Meghe Dhaka Tara

This article is on a 1960 movie, for other uses see Meghe Dhaka tara (disambiguation)
Meghe Dhaka Tara

A poster for Meghe Dhaka Tara.
Directed by Ritwik Ghatak
Produced by Chitrakalpa
Written by Ritwik Ghatak (screenplay), Shaktipada Rajguru(the original novel)
Starring Supriya Choudhury,
Anil Chatterjee,
Niranjan Ray,
Gita Ghatak,
Bijon Bhattacharya,
Gita Dey,
Dwiju Bhawal,
Gyanesh Mukherjee,
Ranen Ray Choudhury
Release dates
  • 14 April 1960 (1960-04-14)
Running time
 134 minutes
Country India
Language Bengali

Meghe Dhaka Tara (Bengali: মেঘে ঢাকা তারা Mēghē Ḍhākā Tārā, meaning The Cloud-Capped Star) is a 1960 film written and directed by Ritwik Ghatak, based on a social novel by Shaktipada Rajguru with the same title. It stars Supriya Choudhury, Anil Chatterjee, Gita Dey, Bijan Bhattacharya, Niranjan Roy, and Gyanesh Mukherjee.[1] It was part of a trilogy consisting of Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960), Komal Gandhar (1961), and Subarnarekha (1962), all dealing with the aftermath of the Partition of Bengal during the Partition of India in 1947 and the refugees coping with it.[2]

Overview

This film was directed by alternative filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak in Kolkata (then Calcutta). In contrast to many Bollywood films made in Mumbai, India's main film center, Ghatak's films are formally elaborate and somber, and often address issues related to the Partition of India. Although Partition is never explicitly mentioned in Meghe Dhaka Tara, it takes place in a refugee camp in the outskirts of Calcutta, and concerns an impoverished genteel Hindu bhadralok family and the problems they face because of Partition.

The film is perhaps the most widely viewed film among Ghatak's works; it was his greatest commercial success at home, and coincided with an international film movement towards personal stories and innovative techniques (the so-called 'new wave'). After Ghatak's death, his work (and this film in particular) began to attract a more sizable global audience, via film festivals and the subsequent release of DVDs both in India and in Europe.

In a confirmation of the popularity of Meghe Dhaka Tara, a recent survey by a leading Indian news group reported that the concluding line of the film, "Dada, ami baachte chai" ("Brother, I want to survive") was the most well-known line of any film.

Meghe Dhaka Tara is strongly melodramatic in tone, especially as concerns the sufferings heaped on the protagonist. As in many of his other films, Ghatak also uses surrealistic sound effects, such as sounds of a lashing as the heroine suffers yet another tragic twist of fate.

In 2002, Meghe Dhaka Tara was ranked at #231 on the Sight & Sound critics' and directors' poll for all-time greatest films.[3] The movie is also listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, which praises "the grace of Ghatak's mise en scène, his expressionist sound design, and the enormous sense of loss."[4]

Plot outline

The film revolves around Neeta (played by Supriya Choudhury), a beautiful young girl who lives with her family, refugees from East Pakistan, in the suburbs of Calcutta. Neeta is a self-sacrificing person who is constantly exploited by everyone around her, even her own family, who take her goodness for granted. Her elder brother (played by Anil Chatterjee) does not care for the family as he wants to be a singer, so she needs to take the burden. Her life is ridden with personal tragedy: she loses first her fiancé, then her job and finally her health by contracting tuberculosis. Her mostly absent would-be singer brother is the only person who cares about her in the end. At the end of the film, she screams out her agony, throwing herself into her brother's arms. She utters her last words: "Brother, I want to survive (দাদা, আমি বাঁচতে চাই।)."

Credits

Commentary

Best work done by Ritwik Ghatak In Meghe Dhaka Tara

Ghatak on the film

Cast and crew on the film

Screening of Meghe Dhaka Tara in different festivals

Adaptations

In 2016, Bratya Basu made a Bengali drama based on the plot of this film. The drama was first staged on 2 January 2016 at University Institute Hall at Kolkata.[8][9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Cloud Capped Star (1960)". NYTimes. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  2. ↑ Rosalind Galt; Karl Schoonover (2010). Global Art Cinema: New Theories and Histories. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-538562-4.
  3. ↑ "2002 Sight & Sound Top Films Survey of 253 International Critics & Film Directors". Cinemacom. 2002. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  4. ↑ Schneider, Steven Jay, ed. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. New York: Quintessence, 2008. p. 378.
  5. ↑ "Ritwik Ghatak's "Meghe Dhaka Tara" to screen at Toronto 2012". DearCinema.com. 2012-08-01. Retrieved 2012-10-08.
  6. ↑ "ಆದಿಮ ಬೆಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಋತ್ವಿಕ್ ಘಟಕ್: ಪ್ರಕಾಶ್ ಬಾಬು ಬರಹ - ಪ್ರಕಾಶ್ ಬಾಬು - ಕೆಂಡಸಂಪಿಗೆ". Kendasampige.com. Retrieved 2012-10-08.
  7. ↑ PIFF Schedule
  8. ↑ "Ididn't cast Poulomi as Neeta in 'Meghe Dhaka Tara' to take sweet revenge: BratyaBasu - The Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  9. ↑ সিংহ, সঞ্জয়. "'মেঘে ঢাকা তারা'র সন্ধানে এক বিধায়ক এবং এক মন্ত্রী". Ananadabazar Patrika. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
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