This movie was shown in UC, Berkeley on 14th February,2004. The movie was part of bengali initiative taken in UC, Berkeley..movie started with a brief introduction from the producer of the movie and ended with a discussion by Prof. Ganguly(?). During the discussion phase it was revealed that the audience and the critic didn't like the movie much. They compared it to original make of "Aranyer Din Ratri" and rated this as an inferior movie.
However, I liked it despite of its weaknesses.
Forest life is very different in India. The middle (and upper) class people go there for a break in their life, try to get away from their regular life. But they don't connect very well to forest. They disturb the balance of forest, the poor people who live in nearby places. this is what displayed very artistically in "Aranyer Din Ratri" by Satyajit Ray.
This movie being the continuation of "Aranyer Din Ratri" didn't say it so mildly. Its loud, its even disturbing to many of us. So we didn't like it much.
At the same time, movie is not so well made..there are many weaknesses..there are many characters, too many compared to "Aranyer Din Ratri". In particular, I didn't like the acting of Sharmila Tagore and Tabu...they should have been replaced by more prominent actresses.
It seemed to me that Ghosh (director) made a protest against "Aranyer Din Ratri". Forest is not a place where people should go to enjoy their past time..you are unfit to go to forest, if you can't connect well.
There are also isolated scenes in the movie what one can't connect very well. This is a common complain I heard from the movie viewers. To me it was deliberate attempt by the director! It was a movie of strong protest!
Few things I didn't like about the movie:
1. Tabu playing so much time with the doll! I know many girls at that age do it, but its so boring!
2. Manager's wife in forest bunglow and their kid..unnecessary characters in the movie...didn't serve any purpose.
3. Memory game looked rather boring this time..could have reduced the time a bit!
and so on....its pointless to write more negatives since I liked the movie overall.
Som.
