kunalsen_7684 Review of The Home and the World

The Home and the World (1984)

Freedom Vs. Fortitude, Idealism Vs. Pragmatism, Lover Vs. Husband, Home Vs. The World

[8/10 · 15 August 2007]

Let me divide the discussion on the film into a few parts BACKGROUND AND ANECDOTES Ray had wanted to make a film out of this Tagore story for a long time, right from the 1960s but somehow the project kept getting delayed. Initially, Ray had casted Soumitra Chatterjee as Nikhil and wanted a young débutante to play the role of Sandip but later, in an example of inspired casting, he cast Soumitra as Sandip instead as he felt there was no one who could give the long, verbose speeches in chaste Bengali better than Soumitra (and Soumitra delivers as usual with a flawless performance but we'll come to that later). Victor Banerjee, who had earlier worked with Ray in Shatranj and Pikoo, made the grade as Nikhil THE PUBLIC OPINION ON THE FILM Even though Ghare Baire remains a strong Ray film, it does not enjoy the universal critical appreciation of the Apu Trilogy, Charulata, Aranyer Din Ratri, Kanchenjunga, Kapurush, Pikoo, Jalsaghar, Devi, Teen Kanya, Asani Sanket, etc. NOR does it enjoy the mass popularity of Goopi Gayen Bagha Bayen, Sonar Kella, Joi Baba Felunath, Abhijaan etc. It remains somewhat underrated and under discussed amongst all Ray's films- even more so than Ray's last 3 films (Ghanashatru, Shakha Proshakha and Agantuk) which even though weaker films by Ray's unusually lofty standards were at least much more accessible to the public being more recent THE FILM ****Mild spoilers ahead***** Ghare Baire is set in pre- Independence India and tells the story of a traditional but educated Bengali woman- married to a wealthy, liberal, westernized Zamindar of a Bengali village. Her daily sojourns are confined to the inner part of the house as a strange but true custom for married women in those days. Is it then just a coincidence that her state of living is also an allegory to India in those times- wanting to win freedom from its past. Hoewver, truth be told, her husband loves her and she's under no apparent stress due to her lifestyle and seems to have accepted it and thriving in it. Nikhil, her husband, is a calm, composed, pro feminist and liberal man who supports her wife's decision to learn English Classical music from a British Lady (an interesting cameo by Jeniffer Kendall whom we know as Violet Stoneham from 36 Chowringhee Lane). In their peaceful lives, enters a revolutionary named Sandip. Dark, brooding, idealist; Sandip was an old college friend of Nikhil and is now, the leader of the 'Swadeshi' movement or the 'Be Indian Buy Indian' movement and wants to extend his movement in Nikhil's village but Nikhil, being a pragmatic man, cannot allow this to happen because that would take away the livelihoods of many poor hawkers (paricularly Muslim) who get foreign made things CHEAPER than Indian substitutes and hence stand to lose their margins if forced to buy Indian raw materials for selling in the 'haat' (a village market) Another layer to this 'external' story is its 'internal' aspect that comprises Nikhil, Sandip and Bimala. Nikhil is the man of the world, Sandip represents an illusive Utopia as he is a die hard idealist and Bimala plays the woman who's torn between the two extremes- The Home (Nikhil) and the World (Sandip), Ghare and Baire. Smitten by Sandip's fiery speeches and his vision of an independent India as contrasted with her own husband Nikhil's ostensibly indifferent attitude to the freedom struggle, Bimala finds herself increasingly drawn to Sandip. Does Nikhil know or does he simply trust his wife too much and is a bit of an idealist himself? And does Sandip actually love Bimala or is he only using her as a tool to weaken Nikhil and subsequently, persuade Nikhil to let the Swadeshi movement enter his village and also to take her financial help to continue his movement? And what about Bimala? Then, when chaos erupts in the village due to the battle between the revolutionaries and the establishment, Sandip has to leave and Bimala's dreams are shattered as reality strikes. Then the small things become more apparent to her- like how Sandip always traveled by first class, how he always smoked imported cigarettes even though he was a proponent of Swadeshi himself. Then she remembers what Nikhil's first words to her about Sandip almost as a warning- "That man is better to look at from a distance". Isn't that true about mirages and ideals too? Aren't they too accompanied later by a sense of disillusionment? AFTERMATH Ultimately, 'Ghare Baire' is an extremely complex but rich story of idealism Vs. pragmatism that extends the concept to not only a Home i.e. a Bengali household (through the love triangle) but also to the World i.e. India during those times of strife and struggle (through the depiction of the revolution and the Swadeshi movement). In both cases, in the end, we did get freedom, but at what cost? Doesn't Nikhil's unfortunate death represent the millions of lives that were lost in our Freedom struggle and doesn't Sandip's escape represent the euphoria that quickly deserted us, just as we became independent Ray's mastery is evident behind every frame- Victor's monologue during dinner one night, Soumitra's several soul stirring speeches during the film and the wonderful cinematography (the last scene of Bimala morphing from a married woman to a widow is just awesome beyond words), Ghare Baire would represent the end of a phase in Ray's career as he suffered a heart attack while filming this and subsequently his output became less prolific (He only completed 3 more films and a telefilm in his last eight years). Also, this was the beginning of a change of style- from the ersthwile outdoor locations (Apu, Kanchenjunga, Aranyer Din Ratri, etc.) to the primarily 'set- driven' later films. 8/10 for me