- Date of Release: 15 August 2024
- Genre: Drama
- Language: Bengali
- Watch On: Theatres Only
Padatik
On the eve of the birth centenary year of Mrinal Sen, the three stalwart filmmakers of Bengali cinema have each made tributes to his body of work. Kaushik Ganguly made “Palan” (a sequel to Mrinal Sen’s Kharij), Anjan Dutt made “Chalchitra Ekhon” dramatizing his debut acting experience in a Mrinal Sen film known as “Chalchitra” and lastly Srijit Mukherjee with his “Padatik” which more or less is a straight forward biopic of the man himself. It is very true that apart from cinema-conscious people or what we call film buffs, we rarely have seen Mrinal Sen being discussed anywhere like his contemporary Satyajit Ray is, amongst us. That’s what director Srijit Mukherjee has conveyed when asked about his decision to make the film.
Srijit Mukherjee has tried to summarize a significant chunk of Mrinal Sen’s life in his film. Significant chapters in his life have been shown here but with a very superficial approach. The man Mrinal Sen was fascinated by the ingenuity, and impact of film making, but his main impetus for making films as he did was his socio-political ideologies which had developed from his childhood, which is summed up by Srijit through a handful of scenes that don’t explain how did he become what he is. His leftist ideologies, activism, and unconventional raw approach to filmmaking define the man and his rigid uncompromising voice in Indian cinema. All of these have been touched upon but with no significant emphasis. What Srijit does well is dramatizing the creative, intrusive banters between Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen through their acting counterparts beautifully churned by the artists involved. He also brings forth Ritwik Ghatak’s miserable last days into celluloid and recognizes the contribution of the holy trinity of Bengali Cinema -Satyajit, Mrinal, and Ritwick in Indian cinema.
The unconventional cuts, fourth wall breaks, and scene transitions like Mrinal Sen’s films also can be seen here. All those seem to be done for the sake of it, it adds nothing to enhance the political backdrop of those films it is referencing. It is neither well crafted nor done with sufficient time to explore the politics of that time. Here and there we can see glimpses of his struggling family life where he is struggling to make ends meet, and can’t even manage to arrange rice for himself and his wife Geeta Sen (played by Monami Ghosh), but here also the same problem in screenplay, the frivolous approach in depicting the building phase of his filmmaking approach fails to provide an intrusive insight. It only informs the audience but doesn’t make them feel, it’s more or less like reading a Wikipedia page. Surprisingly though, in very few scenes, the relationship between Mrinal Sen and his son Kunal Sen is shown in a very poignant way. There is a particular scene where Mrinal Sen converses with his son on his contributions as a father and husband where the former acknowledges his indifference towards his family duties. This is the most introspective Srijit gets in Mrinal Sen’s life in the whole film. Kunal Sen says “Every genius is mediocre somewhere” to his father and the scene cuts, it is perhaps one of the very few great scenes in the movie.
Chanchal Chowdhury wonderfully imbibes the character, and pathos of Mrinal Sen . A powerhouse of a performer, Mrinal’s anger, anguish, pain, and politics all have been brought to life by Chanchal. The rest of the cast especially Monami Ghosh as Geeta Sen and Korak Samanta(Young Mrinal)has aptly served to their characters. Korak Samanta’s breakdown scene as young Mrinal Sen in front of the mirror is filmed with a nod towards the chiaroscuro lighting in Mrinal Sen’s films, which is both shot and performed very well. The scene is not imaginary as it was mentioned by Mrinal Sen in one of his interviews. During his work as a medical representative, he was on the verge of succumbing to misery, it is laudable that Srijit has been able to recreate the significant moment on screen. Although we catch a fleeting glimpse of many things in his life, few things linger in the mind of the audience like despite indifferences in several issues, the death of Satyajit Ray is shown as a major blow to Mrinal’s life, and how he laments their healthy rivalry and quarrels after his death. When a filmmaker is making a film about a filmmaker, it must signify the magic of this medium, the power of cinema as a tool for society, and highlight the art of filmmaking as a whole, but the film doesn’t even delve into the particular filmmaking aspects of Mrinal Sen like how did he shoot, what were his cinematic influences where Mrinal Sen was a huge admirer of the cinema novo movement in Brazil and the techniques adapted by the filmmakers hugely influenced his work. Despite giving space to Geeta Sen as a wife, we never get to see her role as an actress who has starred in many of her husband’s films; it could have worked on many levels if it had been shown.
Whenever it is a Srijit film, the camerawork, and set pieces have never been an issue, here it is no exception. Indaranath Marick has composed beautiful frames throughout the film with sharp contrast and appropriate use of light. Indraadip Dasgupta’s background music works decently throughout the film. “Padatik” is more or less a technically strong film where every technical department flourishes in unison, a huge shout out to veteran makeup artist Somnath Kundu whose work has been one of the finest in Bengali films.
“Padatik” gives you a peek into various phases of the maverick’s life but if you want to understand his body of work and his films, it is important to watch his films and interviews and then revisit the film. After many below-average outings, although Srijit here didn’t deliver to his full potential but here at least he is restrained, which now seems to better serve the quality of his films, whenever he overdirects, it seems like a megalomaniac complex has crept into him.
