9 movies to watch if you are missing the DurgaPuja vibes
The grand festive season has arrived in India. It is the DurgaPuja which inaugurates the long festival season followed by Diwali, Dhanteras, and Christmas. The Festival comes with a lot of celebrations with family and friends. Lots of food, enjoyment, movies, and get-togethers. Festivals are a perfect coup to break the barriers of caste and creed and unite the individuals.
‘Pujo’- the word is more than a festival for a Bengali mind, it is an emotion. A Bengali social media page is full of countdown posts for the next Durga Puja once it comes to end. It evokes a raw scintillating emotion in a Bengali mind whenever the word ‘Pujo’ is uttered closeby. Lovingly called the festival of homecoming, Durga Puja makes all those migratory birds come back to their beloved nest, happily cozying into the mother’s lap, chirping madly with beloved ones. The master artisan, vowing to create his masterpiece, paints the sky clear blue with a patch of crystal white thrown in. The morning starts with the quintessential Dhaker Badyi. The neighboring streets welcome you with a White carpet courtesy of the ever-smiling Jasmine tree. The pandal hopping, gulping phuchka from the streetside vendor, biting your favorite egg-chicken roll, peeping at the elegant beauty clad in a saree next to you – these things form the basic crux of DurgaPuja every year.
This year is an anomaly when it comes to celebration. The Covid Pandemic is still wreaking havoc in the whole world, leaving the festivity on their knees. Tough times need for tougher resistances. People from all over the world have confined themselves to the four walls of their house, sacrificing their normal lives and celebrations. The Durga Puja celebrations will also go the same way. Mild and subdued.
When there is negativity looming around us, it is the festive vibe that can enthrall our mind and soul. We can’t let our soul slide to negativity. There are several ways to keep up the festive vibe even being confined to the four walls. Cinema is one of them. Cinema, being a strong visual medium, has always been adept to turn our lives better by instilling a sense of happiness or making us walk down memory lane.
Below are names of such movies which have projected the Durga Puja vibe in its purest form:
Jai Baba Felunath
The ever-young Soumitra Chattopadhyay as the famous Bengali sleuth – Feluda, the maestro Satyajit Ray as the director and a mystery in the city of Benaras with DurgaPuja in the backdrop – what more could anyone have asked for. This 1978 movie will always be the favorite DurgaPuja movie for Bengali cine lovers. Feluda fights the badass businessman Maganlal Meghraj, immortalized by Utpal Dutta in this magnum opus. DurgaPuja plays a pivotal role in this mystery flick. The night strolls around the narrow bylanes of Benaras, a fresh cup of morning tea in the Ghat, the body-building show of Vishwashree, the spine-chilling night throwing scene – the movie is filled with nostalgic moments that to be cherished forever.
Kahaani
Vidya Balan comes to the city of Joy to find her missing husband. Things get complicated when the Investigation Bureau gets involved. The movie turns into a roller-coaster ride with the personal quest for a missing person suddenly transforms into an international political scenario. Kolkata plays an important character in this absolute nail-biter drama. The way Kolkata glams up during the mega festival is shown aesthetically. The climax is a marvelous tribute to the never-ending saga of Mahisasurmardini – the victory of good over evil.
Utsav
This gem of a movie is one of the best creations of Late Rituparno Ghosh. The movie revolves around a Bengali joint family, organizing their yearly DurgaPuja in their ancestral home. The movie delves deeper into the psyche of a Bengali family, traversing between their internal conflicts and realizations.
Hirer Angti
Another gem from the maverick director, Rituparno Ghosh, Hirer Angti is the debut movie of the visionary filmmaker. The ancestral property of an opulent Bengali family is on the verge of dethronement when a stranger appears, claiming to be the heir to the original owner of the property. The tone of the movie is very vibrant. The smell of festivity can be felt throughout the frames of the entire movie. The deep blue sky, the oscillating Kashful, and the refreshing village vibes. The movie starts with the soul-stirring tune of Mahalaya – the famous radio program aired on the first morning of Devipaksha.
Uma
Uma, directed by Srijit Mukherjee, is an emotional tale of a terminally ill teenager’s long desire to envisage the grand DurgaPuja celebration of Kolkata. As she lives abroad, she never got a chance before to experience the extravaganza, only relished to the Puja tales from her father. The undying love of a father for his daughter can turn the world upside down as he embarks upon a journey to recreate the DurgaPuja in Kolkata in the month of April instead of October as she does not have much time. The movie is an ode to all those memories of madness that one indulges upon during DurgaPuja. A desperate father, a failed movie director, and a city lost in the veil of its past glory – Uma takes the simple but uneven road to celebration amidst tragedy.
Antarmahal
Antarmahal is another magnum opus, directed by Rituparno Ghosh. Based on the short story, Pratima by Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, this period drama revolves around an opulent zamindar family set in the colonized India. The zamindar, played by Jackie Shroff, in a desperate attempt to earn the RoyBahadur title from British Raj, plans to create the face of their Durga Idol resembling Queen Victoria. The movie touches upon several social issues such as oppressive patriarchy, indomitable greed of the zamindars, and many more. The climax is the cherry on the top – hard-hitting, menacing.
Vicky Donor
Vicky Donor, directed by Shoojit Sircar, is a very bold movie. It successfully breaks the taboo regarding a sensitive issue like sperm donation. The protagonist, Vicky, falls for a bong beauty, Ashima. They are seen pandal hopping in the famous Bengali neighborhood of Delhi, Chittaranjan Park.
Dugeshgorer Gutodhon
Durgeshgorer Guptodhon, the second installment in the SonaDa series, directed by the talented Dhrobo Bandopadhyay, is an adventure flick with a history of Bengal playing an eminent character. The trio of Sonada, Abir, and Jhinuk embark upon a journey to attend a DurgaPuja ceremony in a scenic Bengal village, Banpukuria. The movie is high on research on rural Bengali culture. The Durga Idol plays an important role in the mystery revealed in the climax scene. The light-hearted tone of the movie makes it for a perfect family entertainer during the festival.
Durga Sohay
Durga, a rural impoverished girl, gets refuge in an affluent Bengali family and she quickly becomes a part of it. Family bonding, cultural function, Dhunuchi Naach, and adda – the movie has all the necessary elements to cheer up your mood in the festive season. The music by Bikram Ghosh needs special mention.
Celebration means entertainment of the soul. As the Pujo celebration goes indoors, these movies can certainly incite the festive vibes in us and lighten up the sad grumpy faces.
Happy Durgapuja!!
