Charulata (The Lonely Wife), will be screened by the Indian Cultural Centre at 5.30 pm today, in honour of the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.
Charulata, directed by Satyajit Ray, is based on a story by Tagore called, Nastanirh (The Broken Nest).
Filmed in 1964 and set in nineteenth-century Calcutta, Charulata tells the story of Charu (Madhabi Mukherjee), whose husband Bhupati (Sailen Mukherjee) is totally engrossed in working on his English language newspaper and has little time for her.
Bhupati’s young cousin Amal (Soumitra Chatterjee ) visits and Bhupatti invites him to stay on to keep Charu’s company. Amal is young, handsome and is of the same age group as Charu. He has literary ambitions and shares her interests in poetry. He provides her with much needed intellectual companionship and attention. Amal and Charu develop a relationship which could threaten his cousin’s marriage.
The award-winning film tells the story of the decisions which are made, and Satyajit Ray uses the images, dialogue and understated music to convey the emotions. Admission is free.
