Chokher Bali (lit. sand in the eye, fig. constant irritant) is a 2003 Indian Bengali language drama film based on the 1903 novel Chokher Bali by Rabindranath Tagore. It was directed by Rituparno Ghosh in 2003 and stars Aishwarya Rai as Binodini and Raima Sen as Ashalata. Ashalata and Binodini refer to each other as Chokher Bali. The other major characters are played by Prosenjit Chatterjee as Mahendra, Lily Chakravarty as Rajlakshmi, the mother of Mahendra, Tota Roy Chowdhury as Behari, Mahendra's best friend, and Swastika Mukherjee in a cameo role. The film was later dubbed into Hindi and was released internationally in that language. Upon release, Chokher Bali met with critical review and positive box office reception. Chokher Bali won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali, National film award for best costume design, and National film award for best art direction. It was nominated for the Golden Leopard (Best Film) award at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2003. The film screened at the 34th International Film Festival of India on 19 October. It was the Official Selection at the Chicago International Film Festival in 2003 and was showcased in over 25 international festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival,

Plot

Set in the early 20th century, Binodini is a young Bengali Hindu girl who is left to her own devices when her sickly husband dies on the day after their marriage. She returns to her village and lives there for a couple of months until she sees one of her aunts, another Bengali Hindu widow named Rajalakshmi passing by. Binodini hails Rajalakshmi and she agrees that it would be best if Binodini came to live with her and her family at their North Kolkata residence. Rajalakshmi's son, Mahendra, an aspiring medical practitioner studying in the Calcutta Medical College, was one of the first suitors to see Binodini's photo when she was proposed as a prospective bride for him, yet he refused her on account of his being "unready for marriage." When Binodini arrives with her aunt, Mahendra and his new bride Ashalata (whom Binodini befriends & call each other by the nickname of Chokher Bali, literally meaning 'grain of sand in the eye', figuratively meaning 'eyesore' in Bengali) are constantly sneaking off to be alone together. Mahendra's infatuation with Ashalata makes him introduce cooking non-vegetarian food into the household, to which the conservative Vaishnavite Rajalakshmi protests by leaving the house & going away to Kashi to live out the rest of her life. However, this infatuation does not last long, and the thoroughly Westernised Mahendra soon begins to see that the English-speaking, witty Binodini is more of his type than his traditionalist, naive housewife Ashalata. Mahendra also feels insecure when Ashalata expresses appreciation for Mahendra's childhood best friend Behari's physical features & Behari, in turn expresses appreciation for Binodini's beauty. To spite Behari, Mahendra starts an extra-marital affair with Binodini, and this is soon revealed to Ashalata who, unaware of her pregnancy, leaves Mahendra out of grief to live with Rajalakshmi. On coming to know about the affair, Rajalakshmi expels Binodini out of the house. At that night, she seeks out for Behari. Binodini pleads Behari to marry her, but the traditionalist Behari, true to his values, rejects her advances (since at that time he harboured feelings for Ashalata, for whom he was initiatially chosen as a groom before Mahendra got infatuated with her photo). With no other option left, Binodini leaves Kolkata for her village. Mahendra comes there to mend their relationship which she refuses. Instead, she makes him promise to take her to Behari, who had gone to Kashi on being informed about Rajalakshmi's failing health. At Kashi, Mahendra gets to know about Rajalakshmi's death, he apologizes to Ashalata & takes her back to Kolkata. Binodini meets Behari who, after some incidents, agrees to marry her. But on the day of their marriage, Binodini vanishes, leaving a letter for Behari & another for Ashalata, apologising for interrupting in her marital bliss.

Soundtrack

The film's background score is by Debojyoti Mishra and, notably, it contains no playback singing. Sreela Majumdar dubbed for Aishwarya Rai and Sudipta Chakraborty dubbed for Raima Sen.

Cast

Critical reception

Aishwarya received critical acclaim for her performance as Binodini. In Anandabazar Patrika, Chandril Bhattacharya praised the film for its direction, screenplay, background score, sound design, cinematography, production design as well as the dubbing by Sudipta Chakraborty. Ekanshu Khera of Planet Bollywood gave the film an 8/10. He found the cinematography to be beautiful and was pleased that the singing was not lip-synched. However, he said that the "dubbing leaves much to be desired" and would have preferred a different director dub it in Hindi. He also noted that the film appeals "to a niche audience due to its periodic settings and ideologies." Margaret Pomeranz of ABC Australia gave it 3 out of 5 stars, saying that "the insight it gives into Indian culture and customs, is interesting and that tends to overcome the slight impatience with the overload of emotions." David Stratton, also of ABC, gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, commenting on how the film version was edited 40 minutes shorter but that it was beautifully acted and fascinating.

Box office

The film was declared a hit at the box office.

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