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Choker Bali" gets bad reception from Locarno
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That's too bad. I was hoping that Ghosh would make a mark with this film. Oh, well. Anyway here's the article.
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Ash aura pales at Locarno SUBHASH K JHA
IANS[ WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2003 04:09:30 PM ]
MUMBAI: India had a strong presence at the Locarno film festival in Switzerland this month, but the main film, Chokher Bali, left audiences a trifle disoriented.
Explains Sunil Doshi, a member of the Indian delegation: "Though the film is exquisitely mounted and narrated, it lacks sufficient background, so that foreign viewers had to watch the period drama from Bengal without a perspective.
"Considering the profundity of Rabindranath Tagore's original novel (Binodini), a visual subtext was required." The film was directed by Rituparno Ghosh.
Aishwarya Rai's performance in the title role was also received with disappointment. In India, she was in the spotlight because of her film Devdas sweeping the popular awards while Kirron Kher's performance in it got sidelined.
The tables were turned at the Locarno festival, where Kirron bagged the best actress award for Khamosh Pani while Aishwarya's performance in Chokher Bali was ignored in spite of Indian film-maker, Girish Karnad being on the jury.
Rituparno Ghosh seems disappointed.
"But only for Ash. I don't feel bad for myself at all. I think the film for which Kirron got the award was far more politically correct. But I think Ash richly deserved the best actress award."
Aishwarya has gone back to London to shoot for Gurinder Chaddha's Bride & Prejudice. Incidentally, Kirron too has gone to London to join her husband Anupam Kher who plays Aishwarya's father in Chaddha's film.
Though Chokher Bali got the cold shoulder at Locarno, the one performance that got overwhelming attention was that of Raima Sen.
According to those present at the festival, legendary Bengali actress Suchitra Sen's granddaughter immediately caught everyone's attention.
Delegates were heard raving about the delicate damsel who's quite the opposite of her spunky sister Riya.
Interestingly Raima, though a Bengali, had her lines dubbed by actress Sudipta Chakraborty while another well-known actress, Sreela Mazumdar, dubbed Aishwarya's lines.
"Believe me, Sudipta has added a new dimension to Raima's performance," enthuses Sunil Doshi, but neither Raima nor Kirron would be eligible for the National Awards."
The other Indian entry at Locarno, Rajit Kapoor's Raghu Romeo was witnessed as a curious concoction. Saurav Shukla who plays one of the roles in Romeo said it's a film of warm remembrances.
"This was my first experience at an international film festival. And I must say our cinema is attracting global attention. My film was avidly watched. And members of the cast were quizzed closely about the film," said Saurav.
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