"You're never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" - C.S.Lewis
The dream of the aged protagonist of the film is to travel around the globe, see the Nile in Egypt and the midnight sun in Norway amongst them...
The film raises some questions about the traditional roles of husbands and wives from time immemorial in Bengali society against the winds of changes taking place. Modern times requires both husband and wife to be independent and not chained in their responsibilities and commitments while working towards making a family with kids and grand-children work. That seems to be the driving motive when the owner of a publishing house (Soumitro Chatterjee) announces his intention to be divorced from his wife of 49 years(Swatilekha Sengupta) in front of her and other family members. He claims he wants to experience his unfulfilled ambition of seeing places in his twilight years.
In some respect it is similar to the Mrinal Sen film EK DIN ACHANAK where the protagonist became dissatisfied with the demands of the family members and leaves for an unknown destination. Here no such things happen. What transpires is the deep reflection among the family members (daughters and their husbands quite similar to EK DIN ACHANAK) about the sudden decision of the patriarch. Some of the sequences are quite touching. Especially the one where the son (Sankar Chakraborty) breaks down and tells his father that all along he had idolized him and now he is thoroughly confused.
The Rituparna Sengupta character as the fiery daughter of the patriarch is a bit under-developed. Why was she in an extra-marital relationship and why suddenly she changes her mind to return to the family fold is not detailed...
The supporting cast includes Rituparna Sengupta, Aparajita Auddy, Kharaj Mukherjee and others. The film is directed by Siboprasad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy.
Rating: 3.8 out of 5
