Chorus

ThisisatypicalearlyMrinalSenfilm.Bold,brashandhammeringhomehispoliticalphilosophy.Thedifferenceisinthetreatmentandthescreenplay.Thisfilmusestheidiomoftheabsurdtheatretomakeitspoint-typicalofMohitChattopadhyay'splays.ThuswehaveRobiGhosh,inmanyadisguise,actingasthe&quot;Sutradhar&quot;anddeliveringthepoliticalmessage.Thefilmjuxtaposesthisstylisationandcaricaturewithneo-realismanddocumentarysequencestosaythatthe&quot;Gods&quot;orthecapitalistsreallyhavefeetofclay.therearetoomanypeople,toomanyproblemsandtoofewsolutions.Ultimately,thefilmpredictstheriseofthemasseswheentherulingcapitalistswillhavetorunandwillbecomeineffectiveinthefaceoftheupsurgethatiswaitingtohappen.<br/>　　Theallegoricaltreatmentandstylisationnotwithstanding,thisisnotasubtlefilm.NoneoftheearlyfilmsofMrinalSenwere.Itisanoutandoutpoliticalfilmmeanttodeliveracommunistmessage.Itpredictsandevenadulatesanarchy.Stillitisafilmthatmakesyouthinkandthecollageofevents,oftenunassociated,helpsputthroughtheunderlyingmessage.Therewaslittlescopeofactinginthisfilmandalltheactorsplaytheirbitpartswell.WhatispleasingisthemusicbyAnandaShankerandPrashantBhattacharya.Editingisalsogood,holdingthefilmtogetherandnotlettingit'sbasicthemeloseitswayamongthemyriadincidents.Thisisafilmforthethinkingindividual,nomatterthat,attheendofitall,youarestillunimpressedandstillthinkthatthephilosophicalcontentistooimmature,toosimplistic.CameraworkbyKKMahajanisoutstanding.<br/>　　ThefilmwontheGoldenLotusforbestfilmandbestmusicin1975.