Jara Roddure Bhijechhilo (Bengali) / Lacklustre tribute

Cinematography : Aseem Bose

Music: Piloo Bhattacharya

Editing: Sanjeeb Dutta

Cast: Soumitra Chatterjee, Shubhashish Mukherjee, Arjun Chakraborty, June Malliah,
Manasi Sinha, Sreejoyee Deb and others

By Shoma A. Chatterji

The success of a film based on the work of Rabindranath Tagore depends largely on how the tale is narrated, rather than the story itself. But the director, Bhargonath Bhattacharya is unable to deliver in his debut film Jara Roddure Bhijechhilo.
Daroka Bhaduri (Soumitra Chatterjee) is an old man who is an ardent fan of Tagore’s works. He lives alone in his family home, which is a visual tribute to the great litterateur. Bhaduri is part of a morning workout club run by Arjun (Arjun Chakraborty), who is also his Man Friday, soul-mate and companion. Bhaduri’s life changes when he learns that his son (Subhashish Mukherjee) and daughter-in-law (June Malliah) will be visiting him from the US with their little son Kutty. The old man tries to forge a bond with Kutty (Sreejoyee Deb), and inculcate in him an appreciation of Tagore’s works. But for Kutty, Tagore is a stranger and his alter-ego Bhanu, is a street boy who lives in the neighbourhood slum.
The little boy, however, tries his best to learn what his grandfather is trying to teach him. But he is confused and a point comes when he can hardly differentiate between Tagore and Tarzan. His parents are alarmed and decide to fly back to the US, ready to face hardships. The son has lost his job and the daughter-in-law sustains the family by selling flowers on the streets. They give up the idea of persuading the old man to sell the mansion as the daughter-in-law does not wish to take any favours from the old man.The story delves into the false pride that NRIs have, hiding behind the sheen of their status.
Rabindrasangeet is the highlight of the film. Arjun melodiously belts out two famous Tagore numbers. Although, he has a major role, the character is very thinly sketched. June Malliah is brilliant in a layered role while Shubhashish, on the brink of a nervous breakdown, is convincing. The improvised ‘item’ song by the slum kids is as redundant as is the slum segment that seems to have been put in to justify Kutty’s sudden disappearance. Soumitra does not seem to be excited about his role or the film.
Roddur means ‘sunlight’ in Bengali. But here, the director decides to use the word as a metaphor for Tagore as his first name was Robindranath, ‘robi’ standing for sun. There is also a reference to the name “Bhanu” which Tagore used as a pseudonym for himself in some of his writings. The message is lost because of the weak script and innumerable flashbacks. The story lacks coherence as a whole.