture until she lost her consciousness…
Soni Sori, the imprisoned Adivasi school teacher in Chhattisgarh wrote to her lawyer in a letter, ‘after repeatedly giving me electric shocks, my clothes were taken off. I was made to stand naked. (Superintendent of Police) Ankit Garg was watching me, sitting on his chair. While looking at my body, he abused me in filthy language and humiliated me. After some time, he went out and sent three boys. (…) started molesting me and I fell after they pushed me. Then they put things inside my body in a brutal manner. I couldn’t bear the pain and I was almost unconscious. After a long time, I regained consciousness. By then, it was already morning…”
Soni Sori was arrested in New Delhi on October 4, 2011. The Adivasi School Teacher, hails from Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, was accused of being a courier between the Maoists and the Essar Group, a multinational corporation with mining assets, active in the tribal belts, allegedly helping her own nephew, Lingaram Kodopi. Kodopi has been arrested on the same ground of helping the Maoists, although he is a journalist in actual life and has been reporting on the abysmal human rights record of Chhattisgarh Government from the ground. Despite of all the efforts and appeals to numerous courts made by Sori, she was handed over to the Chhattisgarh police. Taken to the state, she was severely beaten, sexually assaulted and given electric shocks by the police in custody. On 9th October, 2011, Soni Sori was brutally tortured and gang raped. Being taken to the hospital and brought back to the prison after minimum medical aid, she was repeatedly denied treatment. Sori documented her torture in letters she wrote to her lawyer that was quoted above.
A video has been launched to mark International Women’s Day on 8th March, 2012, on behalf of the concerned citizens all over the world where women activists read Soni Sori’s letter to her lawyer describing the brutal nature of the torture she had to bear. According to the human rights activists, ‘A subsequent independent medical examination, done in NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, under the supervision of the Supreme Court of India, found two sizable stones lodged in her vagina and another in her rectum.’ The medical report also stated that she has sustained a head injury, specifically by some blunt object, she has tenderness in her back and her fingers blackened, which are the clear signs of electrocution. Sori’s Counsel has denied the charges against her and demanded that she has been falsely implicated. He also urged the Supreme Court of India that Sori should be treated outside Chhattisgarh and demanded an impartial probe in the matter.
 Currently imprisoned inside the Central Jail, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, Soni is in urgent need of medical treatment for the injuries that resulted from her torture. In another letter to her lawyer, she stated that the doctors in the Raipur jail have denied treatment on ground that she is a ‘Naxalite prisoner’! While treating for injuries in the Raipur Hospital, Sori was chained to hr bed which is a human rights violation and is against The Supreme Court’s order. When she was brought to Kolkata for a medical examination, she had been kept inside a police lock up for 24 hours, which is also against the Apex Court’s order. Thus, her rights have been severely and repeatedly violated.
Protesting the nature of inhumanity upon her, Sori went on hunger strike, for about 20 days, till Feb 27th, and now her health is deteriorating every day. The National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Women filed a series of petitions to the Delhi High Court, demanding impartial investigation in the custodial rape incident. Human Rights Watch urged the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Monmohan Singh to order an impartial investigation in the matter. They also urged the Government of India to move Sori from Chhattisgarh and put her somewhere in Delhi where Chhattisgarh police do not have access. Amnesty International declared Soni Sori as the ‘Prisoner of Concern’ earlier this year. The Supreme Court of India also instructed Chhattisgarh police to clear their stand on the cops who tortured the alleged Maoist activist. But, Sori is yet to get justice.
In the middle of March, Chhattisgarh police failed to bring Soni Sori in two court hearings subsequently as her health condition has been deteriorated. The police has informed the press later that Miss Sori is not well and she had to be admitted in a government hospital in Chhattisgarh. But, Soni Sori has urged to get the treatment somewhere outside Chhattisgarh as she was tortured inside the state prison. Moreover, she was sent back to the jail by the Government hospital doctors, who, after a primary investigation, issued a statement to the media that Sori is lying! Despite of all the efforts of the human rights activists, her fundamental rights have been repeatedly violated. In her absence, the custodial transformation and an extension order has been signed by the Additional District Judge, which is completely illegal. Instead of investigating the police officials involved in Sori’s torture, Ankit Garg, the Superintendent of Police who ordered and oversaw the torture according to Sori, was given a national award for gallantry last January 26, the Indian Republic Day!
A team of activists, representing at least 40 human and gender rights organisation, went to meet Sori in Raipur Central Jail in January but was denied access. They alleged that the Chhattisgarh police are trying to cover up the real investigation by not allowing outsiders to meet Sori in jail. Nidhi Agarwal, the representative of Saheli Women’s Resource Center claimed, ‘“We came to visit Soni Sori on the invitation of N. Bajinder Kumar, principal secretary to the Chief Minister. We met him in Delhi last year, where he assured us that Soni Sori was safe and told us we were welcome to come and see for ourselves.” On their arrival in Chhattisgarh however, the team was not allowed to meet Ms. Sori due to “security considerations.” And the reason behind? The Jail Superintendent wrote in a letter issued to the group as a reply, “Soni Sori has already met with her lawyer …considering the security of the jail and of Sori…it is not appropriate for more than three persons to enter the jail.” Obviously, this letter couldn’t stop the group from involving the press. They issued a press release recently which clearly states that they firmly believe, the ‘security reason’ is nothing but a ‘smokescreen’ to prevent them from meeting Soni Sori, and also a violation of her right as a prisoner.
Soni claimed in her letter that she is only one of the many women prisoners who was sexually assaulted and tortured inside the jail. That clearly indicates that there are many more brutalities occurred inside the darkness of prison we rarely know about. Do we care to know? Sori wrote to the Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India, “Giving me electric shocks, stripping me naked, shoving stones inside me… Was the abuse on me not enough? This is a plea from a helpless daughter…This is a mother’s plea for her children…”
Do you hear, India?

Baby Falak and Sunita: Sordid tale of Child Abuse and Sex-racket in India

When she was brought to the AIIMS, Delhi on January 18, her arms were broken at multiple places, she had severe head injury (a fractured skull), possibly caused by being thrown against the wall, cheeks were branded with hot iron and above all, she had human bite marks all over her tiny little body!
Baby Falak, as christened by her care-givers in the hospital (meaning—‘The Sky’), couldn’t win her battle for life. Despite of all the efforts of the medical examiners at AIIMS, Falak breathed her last on 15th March, 2012, following a fatal cardiac arrest, a third and last one in 3 months of her unspeakable suffering. After a routine post- mortem which is important as this was a ‘medico-legal’ case according to the doctors, Falak’s tiny body was handed over to her mother, Munni, a Rajasthani woman, entrapped in a human trafficking business, who later had cremated the toddler’s tiny remains at the Ferozshah Kotla burial ground.
Primary investigation suggested that the baby died of a fatal cardiac arrest, precisely due to Cardiac Arrhythmia, which happens when the heart beats too quickly. Falak had been initially recovering from the trauma and was responding to the treatment being given to her. She had contacted Meningitis, underwent 5 counts of surgeries, and also suffered two heart attacks. But she had been recovered from all of them. Many people from abroad, after being moved by the tiny child’s plight, had offered to adopt her when she is fully recovered. But alas! Who has ever dreamt that Falak will be no more within days? On the day of her demise, she was sleeping silently and was expected to be released from the hospital soon, when she suddenly suffered a cardiac arrest, and was gone within 40 minutes.
Who ‘killed’ the two years old baby? At first, it has been thought that Falak was the child of the teenage girl who had brought her to AIIMS Delhi, who also allegedly claimed that. She also claimed that Falak had fallen from the bed and suffered the injuries, an inconceivable claim, which the doctors at AIIMS did not believe, because the nature of the injuries did not match with the description provided by the girl. Especially, how come a baby would bore human bite marks, if she falls from the bed only? This part of the investigation remained mystery. The doctors called the police instead who started a full-fledged investigation into the matter.
The teenage girl has been arrested and put in a juvenile home, where she has been interrogated by the police and repeatedly interviewed by the members of Child Welfare Committee. It has been revealed by time that the man, namely Rajkumar alias Mohammad Dilsahd, with whom the teenager was living with, had brought Falak to their home ‘to be raised as their child’. The girl, it has been learnt, had eloped with that man a year ago, who has become the prime suspect in Baby Falak case. The girl also claimed that the man had ‘sexually abused’ her. The investigators, as well as the doctors believe that the alleged abuse may have traumatized the girl to such an extent that compelled her into battering the child she was raising as her own daughter! The teenager has revealed that she used to beat the baby whenever she cried. Sometimes she even used to bit the tiny body! It was apparent from her description that Sunita, a child herself entrapped in sex trade, has taken out her ‘frustration’ on a defenseless baby girl.
Baby Falak’s story has become more complicated with time as it has been revealed that the man, with whom the teenager had been staying, is married and has moved with his family in Mumbai. After a massive manhunt, the police have arrested ten people related to the baby’s untimely demise. Amongst them, there were two women pimps who had brought teenage Sunita into the world of ‘give and take’. Falak’s biological mother, Munni, is a domestic helper who has been entrapped in human trafficking too by the alleged suspect. Why she gave her babies away, still remained mystery. It has been learnt that Laxmi, one of those pimps had influenced Munni to leave her husband and get married for the second time to a Rajasthani man. It has also been learnt that Falak was not the only child of Munni, she had two siblings. Her brother has been traced from Delhi and sister from Bihar, when a search operation was launched after her death!
Falak’s ‘battered baby syndrome’ has surprised the doctors and the investigators as well as the people of India. Dr. Sumit Sinha from Delhi AIIMS said in a revelation, ‘We see bad cases on a daily basis. But I have never seen this kind of a 'battered baby condition’... with the intention of injury.’ Doctors have also suggested that her ‘battered baby syndrome’ shows she had received the injuries from a ‘close relative’!The mystery of human bite marks all over the tiny, little body remained unsolved till date.
Baby Falak’s unfortunate death has brought the issue of ‘child sex racket’ into broad daylight. After her death Sunita, the teenager who had allegedly claimed to be the child’s mother has revealed her everyday trauma after being dragged into sex-trade by her so-called ‘boyfriend’, who after saving her from her own monster of a father, had brought her out of her own home to live with him. Sunita was lodged at a juvenile home after bringing ‘badly beaten’ Falak to the AIIMS. Falak’s story had made everybody shiver. What about Sunita, a 14 years old child who has been entrapped in sex-trade for months? Unfortunately, nobody has shed tears for the teenage girl who is trying to get out of the mental and physical trauma till date.
After a charge of ‘culpable homicide’ had been slapped against the poor girl, she is now going through a counselling session, initiated by some social workers from Delhi’s Child Welfare Committee. Sunita is revealing day by day the sordid tale of the ghastly business which makes minor girls to sell their bodies to at least seven men everyday. If they fail to do say, they are forced to have sex with more men on the very next day. Sunita used to maintain a dairy containing the names of some girls and the hotels in Mahipalpur. Strangely enough, the police in Delhi have got all the information about the child sex-racket throughout the city, but they seem to have certain apathy towards it as they have not even initiated a primary investigation into the matter!
When the justice is delayed, it is denied. India is not witnessing it for the first time. The question is, how many lives will be put to an end mercilessly before the ‘justice’ is served?
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Falak
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/falak-case-abused-raped-teen-took-frustration-out/228163-3.html
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/child-sex-rackets-in-delhi-hotels-exposed/1/179243.html

Suchetana Chakraborty

Puja’s Untimely Death and the Health System in West Bengal

Puja Sharma had to die even before knowing, what she is suffering from…

This story has been originated only a few months ego. Puja, a promising girl of 18, had just passed Higher Secondary with outstanding marks. She was planning to go for further studies. But, suddenly, her life had turned to lead its way in another direction. Puja suddenly became very seriously ill. Reason unknown.

The blossoming youth had soon been turned into a terrible disease –bitten figure. Unfortunately, her illness couldn’t be diagnosed by the local doctor. So, Puja was sent to Nilratan Sarkar Medical College Hospital. There she had been kept in the general bed for 21 days! Many tests were done. But alas! Nothing could be diagnosed so far! Ridiculously, she was told not to be afraid so much about her health because she was suffering from ‘gastric problem’, which could be easily treated. Puja, being a daughter of a farmer, obviously couldn’t afford to be admitted in a private hospital (Apollo, Ruby, AMRI, Columbia Asia etc.), where fair amount of money buys you the best treatment. So, she had to remain in the hospital bed of NRS, was actually counting her days. Unfortunately, ‘qualified’ doctors were unavailable even to check her properly; diagnosis remained a ‘dream’. Needless to say, Puja was not an exception in this state, where people who don’t have money to buy treatment, have to submit themselves to the mercy of the Government-run hospital doctors! This ‘mockery of treatment’ is going on for years! Nobody feel to protest against this injustice.

Puja Sharma was released after 21 days of ‘treatment’, without proper diagnosis. She remained at home for days after that, without treatment. But, when someone is suffering from a terrible disorder which even may kill him/her, treatment should be started on the first hand after proper diagnosis, which, the Government-run hospital failed to give her! Eventually, Puja’s illness had been increased day by day and she remained at home without diagnosis. But, she knew by herself that she was going to die….

One day, Puja had fainted inside the bathroom. Her stool pattern was obviously giving the alarm to be aware, but her parents failed to notice! But, after the incident, the anxious parents decided to bring her to a private hospital. So, Puja was admitted to Shishu Mangal Hospital.

Needless to say, it was too late for any hospital to do anything at all! Anything! Shishu Mangal tried their best of course, but had to give up after a while. Puja couldn’t breathe properly by then. So, she had to be put in ventilator.

There she remained for 2 days only, senseless…

The blooming youth had to accept her defeat after 2 days of ‘unconscious’ battle. Puja had to submit herself to death, even before knowing, why she had to die. May she rest in peace…

Puja’s untimely demise has raised several questions before us. If this is the scenario, where even a doctor is unavailable to attend the patient, then, this is the high time to think! Is this system needed to be changed? Or, should it be allowed to remain as it is? What kind of system is this, where the fundamental right of a human being to be treated properly is ‘intentionally’ violated? If a disease even cannot be diagnosed in time and the patient has to keep his/her patience only to wait for the right treatment to come, then why are those doctors for?

But, we should not ignore the first and foremost question. Who is responsible for this untimely death, the system or our consciousness? When will we ever learn?

Published on VNN Bangla (October, 2011)

The Broken: A Doppelganger or a Capgras Delusion?

Sean Ellis’s The Broken was actually made as another horror movie, probably to increase the number of movies in the much-clichéd genre of Hollywood film industry. But, when I went to watch the movie, the first and foremost question came to my mind was, what could be the film’s actual subject matter, if it could incorporate the actual phenomenon? Could that be the quasi-abnormal phenomenon, Doppelganger, or the unusual psychotic disorder, the Capgras Delusion?

Before going into depth, I must first introduce the subject-duo, otherwise, it may seem strange to the readers. Capgras Delusion is not actually a phenomenon, but a psychotic disorder. A quite unusual or more precisely, rare psychological disease, but this can happen to anyone at a given point of time. Capgras Delusion is derived from Schizophrenia, which causes a very much unusual phenomenon. If anyone suffers from this kind of delusional syndrome, he or she may confuse his or her spouse with an imposter. The central character’s trauma in The Broken somehow resembles the disorder.

The Doppelganger phenomenon itself has a German orientation. It is used to describe the sensation of one for having glimpsed oneself in the peripheral vision. It has nothing to do with one’s mirror image. It is something like alternate self. In some tradition, it is the harbinger of death.

The Broken by Sean Ellis was released in 2008. The film, starred by Ulrich Thomsen, Lena Headey, Richard Jenkins, starts with a quote from Edgar Allan Poe, ‘You have conquered, and I yield yet. Henceforward art thou also dead—dead to the world, to heaven, and to hope! In me didst thou exist—and—in my death—see by this image, which is thine own. How utterly thou hast murdered thyself.’ In this film, the bizarre things starts happening with the mirror suddenly breaks down out of nowhere, in the birthday party of John McVey. Everybody gets a bit startled and scared at first, but after a while, they manage to laugh.  

After the incident, Dr. Gina McVey, the central character, starts getting confused about her own image. After returning from the birthday party, she gets a hot bath. When she looks at the wet image of herself in the mirror, she gets confused about her own image. And then, the mirror glass breaks down.

Things start getting more topsy-turvy, when, in hospital, the ghostly double of radiologist Gina McVey appears and makes coffee for herself without the knowledge of Gina. Gina feels somebody is passing through the passage, but cannot see her face properly. When Gina sees the coffee cup on the floor, she gets puzzled once again because she did not make coffee. There she meets her fellow radiologist Anthony who asks her, ‘did you forget something? I just saw you leaving to go home.’ Gina answers, ‘No, I was here.’ Anthony then looks more puzzled and says, ‘That’s funny. I could’ve sworn, I saw you leaving the building.’

When Gina McVey goes to call Stephan Martin, her boyfriend, watches with her own eyes her ghostly double is driving her Cherokee Jeep while speaking in a cell phone she gets completely bewildered and follows the double inside Pembridge House. There she finds out her own photograph with her father, John McVey. She completely loses control over herself and blindly follows the double. Thereafter we find her inside the car, driving fanatically, while looking at her own image inside the car-mirror. Lost in deep thought, she crashes her car with another one.

Gina survives the accident, but loses all memories regarding it. She gets a bit disoriented. Some fragments of the memories regarding accident comes and disappears in her mind. Dr. Robert Zachman appears on the scene to get the psychological scar out of her unconscious.

When Gina comes back home with Stephan Martin, she starts getting puzzled about her boyfriend. His behaviour seems strange to her. Her confusion deepens, when the dog bites Stephan. Gina notices a leak upstairs and goes to the lot for fixing it. Stephan catches her there, and he seems to be extremely rude at that time. This is when she seriously begins to doubt him as an imposter. In her imagination, Stephan is superimposed with a violent creature. In her dream, she also begins to see that she is killing herself.

Gina, totally bewildered, goes to Dr. Robert Zachman and says, ‘I don’t think, Stephan is my boyfriend. He looks like him, but he is not him.’ Dr. Zachman appears to be very casual at first and begins to stress on the complexity of love relations, but Gina again repeats firmly, ‘The man in the apartment is not my boyfriend.’

Dr. Zachman gets her words. He clearly explains her; she may be suffering from the Capgras Syndrome. He says, it is a disorder, specially, ‘when people begin to believe, a close acquaintance, generally a family member or a spouse, has been replaced by an identical looking imposter, and the condition in most cases is a direct result of brain lesion.’ In hospital, the brain scan report shows some bruises on the same part of her brain, from where the Capgras Delusion usually occurs.

Doctors say, it is also difficult to diagnose because, the symptoms due to the accident is similar to the mental illness driving from Capgras Delusion. So, doctors get confused, whether the loss of memory and the feeling of disorientation are taking place because of Capgras Delusion or a damaged brain.

Apart from Gina, strange things start happening to other family members too. Her father, John McVey is started being seen by his secretary, Mary, on the street at lunch time. When John is questioned, he replies, he has been inside the office room throughout the day. Mary reacts like Anthony in Gina’s hospital, ‘I could have sworn…’, then keeps the sentence incomplete and goes away for her own work.

Kate, Gina’s sister-in-law, comes back home at evening and begins looking for Daniel, her husband. Failed to get access to him, she calls him at last. We see Daniel inside the studio. He looks strange and stands still, but does not receive the phone. At the same time, a ghostly double of Kate appears in the flat and murders Kate. The scene reminds back the memory of Hitchcock’s Psycho, but the murder takes place without a knife!

At the mean time, the Capgras Delusion seems to gobble John McVey. A puzzled John looks at the photo given to him by Gina, and says, ‘Perhaps, it’s not me.’

When Gina comes back to the apartment to get her things packed, she again tries to find out, what causes the leak and discovers dead Stephan Martin up at the lot. She then was persuaded by the ghostly double of Stephan, (whom she has doubted and doctors diagnosed the syndrome as Capgras Delusion). Gina calls her father, who advises her to stay calm, but just aftermath, he himself is killed by his own ghostly double, whom his secretary Mary has seen on the street. When Gina calls Daniel and tells him that now she remembers fully how the accident has occurred, that she followed a woman to the Pembridge House, who looks exactly like her, Daniel reminds her that Pembridge House is the building where Gina herself lives! Gina rushes to the apartment (her own) and finds out her own ‘dead body’! The ‘fragments’ then become much more clearer and she fully remembers now, how she has murder the ‘woman’ herself, who looks ‘exactly like her’ or the ‘real’ Gina McVey. She by now discovers that she herself is the ‘ghostly double’ of Dr. Gina McVey, the radiologist, whom she had murdered days ago and thereafter she had met with the disastrous accident,  just because she was lost in deep thought and was looking at the mirror to see the blood of Gina all over her face.

The rest of the film is as simple as that. Gina’s double meets with the ghostly double of her father and is completely transformed into another human being, a stranger who looks exactly like Gina, whom Daniel scares of, Anthony does not recognize properly. In the whole film, it is Daniel, who is the only surviving original.  

The film ends here, left us with some questions that remain unanswered. Are they all, except Daniel, suffering from Capgras Delusion? Or, they have all been murdered by their ghostly doubles or ‘Doppelganger’ in another word, throughout the film? If that so, then the film depicts that the ghostly double or the doppelganger only exists after murdering the original (a myth that other films belong to Doppelganger genre tried to depict too).

Dis Sean Ellis try to give us a message by surviving the doppelgangers that in this world of utter corruption, where man kills man for money, the scenario had been changed? That, today evil prevails over the good?

Who knows?

Suchetana Chakraborty

Binoche of Bengal and Bergman’s ‘Nudity’!!

‘Juliette Binoche’ of Bengal is now enlightening our pride by walking on the carpet of Cannes Film Festival.

It may confuse our readers as an eminent French actress like Juliette Binoche has never come to Bengal to take part in a film. Neither are we talking about Binoche herself. This article aspires to discuss about a well-known (internationally) Bengali actress, who compares herself with the worldwide acclaimed superstar. Well, if she thinks, she is the ‘Binoche of Bengal’, we, the people of Bengal should not have any problem with that. But, her meaningless blabbering went beyond that, which made us more confused. Paoli Dam, the actress we are talking about, has recently joined the list of Indian actresses who walked on the honourary Cannes carpet. Her latest film, ‘Chhatrak (Mushroom)’, directed by Srilankan filmmaker Vimukthi Jayasundara, has made its debut in Cannes. The film, on its first appearance, has stormed the media worldwide because of its widespread usage of sexual intercourse. Nice marketing strategy, no doubt! And, of course, in a country like India, it was firmly criticized.

Usage of nudity in art is a worldwide accepted concept nowadays.  Nobody makes objection, if a sexual activity is properly dealt with. This concept has drawn its origin from the artists like Michelangelo, Da Vinci. Nudity in Greek art is worldwide famous. Later, nudity has made its appearance in cinema. Worldwide acclaimed filmmakers like Godard, Truffaut, Passolini, Tarkovsky, Bunuel and Kieslowski widely used nudity as an art form. But, those films never intended to arouse sexual pleasure like pornography. That was never ‘nudity for the sake of nudity’. That was a form of art, which has inspired the film makers worldwide. Godard used nudity to create distraction towards sex. Passolini used excessive perversion, but that was also a different art form. Traffuat’s use of nudity attached another meaning to his creation. Later makers like Giuseppe Tornatore, Bernardo Bertolucci, Nagisa Osima, Michael Haneke, Amos Gitai, and Lars Von Trier used nudity in a different form. The nudity used by Haneke or Von Trier cannot attract anybody. Rather, this kind of creation is meant for creating distraction towards sexual perversion, sometimes beyond tolerance.

Vimukthi’s latest creation is yet to release. But, it has already made its debut in Cannes. The video they have posted on various online video sites like Youtube, created storm all over India. Actress Paoli Dam, who has compared herself with Binoche, has been interviewed by national and regional media for her prolonged nude performance. Her reply to this question was satisfactory. Nudity as a form of art is an acceptable concept worldwide and has been in use since the days of French New Wave. Then why she would not be able to do that? Just because she is an Indian? Right she is.

But after that what she started saying was completely beyond understanding and also humiliating for Indians. Paoli was more than confident and firmly answered to the questions asked by the journalists. (I am talking about an exclusive interview in a Bengali daily). But some things went wrong afterwards. In an answer, she mentioned that ‘Indian audience does not tend to watch international movies’! (Then who goes to watch Kolkata or Goa Film Festivals, Almighty knows!) Her contemptuous reaction towards the audience of her own country has startled the film buffs. This is the point, when her attitude has begun to be in question.
Well, if she would have stopped there, it was better. But, she did not.

Paoli thereafter began to explain, she has been born and raised in a liberal family and is watching international movies. This is very good attitude, no doubt. But, when she was asked to mention 2 or 3 of her favourite international directors who has used nudity as an art form, she confidently mentioned 2 names who had never used or very slightly used (not in a purpose to serve aesthetics) nudity instead of Godard or Passolini. Alfred Hitchcock has once used a partially nude scene (Frenzy) for one or two minutes perhaps for the purpose to describe a rape scene. Bergman has never vividly used any nude scene to serve his purpose. But, Paoli has confidently mentioned these two names where there were plenty of options! Godard or Passolini are old buffs. If she tends to watch international cinema intently, she should have at least mentioned today’s Amos Gitai or Bernardo Bertolucci. They are worldwide acclaimed film directors who use nudity as an art form. Lars Von Trier or Michael Haneke is comparatively new in the genre. Paoli’s answer has clearly startled the Bengal film buffs. Instead of that, Alfred Hitchcock and Ingmar Bergman? Well, this was clearly not expected from an international movie watcher!

 Anyway, best wishes to ‘Chhatrak’ (Mushroom).

Published on International Movie Network (October, 2011)