Chokher Bali (film)
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''Chokher Bali'' ( sand in the eye, constant irritant) is a 2003 Indian
Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second m ...
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
based on the 1903 novel '' Chokher Bali'' by
Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
. It was directed by
Rituparno Ghosh Rituparno Ghosh (31 August 1963 – 30 May 2013) was an Indian film director, actor, writer and lyricist. After pursuing a degree in economics, he started his career as a creative artist at an advertising agency. He received recognition for his ...
in 2003 and stars
Aishwarya Rai Aishwarya Rai Bachchan ( Rai; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil films. The winner of the Miss World 1994 pageant, she has established herself as one of the most popular celebriti ...
as ''Binodini'' and
Raima Sen Raima Sen (born Raima Dev Varma on 7 November 1979) is an Indian actress who is known for her work in the Hindi and Bengali films. Early life Raima Sen was born on 7 November 1979 in Bombay (now Mumbai) to Moon Moon Sen and Bharat Dev Varma ...
as ''Ashalata''. ''Ashalata'' and ''Binodini'' refer to each other as ''Chokher Bali''. The other major characters are played by
Prosenjit Chatterjee Prosenjit Chatterjee (born 30 September 1962) is an Indian actor and producer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading actors in modern Bengali cinema. He predominantly works in Bengali cinema . He is the son of veteran Bollywood actor Bisw ...
as Mahendra,
Lily Chakravarty Lily Chakravarty is an Indian actress. She worked in many Bengali and Hindi films. Early life She was born in Dhaka. She was born to Sri Kesab Chandra Chakraborty and Dipti Chakraborty. Career Lily debuted in the Bengali movie Bhanu Pelo Lott ...
as Rajlakshmi, the mother of Mahendra,
Tota Roy Chowdhury Tota Roy Chowdhury is an Indian actor and martial artist based in Kolkata. He predominantly appears in Bengali and Hindi cinema. His notable roles include Feluda in the web TV series Feluda Pherot based on Satyajit Ray's Feluda series. He ma ...
as Behari, Rajlakshmi's adopted son and Swastika Mukherjee in a cameo role. The film was later dubbed into Hindi and was released internationally in that language. Upon release, ''Chokher Bali'' met with critical review and positive box office reception. ''Chokher Bali'' won the
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of severa ...
,
National film award for best costume design The National Film Award for Best Costume Design is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awards p ...
and
National film award for best art direction The National Film Award for Best Production Design is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several award ...
.It was nominated for the
Golden Leopard The Golden Leopard () is the top prize at the Locarno International Film Festival, an international film festival held annually in Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. Directors in the process of getting an international reputation are allowed to be ...
(Best Film) award at the
Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, ...
in 2003. The film screened at the 34th
International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, on the western coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common pla ...
on 19 October. It was the Official Selection at the
Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...
in 2003 and was showcased in over 25 international festivals including the
Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
, London Film Festival, Palm Springs, Karlovy Vary and Washington DC International Film Festival besides winning the Apsara Film Producers' Award for the Best Regional Film 2004. Aishwarya Rai had won the Best Actress award at the
Anandalok Awards Anandalok Puraskar or Anandalok Awards ceremony is an award ceremony for Bengali film in India. The ''Anandalok'', only film magazine in Bengali language, published from Ananda Publishers and ''Ananda Bazar Patrika'' presents this award (Puraska ...
2003.


Plot

Binodini is a young girl who is left to her own devices when her sickly husband dies soon after their marriage. She returns to her village and lives there for a couple of months until she sees one of her aunts passing by. Binodini hails the woman and her two sons agree that it would be best if Binodini came to live with the woman and her son, Mahendra. But that son, Mahendra, was one of the first to see Binodini's photo when she was proposed as a prospective wife for him, yet refused her on account of his being "unready for marriage." When Binodini arrives with her aunt, Mahendra and his new bride are constantly sneaking off to be alone together. This infatuation does not last long, however, and Mahendra soon begins to see that Binodini is more his type. Mahendra and Binodini, start an affair, and this is soon revealed to Ashalata, who, unaware of her pregnancy, leaves for Kashi. Binodini, after realising that Mahendra is self-obsessed, leaves Mahendra's house. She pleads with Behari to marry her, but Behari, true to his values, rejects her offer. Binodini leaves the town for her village. She writes a letter to Behari that she'll be waiting for him in Kashi. As she is leaving for Kashi, Mahendra comes to mend their relations, which she refuses. Instead she makes him promise to take her to Behari. At Kashi, Binodini meets Behari who, after some incidents, agrees to marry her. On the day of marriage Binodini vanishes, leaving a letter for Asha. The story details the lives of these three and Mahendra's best friend as they deal with issues such as distrust, adultery, lies, and falling-out.


Soundtrack

The film's background score is by
Debojyoti Mishra Debojyoti Mishra (born 30 April 1963 at Kolkata) is an Indian music director and film composer. He became popular with his minimalist classical compositions for the Hindi film ''Raincoat'', directed by Rituparno Ghosh. He also worked on Bengali ...
and, notably, it contains no playback singing.
Sreela Majumdar Sreela Majumdar (also credited as Srila Mazumdar) is an actress in the Bengali language film industry of India. She has done voice dubbing for Aishwarya Rai in the film '' Chokher Bali'' (2003). Early life She was born to Ramchandra Majumdar a ...
dubbed for Aishwarya Rai and '' Sudipta Chakraborty'' dubbed for Raima Sen.


Culture

In olden days in Bengal, women and girls who were best friends would often set a common nickname for themselves and address each other by that name. In this story, two friends Binodini and Ashalata call each other 'Chokher Bali.'


Cast

*
Aishwarya Rai Aishwarya Rai Bachchan ( Rai; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil films. The winner of the Miss World 1994 pageant, she has established herself as one of the most popular celebriti ...
as Binodini (Voice dubbed by
Sreela Majumdar Sreela Majumdar (also credited as Srila Mazumdar) is an actress in the Bengali language film industry of India. She has done voice dubbing for Aishwarya Rai in the film '' Chokher Bali'' (2003). Early life She was born to Ramchandra Majumdar a ...
) *
Prosenjit Chatterjee Prosenjit Chatterjee (born 30 September 1962) is an Indian actor and producer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading actors in modern Bengali cinema. He predominantly works in Bengali cinema . He is the son of veteran Bollywood actor Bisw ...
as Mahendra *
Raima Sen Raima Sen (born Raima Dev Varma on 7 November 1979) is an Indian actress who is known for her work in the Hindi and Bengali films. Early life Raima Sen was born on 7 November 1979 in Bombay (now Mumbai) to Moon Moon Sen and Bharat Dev Varma ...
as Ashalata (Voice dubbed by Sudipta Chakraborty) *
Lily Chakravarty Lily Chakravarty is an Indian actress. She worked in many Bengali and Hindi films. Early life She was born in Dhaka. She was born to Sri Kesab Chandra Chakraborty and Dipti Chakraborty. Career Lily debuted in the Bengali movie Bhanu Pelo Lott ...
as Rajlakshmi, Mahendra's mother *
Tota Roy Chowdhury Tota Roy Chowdhury is an Indian actor and martial artist based in Kolkata. He predominantly appears in Bengali and Hindi cinema. His notable roles include Feluda in the web TV series Feluda Pherot based on Satyajit Ray's Feluda series. He ma ...
as Behari * Shuchita Roychowdhury as Annapurna, Ashalata's maternal aunt *
Mousumi Saha Mousumi Saha is an Indian actress. She acts in films of many languages. She also starred in 58 episodes of the Star Jalsha serial ''Khokababu'', airing from 2017 as "Kaushalya Mukherjee". Filmography Television * Sindoorkhela (2010-2012) *K ...
as Swarna *
Tina Dutta Tina Datta (born 27 November 1991) is an Indian actress known for her work in Hindi television. She rose to fame after portraying Ichcha in the drama series '' Uttaran'' for which she won the Producers Guild Award for Best Actress. She went on ...
as Manorama *
Ratna Ghoshal Ratna Ghoshal is an Indian film and television actress. She began her career as a supporting actress. She set foot in the world of acting through the film ''Raja Rammohun''. Career ''Raja Rammohun'' directed by Bijoy Bose in 1965 was her debut ...
the Woman accompanying the English missionary * Swastika Mukherjee as a young Courtesan *
Anindya Chatterjee Anindya Chatterjee is an Indian bengali film director, music director, singer, lyricist, actor and producer based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He is the singer-lyricist of prominent Bengali band Chandrabindoo. In recent times he has compos ...
and
Upal Sengupta Chandrabindoo (often spelled Chandrabindu), based in Kolkata, is a Bengali band known for satirical, colloquial lyrics, with references to current affairs and cultural phenomena. The band is chiefly popular in the Indian city of Kolkata, and in ...
occur as the students *
Sudeshna Roy Sudeshna Roy is an Indian film director, actor and writer based in Tollywood. She started her career as an entertainment journalist before collaborating with the director Abhijit Guha and foraying into the film industry. She is a popular art ...
as Kamal


Critical reception

Aishwarya received critical acclaim for her performance as Binodini. In ''
Anandabazar Patrika '' Anandabazar Patrika'' ( Bengali: আনন্দবাজার পত্রিকা, ) is an Indian Bengali-language daily newspaper owned by the ABP Group. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1 million c ...
'',
Chandril Bhattacharya Chandril Bhattacharya ( bn, চন্দ্রিল ভট্টাচার্য) is a popular Bengali essayist, lyricist, poet, orator and director from Kolkata. Music Bhattacharya is one of the main lyricists of the Bengali band Chandrabin ...
praised the film for its direction, screenplay, background score, sound design, cinematography, production design as well as the dubbing by Sudipta Chakraborty. Ekanshu Khera of Planet Bollywood gave the film an 8/10. He found the cinematography to be beautiful and was pleased that the singing was not lip synched. However, he said that the "dubbing leaves much to be desired" and would have preferred a different director dub it in Hindi. He also noted that the film appeals "to a niche audience due to its periodic settings and ideologies." Margaret Pomeranz of
ABC Australia The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...
gave it 3 out of 5 stars, saying that "the insight it gives into Indian culture and customs, is interesting and that tends to overcome the slight impatience with the overload of emotions." David Stratton, also of ABC, gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, commenting on how the film version was edited 40 minutes shorter but that it was beautifully acted and fascinating.


Box office

The film was declared a hit at the box office.


Other titles

*Chokher Bali: A Passion Play (International: English title) *Sand in the Eye (India: English title)


References


External links

*
citwf.com page
{{Shree Venkatesh Films 2000s Bengali-language films 2003 films Bengali-language Indian films Films set in Kolkata Films based on Indian novels Films based on works by Rabindranath Tagore Memorials to Rabindranath Tagore Films about women in India Films directed by Rituparno Ghosh Films whose production designer won the Best Production Design National Film Award Films that won the Best Costume Design National Film Award Best Bengali Feature Film National Film Award winners