Story, Synopsis, Trivia, Dialogues for Chaturanga (2008)
Chaturanga is the story of a love that is caught between conflicting worlds of ideas.
The lead protagonist Sachish fleets from radical positivism to religious mysticism in his quest for life's meaning. However, his search ultimately yields nothing but crushing disillusionment. This is because he cannot square his abstract ideals with the powerful presences of two women in his life. One of them is Damini, a young Hindu widow, and the other is Nanibala, the abandoned mistress of Sachish's own brother.
Sachish tries to convince himself that Nanibala is simply a helpless woman who needs to be 'rescued' by him. Similarly, during his later religious phase, he pretends that the widow Damini is merely an enticement of Nature that must be avoided at all costs for spiritual salvation.
Chaturanga thus becomes, after a point, a psychodrama of unbelievable cruelty. Nanibala becomes a victim of it because as a 'fallen woman' she can only be 'saved', but her humanity cannot be recognized.
Damini is first given away by her dying husband, along with all her property, to a religious guru. She then falls in love with Sachish who can accept her only without her sexuality. Set in Colonial Bengal at the turn of the twentieth century, the film weaves a rich tapestry of crisscrossing desires and moralities.
Based on the novel by the Nobel Prize winning author Rabindranath Tagore, Chaturanga is directed by Suman Mukhopadhyay, one of the most exciting and promising young filmmakers working in India at present.
Ref : Suman Mukherjee official website.
‘Chaturanga’ revolves around four characters- Jagamohan (uncle), Shachish, Damini and Sribilas. Shachish’s uncle Jagamohan, a hard core atheist, social worker and a positivist in philosophical orientation, has great influence over Shachish. After the death of uncle, all the reformist zeal of Shachish dies down. He becomes a disciple of Vaishnav guru Lilananda Swami. Damini is a widow of one of the disciples of Lilananda Swami. The disciple had given all of his belongings including Damini to Lilananda Swami, before his death. Shachish always refuses Damini’s passionate love for him. Sribilas, a brilliant scholar joins Lilananda Swami’s group because of his love for soul mate Shachiah. At a point of time Shachish become disillusioned with religious faith and leaves Lilananda Swami. Sribilas and Damini fallows Shachish but he wants to be alone. Now Sribilas marries Damini and comes with her to live in Shachish’s uncle’s house. The owner of which is Shachish, Damini tries her best to love Sribilas but cannot forget Shachish. She dies of a broken heart. Sribilas lives to carry the burden of grief and solitude.
Based on the novel by author Rabindranath Tagore, Chaturanga is about a love caught between conflicting worlds of ideas. Set in Colonial Bengal at the turn of the twentieth century, the film weaves a rich tapestry of crisscrossing desires and moralities.The lead protagonist Sachish fleets from radical positivism to religious mysticism in his quest for life's meaning. However, his search ultimately yields nothing but crushing disillusionment.
Based on the novel by author Rabindranath Tagore, Chaturanga is about a love caught between conflicting worlds of ideas. Set in Colonial Bengal at the turn of the twentieth century, the film weaves a rich tapestry of crisscrossing desires and moralities.The lead protagonist Sachish fleets from radical positivism to religious mysticism in his quest for life's meaning. However, his search ultimately yields nothing but crushing disillusionment. Check out this page for more updates on Chaturanga.
