Jukti Takko Aar Gappo (Jukti tôkko aːr gôppo, Reason, Debate and a Story) is a 1974 Bengali film directed by auteur of Indian cinema Ritwik Ghatak. Jukti Takko Aar Gappo was Ritwik Ghatak's last film. The film was believed to have a cinematography way ahead of its time. The film won National Film Award's Rajat Kamal Award for Best Story in 1974.

Synopsis

In this film Ghatak plays Nilkantha Bagchi, an alcoholic, disillusioned intellectual, in the character's own words, "a broken intellectual". His wife leaves him, taking his books and records which were his only remaining property. When Bagchi objects, Durga replies that it is so that his son grows up with these books and music. However, he manages to keep a fan which he sells to buy country liquor to start his unusual and abstract journey. His first companion is Nachiketa, a homeless woman who comes to his house just when he is about to leave. She is Bongobala, a woman who has lost her homeland, Bangladesh, and Bagchi describes himself as the spirit of Bangladesh, who was driven away from Bangladesh. He then comes across a band of artists drinking at a remote place where they discuss art. He meets Satyajit Basu, his friend who offers him Scotch, which he refuses. He asks for money to which Satyajit at once agrees and gives him a bunch of notes of which he took only one and then he said "Think Think practice thinking". He then meets Jagannath Bhattacharjee, a village school teacher of Sanskrit. Jagannath's school was closed after political killings and he came to Kolkata in search of a job. He was harassed by the kids, as they called him mad he was always getting into arguments. Then they came to a village where Panchanan Ustad lived. He received them and Ustad and Jaggannath had frequent arguments creating a contrast between Vedic and Folk perspectives after Nilkantha met his wife. He went into a forest where he met Naxalites, with whom he discussed Marxist history and he described them as the "cream of Bengal" misguided, successful and unsuccessful at the same time. Then the police come and a shootout begins. Bagchi, after taking a bullet dies, saying "Do you remember Madan the weaver he used to say will I buy raw stock from the bourgeoisie? Betray all of you? By not working, I have become stiff so I weave without cotton, something has to be done".

Themes

The film deals with various ideas and themes. Set against the backdrop of the first Naxalite wave of rebellion in India, the film is considered to be Ghatak's autobiographical film, an anti-climax. Ghatak himself explained, "In it [Jukti Takko Aar Gappo] the political backdrop of West Bengal from 1971 to 1972 as I saw it has been portrayed. There is no ideology. I saw it from a point of view of not a politician. I am not supposed to please a political ideology". Ghatak was aware of a complete breakdown of moral values around him, especially among the younger generation. He tried to portray these issues in this film (and also in his unfinished film Sei Vishnupriya). Ghatak, both in real life and in this film, tried to find some meaning for the political and cultural turmoil overtaking his country. In an interview Ghatak mentioned that "The Great Mother Image" in its duality exists in every aspects of our being, and he incorporated this image into films like Meghe Dhaka Tara and Jukti Takko Aar Gappo. The characters in this film have been portrayed allegorically.

Credits

Cast

Technical team

Soundtrack

The following songs appear in the film's soundtrack, scored by Ustad Bahadur Khan:

Reception

Screenings in different festivals

Accolades

In a 2012 poll conducted by Sight & Sound, 2 critics and 2 directors (including Amit Dutta) included the film on their respective lists of "The Greatest Films of All Time", hence making it the 322nd best film according to the Director's poll (a rank it shares with Subarnarekha).

Sources