Scenes following the boat-wreck are picturized with Romesh's voice as he writes a letter to Hem explaining the events to her. But, then imagining the grave distress it would cause her, he shreds the letter to bits at the mailbox as if to lessen her hurt.
After witnessing the rage of the river in Aparna Sen's "The Japanese Wife", I was curious to see how Rituparno would portray this sentient event. But the masterful director completely side-stepped it and chose just to show the aftermath, just as he marginalised the weddings (which in any Indian film would have prominence by its pomp and ceremony.) But Rituporno negates its importance by placing it in between the opening credits. If Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy only in its endlng, Naukadubi is a tragedy all throughout but keeps you in suspense about its ending as he alternates between the two plots.
The film is so full of Indian nuances, for instance, as Hema and the doctor leave the Kashi ghats, and he hesitates to offer his hand to assist her in the dark, as it would be improper to do so according to the customs of the time. When he finally does, he helps her down six steps and withdraws it after that. Hema is puzzled. He alludes to the custom of joining hands and taking seven steps together to symbolize the marriage. I wondered if the non-Indian audience would catch that.
This was also a period of intellectual awakening and I enjoyed the wordplay refering to the legal profession, when the brother rejoinder to his father's query as to if Hema agreed to his proposal in so many words, "In law, silence is consent". There were similar instances between Romesh and Kamala.
Our Film Classification officer exclaimed, "I just got very swept up in the dream-like quality of the filmmaking which somehow made the story that much more real." All the Kashi scenes were shot in mist as if to deepen the mystery. The lighting at ghat was exquisite and appropriate, whether it was an oil lamp or distant fireworks. It was a definite WOW for me. Wait to see Rituporno's magic in two more films at Hidden Gem's Octoberfest and you will see why Rituporno deserves the crown of "Director of the Decade".
Niru Bhatia
