36 CHOWRINGHEE LANE....A film by Aparna Sen

Never before had Indian cinema witnessed a film so soulful & poignant based on an Anglo Indian protagonist.Yes,references were there in the past,but those were merely to fill the absence of British actors.Aparna Sen,daughter of veteran film maker & critic Chidananda Dasgupta,made her debut into bengali films through Satyajit Ray's Teen Kanya (Samapti) & went on to become one of the finest actors of indian cinema.In the year 1981 she made her foray into film direction with 36 chowringee lane.Based on her self written story & screenplay,36 chowringee lane is about a middle aged Anglo Indian school teacher &.....just about her..& it is here,in this very aspect where the film touches the core of your heart.Sen did not attempt to make a film on the problems faced by Anglo indians in post independent India,nor did she tried to make a docu drama/thesis on the community,which is evident from the first frame itself.Sen had sketched out the content,plots & the characters of the film based entirley on her own imagination & these small small fragments of incidents encircle around the life of Violet Stoneham (Jennifer Kapoor).

Violet is a middle aged Anglo indian lady teaching Shakespeare to a bunch of disinterested girls in a local convent school.She stays in a small flat with a cat as her sole friend.Letters & post cards coming from long distant relatives & friends & weekly visits to her brother Eddie staying in an old age home giving some solace to her otherwise uneventful life.A chance encounter with an ex student Nandita (Debashree Roy) & her boyfriend Samaresh ( Dhritiman Chatterjee) brings a fresh lease of life into her dull existence.

With the help of moving shots and camera work ( brilliant work by Ashok Mehta),Sen has marvelously captured the everyday existence of Violet.Even after living in a city for so long & loving it in her own way,she still is far from attached to it..from the people,from the crowd,from the culture.But there's not even a single instance where her loneliness has been exaggerated or 'created' to evoke sympathy from the viewers,so much so that there's not even a single scene where she is seen complaining of her loneliness.The sounds of the cramped lift,of the clackering dishes in the kitchen,radio transistors playing hindi songs in a nearby apartment,the fading evening dim lights enveloping the room,the flickering of the lamp,her frequent going into reverie while reading the letters,..her long,frequent close up shots...gives us a vivid image of loneliness that surrounds the life of this middle aged Anglo indian woman....But Sen shows her loneliness with dignity & diligently ensures perfect visual sense out of each and every scene..,and thats where the movie is a winner!

When Violet's life is going thru the same daily routine of going & coming back from school,teaching Shakespeare,climbing up the stairs,checking her letter box,feeding her cat,seeing old pictures,writing to her niece Rosemary,a quite meal by herself,visiting her brother Eddy (played by Jennifer's real life brother Geoffrey Kendal),...comes Samaresh and Nandita,the bengali couple who were looking for a perfect hideaway for their escapades at Violet's home in 36 Chowringee lane & Violet begins to enjoy the company of the two with usual outings to movie theatres,victoria memorial etc..

Also the dream sequence has been shot brilliantly (in a bergman style)

Jennifer Kendal Kapoor (late wife of Shashi kapoor) essaying  the role of Stoneham undoubtedly turns out to be one of the best to come across in Indian cinema.Being a veteran stage artist herself,her rendition of Sen's Stoneham filled with solitude,angst,frustration and misery deserves nothing less than a standing ovation!!

The film boasts of some marvellous scenes to cherish forever...
a)Violet's peeking into Samaresh's party thru the window pane where she realizes that every bonding,every human relationship is nothing but just a matter of 'give and take'..once the utility is over,a relation is also over...
b)Violet coming home early one windy afternoon,finding the door open and watching the couple kissing in front of her, reminding her of her own youth...

c) But the image that will always haunt me is that of Violet trailing along the streets by the sides of Victoria memorial,reciting Shakespeare all by herself  with a dog as a company,holding the tin box in her hands with a bewildered expression on her face!!The message is simple 'Life moves on'...

My final word of praise remains only for Aparna Sen,for executing and bringing into life the subject of loneliness with such brilliance that you wonder its her debut film as a director! She deserves all the laurels she garnered for this gem of a masterpiece!


P.S. : I hated the National Film awards jury that year for overlooking Jennifer's performance for 36 Chowringee Lane,and giving away the Best Actress award to Rekha for Umraao Jaan!!!