Arohan (1982) – Benegal’s Exemplary Dedication
When a movie doesn’t sell, my local desi DVD retailer places it on the FOR SALE shelf letting it go often for as low as $4. That’s often where I do most of my Indian DVD shopping, because ironically enough, that’s where one tends to find some of the most important films. I had never heard of Arohan (The Ascent), because for some odd reason, it is one of Shyambabu’s lesser known films, or at least, most criminally ignored. After collecting dust on my shelf for over 5 months, it finally made its way into my DVD player last evening.
Set amidst the furious socio-political revolution in West Bengal between 1960 and 1970, Arohan, though a fictional account, attempts to document a part of Indian history through a painful story of an innocent farmer who falls victim to farcical feudal reforms. The film chronicles Hari Mandal’s (Om Puri) life as he struggles to claim ownership of the land on which generations of his family have farmed, only to watch it all taken away by the zamindar (Victor Banerjee) who looks to protect his asset amidst feudal reforms that allow farmers to assume more power. In the process, the film also works as a comment on urban emigration and initiation into criminal activities, fueled by simple aspirations.
The brilliance of the characterization is such that as a viewer, one tends to understand every point of view including that of the evil landlord. The writing by Shama Zaidi is incredibly strong and telling, with each character sufficiently fleshed out for a cast of supremely talented actors to devour. Led by the implosive Om Puri and wonderfully supported by Noni Ganguly, Victor Banerjee, Jayant Kriplani, and Pankaj Kapur, Arohan is also quite grittily lensed by Govind Nihalani.
Shyam Benegal’s attention to detail in recreating the era of growing socialism, mounting the rural landscape, and in believably directing his actors is inspirational. The unrelenting dedication to telling this important story that was perhaps destined to be a box office failure, is evident in every frame. Arohan may not be the kind of cinema that would be taught at film schools, or even necessarily analyzed by film scholars, but it is a film that anyone with aspirations of being a filmmaker needs to watch. In this era of pathbreaking ideas, it would help everyone to get inspired by the work of the prime torchbearer of Indian independent cinema – Mr. Shyam Benegal – to be inspired by his and his team’s exemplary dedication to telling a story that they believed in, regardless of whether or not they had the money or resources to do so. You deserve a salute Shyambabu!
Tags: Bengali, Direction
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Vijay…Never heard this Film yaar!!!
Jayant Kriplani….where is he?
Neither had I. I just came across this one by chance. It’s a rare one. It’s not a great film, but a must see just to recognize the passion and dedication that went into making it. Om Puri is brilliant.
I chanced on this film when visiting Calcutta in 1985 – I don’t speak a word of Bengali, yet was mesmerized from start to finish. I particularly remember one scene where goondas are rampaging through town, that had the audience laughing in stiches – I’d like to know what that was all about…