In Search of Famine

Akaler Shandhaney (1982): Brief Review -

Mrinal Sen's powerful commentary on the contrast between cinematic representation and harsh reality-set against the backdrop of the devastating Bengal Famine. While Satyajit Ray's Ashani Sanket brilliantly examined the consequences of World War II and the 1943 famine, Sen chooses to explore a different dimension of the same event. The result is both thought-provoking and unsettling. The film follows a movie crew arriving in a village to shoot a film about the famine. While the director is deeply committed to the subject, much of the crew remains disconnected from the gravity of the tragedy they're depicting. One of the actresses slowly begins to understand its weight-but by then, it's too late. The director himself faces mounting challenges while filming, as he becomes increasingly aware of the emotional and cultural scars the famine has left behind. The screenplay delves into the trauma through recreated scenes that stir haunting memories in the villagers-particularly a woman named Durga. It's a disturbing juxtaposition: the crew's attempt to dramatize suffering versus the villagers' lived experience. For those of us watching from urban comforts, the film reminds us how easily the depth of such a catastrophe can be overlooked. Mrinal Sen brings that discomfort close to the skin-you can feel its burn. Though the pacing falters at times, the narrative remains engaging. Dhritiman Chatterjee gives a standout performance, while Smita Patil effortlessly immerses herself in her role. Gita Sen is a revelation, and the rest of the cast adds strength to the ensemble. The headmaster's final speech is my high point here-poignant and unforgettable. While not overtly traumatic or harrowing, Akaler Shandhaney operates as a slow-burning exploration of truth versus artifice. It's a concept where the real famine victims confront the cinematic famine seekers-with haunting effect.

Rating - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

"Cut!, Cut!, Cut!, Cut!" One of the remarkable scenes of the movie is a group of village boys running after the film crew bus shouting and mocking the way the director officially ends a shot. It is apparently, not much and only a 5 sec shot. However, 5 sec is long enough for people like Mrinal Sen to turn an innocent childish errant into much more purposeful. The word symbolically sharply demarcates between what is it in the movie and what is in the reality. The film crew was shooting famine which should have ended with the utterance of "cut" yet it leaks into the other side of the camera even though half century has passed since then and India supposedly progressed a lot. It is a slap and a mockery on the failure of the system done in the most subtle way. If a 5 sec shot can communicate all these, then think of what the full movie can do?

Famine is not about lack of food but it also about lack of morality rather the breakdown of values. Famine unleashes the dormant opportunist in the most corrupt and bigot way. Yet amongst such devastation there could be island, there could be people who despite of the hardship can still be empathetic, can still be humane. The movie is reap with many such examples. That's the reason it is a humanistic movie as Mrinal Sen himself is humanistic intellectual.

Unlike his contemporaries, his movies often end without a definite answer and leave the audience guessing. It is a bold experimentation to deliver a scratching message. The striking characteristic of "Akaler Sandhaney" is also that the making of the movie itself and the process of story telling is done in the most informal way. To the audience it it is more a like documentary capturing a set of unrelated events that happened to a film crew than a a feature film itself. His movies is mainly a feast for the mind, appealing and engrossing to your intellect and less so to your senses.

It has an additional value that it is only handful of movies that reminds us of the 1943 Bengal famine where 5 million people just perished due to lack of food (as mentioned in this movie itself)

Dhirtiman, Smita Patil and Rajen Torofdar (Himself a great director) all deserve special mention without which this review will be incomplete.

A must for the film school

1st watched 12/27/2009 – 8 out of 10(Dir-Mrinal Sen) Fascinating portrayal of a film crew coming into an area to film a movie about a famine 40 years earlier in the same area and disrupting the villages around them. This movie is an obvious documentary but there is so much drama behind the scenes that this becomes a story all to it's own. The crew enters the area with good intentions of portraying the suffering that occurred as a reminder and a historical recreation of the time. At first the villagers welcome this mostly, but they obviously expect more from these new folk around them as they become a separate community in the area with big city needs. They hire locals to work with them to hopefully make up for their disruptions but this eventually backfires. The movie being made loses a main star in the production and they start trying to get local talent to play the part of a prostitute but this creates a lot of controversy in the villages and they start turning against them. This is a one of a kind movie that makes you think about our insistence on being entertained despite the circumstances. The movie community actually starts creating it's own famine in the surrounding areas by absorbing their goods – which is exactly opposite of their intention. The movie portrays the film crew as understanding and willing to make changes based on the locals reactions(unlike what American filmmakers might be like), so they definitely are not the enemy just absorbed in the situation. The movie should be a requirement for film schools but because it's made in a third world country and mostly unknown it probably wont. Watch it, you'll see what I mean!!

"Akaler Sandhane" is a hauntingly beautiful and deeply layered Bengali film that transcends time and narrative. Directed by the legendary Mrinal Sen, the movie brilliantly blurs the line between reality and fiction as a film crew sets out to portray the 1943 Bengal famine - only to find themselves emotionally entangled with the real struggles of the village they're filming in.

The strength of the film lies not just in its socio-political message, but in its storytelling style - subtle, self-reflective, and disturbingly relevant. Sen masterfully critiques both the cruelty of historical famine and the ethical dilemmas of artists trying to recreate human suffering.

Performances are pitch-perfect - particularly by Smita Patil and Dhritiman Chatterjee - capturing raw vulnerability and conflicted conscience. The cinematography, stark and poetic, pulls you right into the emotional landscape of the film.

This is not just a film about a famine - it's a film about representation, responsibility, and the power imbalance between those who suffer and those who tell their story

A must-watch for lovers of meaningful cinema.

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User reviews Akaler Sandhane Featured review 7 /10 Mrinal Sen's powerful commentary on the contrast between cinematic representation and harsh reality-set against the backdrop of the devastating Bengal Famine.

Akaler Shandhaney (1982): Brief Review -

Mrinal Sen's powerful commentary on the contrast between cinematic representation and harsh reality-set against the backdrop of the devastating Bengal Famine. While Satyajit Ray's Ashani Sanket brilliantly examined the consequences of World War II and the 1943 famine, Sen chooses to explore a different dimension of the same event. The result is both thought-provoking and unsettling. The film follows a movie crew arriving in a village to shoot a film about the famine. While the director is deeply committed to the subject, much of the crew remains disconnected from the gravity of the tragedy they're depicting. On.