THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Aparna Sen’s The Home and the World Today is based on the novel ‘Ghawre Bairey’ written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1926. The movie, set in contemporary India, revolves around a love triangle set in the backdrop of increasing pressure by religious fundamentalists.The Bengali movie commences with a self-introduction by the protagonists. It juggles between coloured, and black and white frames. While the former depicts events in real time, the latter takes the audience down memory lane.
The 136-minute-long movie talks about the story of two friends with different ideologies. Nikhilesh, a journalist, writes against the evils of a Hindu nationalism while his friend Sandip is Hindu nationalist lecturer. Meanwhile, Bimla, who hails from a tribal community, marries Nikhilesh. But when Sandip stays over at Nikhilesh’s house, Bimla falls for him.
Along with the portrayal of the dangerous life of a journalist, the film talks about the fragility of family relationships. The film is an example of the wolf in sheep’s clothing. Despite different ideologies, the relationship between the two friends were good until Sandip falls prey to religious sentiments. This, and his greed to acquire a seat as an MP makes him inhuman.
The film that was screened on Tuesday at Kalabhavan Theatre for the 24th IFFK was selected for the Jagran Film Festival India 2019, Chicago South Asian Film Festival 2019, INDIAINDIE Filmoteca Española, Embassy of India, Madrid 2019 and IFFSA Toronto 2020.
‘A portrayal of the current idea of India’
The movie The Home and the World Today screened on Tuesday for the 24th IIFK was well-appreciated by the audience. Talking how she zeroed in on the novel written by ‘Ghawre Bairey’ Rabindranath Tagore in 1926, the director of the film Aparna Sen, says: “I was not able to sleep on the day when the journalist Gauri Lankesh was killed. I was disturbed and that is when I decided to do a movie based on ‘Ghawre Bairey’, in the backdrop of contemporary India.”
“Only the ruling dispensation has changed and nothing else. Even during the time the novel was written, we had aggressive nationalism and freedom movements. The same continues until today,” she says. Can we relate the movie to the current political scenario? “The movie is about the idea of India which is being propagated now,” said Aparna, who has been honoured with India’s most prestigious awards including the Padmasree Award.