The Impact Thrice Over

This year, thankfully, there has been a rise in my reading graph. It peaked when I completed reading Sapiens which was a  challenge in itself.

Reading means less screen time and binging. But as I am forever hungry for new stories I did watch a few selective serials and movies.

I guess my watching of a series or film is different because if the narrative is meaningful and thought-provoking I keep comparing  the twists and turns of the plot to real life and experiences and try to discern their impact.

I also emotionally interact with the story and analyse how it affects me in terms of understanding human relationships and life per se. I have quite a number of times jotted down these reactions in several of my posts.

I feel mindfully viewing  is also part of the artistic endeavour that has been employed in creating a story. It is important to learn and I do learn from them.

A few serials/movies that recently made me think are:

Aap Jaisa Koi (Hindi) meaning Somebody Like You, though touted as a rom com, is actually a more mature handling of relationships in mid life. Shrirenu Tripathi, a Sanskrit school teacher, is too late in age to be up in the marriage market. Having given up on hopes to be paired with his soulmate, life throws a surprise when out of the blue a friendly neighbour proposes a match with his niece, Madhu Bose, a French teacher in Kolkata. The rest is about finding space and respect  in this new found liking for each other in a relationship of cultural extremes. After several break ups and heartbreaks,  Shrirenu’s decision to tear  away from the age old patriarchal mould and his readiness to learn to give equal footing to his life partner is a pleasant deviant in this well directed film.

Light Of My Lion is a Japanese serial about Michito , an autistic but highly  talented painter and his caring elder brother, Hiroto,  whose life is divided between taking care of his younger brother and working in the City Welfare Centre. The peace and routine of their life is suddenly disrupted when one fine morning a five year old child lands up at their doorway demanding to live with them. In this sedentarily paced serial Hiroto is dragged into  unraveling the mystery of finding who actually this child is who calls himself Lion all the while taking care of him along with Michito. Gradually their familial landscape changes as Michito and Lion become close to each other and after several jolting bends, Hiroto discerns, Michito, who he thinks is challenged and  dependent on him, is actually the strength and light in his life pushing him forward to stand tall against odds and unite with a part of the family which is long lost.

This serial has a strange wistful quality and emphasises the discerning presence of casual acquaintances in our lives who become friends in due course forging  unshakable and undoable bonds.

Benarasey Bibhishika or the Horrors In Benaras, is a Bengali , light hearted, detective movie where the trio Ekendra Sen, the self evasive, eccentric Detective of West Bengal Government and his friends Bappaditya, a professor of English and a passionate photographer and Pramatha, a Science Scholar,  get unwittingly embroiled in a mind grappling maze of murder, deceit and antique theft while vacationing in the ancient mystic city of Benaras. The movie is part of the Ekendra Series, based on the Bengali  novels authored by Sujan Dasgupta. It’s the biggest revenue grosser of the year of the Bengal Film Industry. The highlight of the movie is the colourfully well captivated ancientness, beauty and mysticism of the city of Benaras – a tribute to Satyajit Ray’s Joi Baba Felunath, another highly acclaimed detective movie set in the same city.

Three watches of three different genres satisfied me in three different ways. Aap Jaisa Koi taught me the strength of love which has the power to make one more adaptive throwing away obsolete ideas by which society judges a person. Light Of My Lion taught me the value of kinship, forgiveness and acceptance. The guiltless desire to pursue dreams and be independent of each other all along drawing strength from one’s root – the family or as Michito puts it the lion’s pride. Benarasey Bibhishika is fun and rekindled memories of my visit to Benaras. Since I cannot travel much these days  such movies wherein the backdrop becomes a character  itself somehow sates my thirst for exploring and travel.

Hope you like the excerpts and if interested can watch them on Netflix and Hoichoi ( OTT platform for Bengali movies).

Pics from Google