Choker Bali: A Passion Play

The strength of this Tagore novel was the simultaneous portrayal of the baser human instincts and its destructive effects and the nobler human emotions and its uplifting purifying effects in its central protagonist- Binodini. Binodini's deliberate enticement of Mahendra was a result of hurt ego that Mahendra would choose the far inferior Ashalata to lavish his affections, greed for all she could have possessed had he married her, and is provoked her to break their marriage.Bihari, however, inspired her abiding love and respect and this gave her strength to resist Mahendra's lust and also Bihari's marriage proposal as this would have led to the latter's defamation and social ostracisation. Unfortunately Rituporno's film was unable to portray this duality of emotions I don't blame the viewers who are unfamiliar with the novel for thinking that this is about a widows sexual lust. Shame on Rituporno for so defaming that great writer 'TAGORE.'

May be this is my most favourite film otherwise how could i saw this movie for 100 times? Each and every sequence is excellently portrayed. 4 major cast did tremendous job. I specifically liked the work of tota as Bihari. When Binodini went to Bihari's place alone, omg what a beautiful conversation they had. I can see this movie at any time, plus this movie also shows the Bengali culture and the context of colonial period in india. Another special part is the poetry used in this film and background music.we a mild criticism should come for the dubbing done for ashwariya. Apart from it everything is perfevt

Absolutely love this movie. Thanks to ritu for gifting us this piece of art.

Its very tough to portray a Tagore novel along cinematographic lines.And if you forget an obscure production of 1967 then its the first time that chokher bali has been done on a grand scale. Overall the sets looked fantastic with the right touches for making a successful period drama.Prasenjit,so used to doing crass commercial stuff made a good effort.I saw the Bengali version and found that Aishwariya's voice was dubbed,which made her dialog delivery a bit poor. While the director did a good job portraying each of the characters with finesse,yet there was very little in the way of meaningful plot,probably a lack of the story itself.However the development of the characters including those with minor roles seem to be the strongest point.Its tough to make some Tagore stories into films,as only the visual parts seem to get realized.

Visually beautiful. With good messages. I not sure if I understand it fully but still I like it.

P.S. Most unrealistic part- 2 guys rejected Aishwarya just by looking at her photo. :/

The Hindi version of the film is 121 minutes. Set in Bengal in the early 1900's, the film (based on Tagore's novel) draws an analogy between the British colonization of India and the subjugation of women. An educated and beautiful woman, Binodini becomes a widow within a year of her marriage, but she does not accept the constraints imposed on her as a widow by her society. The film has a beautiful look to it but perhaps Aishwarya Rai is out of her depth in portraying Binodini's strong character with its subtle combination of idealism and deviousness. Binodini's idealism does not come across, and as a result, the analogy between women and colonization remains somewhat buried.