Tasher Desh Bengali Movie
A series of musical shows, promotions on Tagore's birthday and a variety of quirky and edgy promotions have set the stage for director Qaushik Mukherjee's Tasher Desh. ' Tasher Desh' is a dance drama or a musical play by Rabindranath Tagore.
When Qaushik Mukherjee, better known as Q attempts to adapt the same on screen, he definietly begins to unfold the story of an utopian land through music and fragments of reality. Life is in its own sense bizzare and abstract, when this is the reality of everyday and when reality itself crumbles like a pack of cards everyday then what is wrong in undergoing a journey filled with jerks?
Q takes us through once such bumpy ride which is uneven and truly real within its abstract ordinary. The fantastical elements of this journey are exaggerated at every instance but precisely that forms the essence of the journey.
Q's protagonist is a storyteller and a dreamer in his own ways. Rather he is the one who looks straight into the eyes of reality. For him life is a strange story, which unfolds at every corner and which has its own colours and emotions. Life is once lifeless and once a pleasure. Life is more than strange, yet so real. Travelling through the alleys of life, our protagonist Joyraj finds his Horotoni in the widow played by Rii Sen.
He weaves the narrative of his story through characters and constantly travels between his own fantastical 'Land of cards'. The everyday mundane, the railway tracks, the sounds and laughters holds inspiration for our protagonist. He narrates and transports himself to a strange land- the Tasher Desh. This land is bizzare and rules holds the basis of living on this land. There is laughter at the shot of the gun, there is love and pleasure at the sanction of the authority.
Even though many has failed to identify with this world, the testing reality today does not really differ much from the on screen spaces and frames. The bold spaces of the land, the brilliant medley of colours and black and white frames, is an attempt that is rare in its own way. However director Mukherjee really explores the land of oddity with grace and reality. Music of the film is commendable and supports the narrative like its backbone. Actors are natural yet theatrical within their own screen space. Rii Sen however is definietly the showstopper and undoubtedly justifies her position as Q's muse.
To summarise, Tasher Desh justifies its brilliance and brings out the essence of a fragile kingdom on screen with perfection. There is not much in the film for everyone. Yet a good bold watch for people who always search for an alternate thoughtful on-screen representation of society and its so called reality.
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