Chokher Bali (film)

Chokher Bali
Directed by	Rituparno Ghosh
Produced by	Shrikant Mohta Mahendra Soni
Written by	Rituparno Ghosh
Based on	Chokher Bali by Rabindranath Tagore
Starring	Aishwarya Rai Prasenjit Chatterjee Raima Sen Tota Roy Chowdhury
Music by	Debojyoti Mishra
Studio	Shree Venkatesh Films
Release date(s)	August 9, 2003 (2003-08-09) (Locarno Film Festival)
Running time	167 minutes
Country	India
Language	Bengali
Budget	2 Crore

Chokher Bali (literally translated to "sand in the eye", figuratively to "constant irritant"; Bengali: চোখের বালি) is a Bengali film based on the novel Chokher Bali by Rabindranath Tagore. It was directed by Rituparno Ghosh in 2003 and stars Prasenjit as Mahendra, Aishwarya Rai as Binodini and Raima Sen as Ashalata. Ashalata and Binodini refer to each other as Chokher Bali. The other major characters are played by Lily Chakravarty (as Rajlakshmi, Mahendra's mother) and Tota Roy Chowdhury (as Behari, Rajlakshmi's adopted son). The film was later dubbed into Hindi and was released internationally under that language.

Upon release, the film met with positive critical and box office reception.^[1][2][3]

The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali and was nominated for the Golden Leopard (Best Film) award at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2003.^[4] The film screened at the 34th International Film Festival of India on October 19.^[5] The film was the Official Selection at the Chicago International Film Festival in 2003 and was showcased in over 25 International Festivals including the Toronto International Film Festival,^[6] London Film Festival, Palm Springs, Karlovy Vary and Washington DC International Film Festivals besides winning the Apsara Film Producers' Award for the Best Regional Film 2004.

Plot

Binodini is a young woman who is left to her own devices when her sickly husband dies soon after they are married. She returns to her village and lives there for a couple of months until she sees one of her relatives passing by. Binodini hails the woman and the two soon agree that it would be best if Binodini came to live with the woman and her son, Mahendra. (Mahendra was one of the first to see Binodini's photo when she was unwed yet refused her on account of his being "unready for marriage.") When the two arrive, the woman's son and his new bride are constantly sneaking off to be alone together. This infatuation does not last long, and Mahendra soon begins to see that his wife's friend, Binodini, is more his type. The story details the lives of these three and Mahendra's best friend as they deal with issues as distrust, adultery, lies, and fallings-out.^{[citation needed]}

Music

The film's background score is by Debojyoti Mishra, and notabily it contains no playback singing. Sreela Majumdar dubbed for Aishwarya Rai in this Bengali film 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

• Prasenjit as Mahendra
• Aishwarya Rai as Binodini
• Raima Sen as Ashalata
• Lily Chakravarty as Rajlakshmi, Mahendra's mother
• Tota Roy Chowdhury as Behari

Critical Reception

Aishwarya has not only given one of her finest performances but also one of the best in cinema.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Professional Reviews
IMDb link
PlanetBollywood link
ABC Australia link

Other titles

• Choker Bali: A Passion Play (International: English title)
• Sand in the Eye (India: English title)
• Binodini (India: English title)

References

1. ^ "Alluring Ash". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 2003-11-13. http://www.hindu.com/mp/2003/11/13/stories/2003111300830200.htm. 
2. ^ http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/2003/10/11/2284/index.html
3. ^ http://www.rediff.com/money/2004/jan/10spec1.htm
4. ^ http://jahia.pardo.ch/index.jsp
5. ^ "Why Ash loves Binodini". Rediff. 2003-10-20. http://www.rediff.com/movies/2003/oct/20ash.htm. Retrieved 20 October 2003. 
6. ^ "The Toronto Film Festival". Time. http://www.time.com/time/asia/photoessays/toronto_film2003/index.html. Retrieved 2003. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ "Ash will be remembered in Chokher Bali". Rediff. 2003-05-05. http://sports.rediff.com/movies/2003/may/05ritu.htm. Retrieved 5 May 2003. 
8. ^ "Aishwarya's screen presence and passion play". Rediff.com. http://in.rediff.com/movies/2003/oct/07chokher.htm. Retrieved 2003-10-07. 
9. ^ "Chokher Bali will widen my horizon". The Times Of India. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2003-07-06/news-interviews/27178157_1_aishwarya-rai-rabindranath-tagore-tagore-novel. Retrieved 2003-06-06. 
10. ^ "A director's film". The Hindu. http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2003/11/16/stories/2003111600410500.htm. Retrieved 2003-11-16. 

External links

• Chokher Bali at the Internet Movie Database
• citwf.com page