After watching Antarmahal, I promptly googled the reviews and was disgusted by the opinions that were scattered about only because they overshadowed the film’s merit.
First comment:
THIS IS NOT GRATUITOUS SEX. There are no scenes in this movie that turned me or I hope any body on. The film shows the disgusting disrespect and rape of innocent women put into positions of subordination by their husbands and people they are supposed to trust, like priests, who abuse their power over them in a time where women were not treated as humans but as posessions. Most of the alleged sexy scenes were those of Jackie raping his child bride...HOW can that be pornographic? Porn is intended to incite desire. These scenes did in no way show any sort of desirable sex. Reading Rituparna’s interview, he wrote that in one scene, after the priest voyeuristically volunteered to help out in the bedroom of the zamindar, Soha’s character was to run out naked, which would have made that scene make a little more sense when the servants were running around to catch her. I do understand that censorship does limit the art of many, and sometimes nudity and depiction of sex or lovemaking is just as much a part of the art as a brushstroke makes a whole painting. People need to get over prudish notions and realize that art is art, and if you don’t like it, don’t watch it.
Rituparna’s movie is eye candy: superb camera direction with hints of Ray scattered here and there, comforting to the real movie critic, the one who reveres the work of Ray as real cinema. However, my only criticism would be that though the sex was added into the film, almost as a necessity to show the real torture and anguish these women felt, as well as the temptation and reality of their inhibited sexuality(when the two main women were lusting after the young sculptor), Ray could have made just as shocking and thought provoking a cinema without the showing of the sex. The dialogue itself carries the shocking storyline...and the actresses were so proficient and expert that their facial expressions I am sure, would have sufficed without the constant sex depictions going on. But, Rituparna knows his audience, and gone are the days where subtlety was enough. He knows for sure his message is best sent this direct way as audiences want fast paced action, entertainment and the plot plain and simple in front of them.
Antarmahal is a really great film purely for the questions it asks (superstition, abuse of power, fanaticism, sexual oppression, feminine sexual liberation, male ego) and the amazing acting that all actresses and actors display. Abhishek, though a laconic character in the film, speaks more with his body and his eyes than Jackie with all his dialogue. But Jackie plays his part flawlessly: a stiff, somewhat tender but mostly unfeeling, power hungry man riddled with superstition and insecurity. Soha is just a picture of her mom, beautiful, talented and cute, beautiful and charming. She plays her part so well, and I hope her bengali is as good as it is in the movie. Rupa is amazing, but that is expected. She is a very talented actress.
Watch this film. I would say its worth it.