Dahan (1997 film)

Dahan
DVD cover
Directed byRituparno Ghosh
Written bySuchitra Bhattacharya (story)
Rituparno Ghosh (screenplay)
StarringShakuntala Barua
Abhishek Chatterjee
Indrani Halder
Subhendu Chatterjee
Aditi Chatterjee
Rituparna Sengupta
Suchitra Mitra
Edited byArghyakamal Mitra
Release date
  • 1997 (1997)
Running time
145 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageBengali

Dahan (Crossfire) (1997) is an Indian Bengali social drama film directed by Rituparno Ghosh.[1][2] The film is based on Suchitra Bhattacharya's story of the same name.[3]

Plot

A newly wed couple Romita and Palash are attacked on the open road. The goons molested Romita, but nobody came forward to help, except a schoolteacher, Jhinuk, who rushed to the spot to help. She is later hailed a heroine by the press. One day, Palash, due to a misunderstanding and in a fit of rage, ends up raping his wife. Romita wants to stay at her parents house. There, she meets her elder sister, to whom she shows an interest to leave the in-laws and to shift to Canada. Her sister wishes to give a tour to Romita-Palash both, but Romita insists that she needs to come alone. Depressed, Romita is unable to meet Jhinuk or connect to her via telephone, so they do not know how to face the case in court together. Due to her conservative in-laws, Romita is pressured much to leave the goons or to stop the case there; she admits unclear statement in the court. On the other side, Jhinuk also having requested from her fiancé, the family of the goons started to influence with many offers, even a promotion abroad to dominate Jhinuk personally. She was reluctant to face those proposals and an uneasiness had grown between them. Jhinuk was rigid in her decision to punish the criminals. She was honest in her thoughts. On the contrary, threats from the goons and lack of police support for the case was becoming tough. She was steady and clear about the criminals in the court, but faced insults by humiliating questions. The two different female characters lost the case, the criminals got release afterwards. Romi-Jhinuk have feelings towards their life in such different tests. They are not under the same light, but turn experienced about life, family and narrowness of the society. They became stronger enough to go on to the future alone in their own way. Romi wrote letters to her sister about her changed status. Jhinuk was determined to punish the assailants, and helped police. However, the experience of Jhinuk turns out to be a frustrating experience for her when the victim's family turn away.[4]

Cast

Awards

45th National Film Awards

Trivia

Rachna Banerjee disclosed that Ghosh wanted to cast her as the protagonist of the film. She had to refuse his proposal since she had some prior commitments in South Indian film Industry. She did not ask him which role he was interested to cast her in. Banerjee often regrets the circumstances that made her refuse the film.[5]

References

  1. ^ "The Hindu : Entertainment : Shifting from the Bengali milieu". 12 September 2007. Archived from the original on 12 September 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  2. ^ "Dahan (1997) - Review, Star Cast, News, Photos". Cinestaan. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Unishe April (1994): Rituparno Ghosh gained acclaim for his second film Unishe April starring Aparna Sen, Debashree Roy and Prosenjit Chatterjee, which went on to win two National Awards including best film. The story was loosely based on Ingmar Bergman film Autumn Sonata". photogallery.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Dahan (1997) - All-time great Bengali films that boosted woman empowerment". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  5. ^ "ঋতুপর্ণ ঘোষের ছবির অফার ফিরিয়ে দেন রচনা!". TheWall. Retrieved 31 May 2021.