Ajantrik

Ajantrik (1958) by Ritwik Ghatak was adapted from a short story of same name by Subodh Ghosh

The story of this movie can't be explained because when we start to list the events that happens in this story, we will invariably miss everything that is important.

This story is not about events but an emotion.

Lets say a person has passionately stockpiled a collection of Playboy magazines for years. And one day he burns them all up in utter disgust upon recognizing how much this passion has taken out of him. And while all the magazines are burning, he suddenly feels regret shooting up his spine making him to scream, 'what have I done?'. After sobbing in utter distress for few days, he slowly starts collecting Hustler magazines.

No, this was not the set of events that is happening in Ajantrik. But this is what gets conveyed in Ajantrik, the burden of human need and obsession.

Ajantrik is a meditation about a primal emotion that keeps every man and woman tied to a cycle of obsession and despair.

And the guys who sit below trees say, recognition of this emotion is the path towards liberation.