Unishe April

Unishe April (1994): Brief Review -

Huge fan of Autumn Sonata (1978), but this wasn't close. Rituparno Ghosh-what a genius filmmaker, and I have no second thoughts about it. This was just his second film, yet he impressed so many critics as well as the National Award juries. If someone called him India's Ingmar Bergman, then I wouldn't have minded, because he came so close to cracking similar themes of storytelling. Autumn Sonata, one of Bergman's last films, was a conversational classic and carried a very experimental narrative for its time. It explored strained relationships through complex theories, leaving viewers stunned with the director's vision. Ghosh's Unishe April is a sort of remake of that film, with of course a few changes suiting Indian traditions and social norms. Unlike Bergman's flick, which had several other supporting characters playing pivotal roles in the narrative, Unishe April mainly focuses on the mother-daughter's strained relationship and scattered bond. It becomes too personal and lacks an intricate structure in its narrative, thereby distancing itself from the Swedish film. That's actually the major issue, because you have nothing else to support the storyline. It gets stuck at one point and takes longer than expected to reach the final confrontation. Many sobbing and frustration scenes are stretched up to two minutes or so, making it unnecessarily lengthy and slow. On the positive side, we have some power-packed performances by Aparna Sen and Debashree Roy. Both are simply outstanding-their expressions and conversations are brilliant and unforgettable. The supporting cast is fine too, and the technical aspects fit well in their places. Rituparno Ghosh's film works as a whole, but it's just that the hype around it was too much, and I found it underwhelming in comparison.

RATING - 6/10*

By - #samthebestest.

It's a movie which shows how little resource is needed to make a good movie. Almost the whole movie happens in a house. With only a few actors (only three prominent). It shows the capability of a talented writter and director "Rituporno Ghosh".

This movie gives you an insight of a scattered family and the way the director has projected this upon it's audience is absolutely amazing, though I felt like the crying of Debashree Roy was too much but the acting was right up to the mark.

It gives you a sense of care for your family even if there's hatred filled in for it and somehow we all want a happy ending and closeness for the characters.

Well for starters, I do not comprehend Bengali..Still I was compelled to watch this national award winning epic..The story is simple, but layers of complexity in the lead characters is evident..Was just blown away by the performances of both Debashree Roy and Aparna Sen..the conversations between the mother-daughter is extremely well etched..There is an inherent freshness in the movie..mostly because of the splendid cinematography..

Unfortunately, India is associated with Bollywood..Maybe its time to check out the so-called parallel cinema movement in India..Unishi April is one such gem that you cannot refuse..

Almost being a good translation of 'Autumn Sonata' by Ingmar Bergman, it gave the space and gateway to Ghosh and really set the mood in front of audiences about what Ghosh is going to make in the coming years. People say that 90's was the darkest time for indian cinema - not only bollywood, but regional ones too - and art filmmakers from every state was trying their hard to make experimental films more communicable and big budgeted movies with more vocal camera, art and editing. Unishe April was one of those torch bearers. Entirely shot in indoor sets, its script give the actors enough screen time and more than enough dialogues. And the actors, mainly the leads - Debashree Roy and Aparna Sen - filled those sets with their acting skills. This style was much unique then and stayed with Ghosh until he moved to the new, more expressive storytelling.