7 Lesser Known Facts That Will Compel You To Watch Sujoy Ghosh's 'Ahalya' Again

Within just three days of its release on YouTube, Sujoy Ghosh's Ahalya has got a marvelous reception by viewers and critics alike. The 'greatest epic ever retold', Ahalya is a 14-minute thriller that stars Soumitra Chatterjee, Tota Roy Chowdhury and Radhika Apte in lead roles. Presented by Large Short Films, the movie 'spins a web around seduction and deceit'.

The reasons that made Ahalya receive such a thunderous response are obvious - the story, the script, the actors, and of course, the director. But then there are other factors at play, those that are a little less known to you, as a viewer, and which will definitely make you want to watch the movie all over again.

1. Sujoy has credited his movie to Valmiki, the author of the revered epic Ramayana. Sujoy's 'feminist' Ahalya takes its inspiration from the myth of Valmiki's Ahalya, who was the wife of sage Gautama Maharishi. According to Hindu scriptures, Ahalya was seduced by Lord Indra, cursed to a life of stone by her husband for infidelity, and was eventually liberated by Lord Rama's 'brush of feet' back to human form.

Wikipedia

2. Keeping true to the original story of Ahalya, the movie showcases the leading roles with utmost perfection - the role of sage Gautama Maharishi is donned by the veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee as Goutam Sadhu; the role of Ahalya is performed by Radhika Apte (recipient of a roaring critical acclaim for her acting); and the role of Lord Indra is depicted by Tota Roy Chowdhury as Inspector Indra Sen.

3. The movie has also been compared to some of Roald Dahl's stories that end with 'spooky' twisters. Only today Sujoy Ghosh tweeted:

I'm amused by murmurings that my short film Ahalya is "inspired" from a Roald Dahl story. I'm amused ... http://t.co/f3PSIFFoyI

— sujoy ghosh (@sujoy_g) July 24, 2015

4. Many have also seen remnants of Satyajit Ray’s Professor Shonku and the Wonderful Doll in Sujoy's Ahalya, which further proves the brilliance with which the director has conceptualised and presented his film for the world to see.

5. Sujoy Ghosh recently said in his interview that he made Ahalya to "purely to work with Soumita Chatterjee" and "there is no beginning or end to that."

6. When a legend praises a movie, it's got to mean something. Amitabh Bachchan offered his compliments to Ahalya on Twitter:

T 1939 - https://t.co/Vf3X5ODTMW ... the magic of short films .. Sujoy Ghosh .. brilliant !!

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) July 23, 2015

7. There is a reason why the movie has created such a buzz. A short 14-minute film, Ahalya has been made accessible to all, through free access on YouTube, from where people can easily share it in their circles on social networking sites.

Ahalya promises to keep you at the edge of your seat and it's a claim that it lives up to brilliantly.