Every now and then, and whenever I feel like reflecting on a slice of life, content rich and realistic film, I fall back on Bengali cinema's golden age productions. "Bicharak" (released in 1959) ticks all the boxes and boasts of some stunning histrionics of Uttam Kumar, perhaps one of his finest ever. Based on an eponymous novel written by Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay, Bicharak is a poignant narrative of a judge forced to look back at his life and introspect about a dark chapter of his life, something that changed the course of his life. As a top district level judge, he commands respect, authority, adulation and lives a good life with his second wife. However, the aethist, high integrity, confident and righteous on the surface judge is constantly battling his demons subconsciously, a matter that he has kept buried in his heart - did he do enough to try and save his first wife from a raging fire that left her dead. Or was the effort a half hearted attempt to pave his way for a life he desired with her young, modern and extroverted cousin who eventually became his second wife. It's a strife between his heart and mind that he cannot escape from, and one day he has to face the demons together with his present wife - and perhaps stand a trial in the court of an authority and power he doesn't believe in, God! The couple has a soul stirring, no holds barred, philosophical rumination about whether he was actually innocent or took the opportunity to let her perish in the tragedy that would stay on to haunt them for the rest of their lives.
The story is the king, and the performances are intensely riveting. Uttam Kumar is in top form, powerful, brooding and confident. Arundhati Mukhopadhyay is sophisticated, mellow and deliberative. Together they whip up a gripping drama of just over 90 minutes that leaves you spellbound with its gravity and appreciation for superlative acting prowess. Written and directed by Prabhat Mukherjee, Bicharak is one of the finest films of all times, in spite of the choppy editing and technical handicap compared to what we experience today.
