Parineeta (2005)
Parineeta (Hindi: परिणीता, Urdu: پرنیتا, translation: The Married Woman) is a Bollywood musical adaptation of the 1914 Bengali novella, Parineeta by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Directed by debutant Pradeep Sarkar[2], the film was based upon a screenplay by the film's producer, Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The movie featured Saif Ali Khan and Vidya Balan in the lead roles. Sanjay Dutt as the supportive Girish and Raima Sen as Lolita's chirpy companion play supporting roles in the film. Sabyasachi Chakravarthy playing the pivotal role of Shekhar's father, Diya Mirza with a cameo appearance as Shekhar's fiancé and Rekha, a yesteryear actress from the Bollywood, with a cameo performance of a night club (Moulin Rouge) singer are other notable performances from the film.
The film primarily revolves around the lead characters, Lolita and Shekhar. Since childhood, Shekhar and Lolita have been friends and slowly this friendship blossoms into love. A series of misunderstandings surface and both of them are separated with the conniving schemes of Shekhar's father. The plot deepens with the arrival of Girish who supports Lolita's family. Eventually, Shekhar's love defies his father's greed and he seeks Lolita.
The film, which had several notable allusions to the Indian literature and cinema, opened to the Indian audiences on June 10, 2005. Despite the pre-release inhibitions, the film received critical acclaim and praise. It went on the win the Filmfare Awards apart from several prominent awards. The director even went on to win the prestigious National Award for the Best First Film.[2] The film, which also released as a DVD, was showcased at prominent international film festivals.
Plot
This film adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1914 novella, Parineeta, places the story in the Kolkata of 1962. As the credits roll, scenes from the erstwhile Calcutta are displayed along with the narrator's (Amitabh Bachchan) introduction of the era to the audience. The narration focuses on the night of the marriage of Shekhar (Saif Ali Khan) and Gayatri Tantya (Diya Mirza), a rich industrialist's daughter. The audience is introduced to Navin Rai (Sabyasachi Chakravarthy) as Shekhar's father while we see Shekhar readying himself for the occasion. While he is doing that, images of Lolita calling him by his name flash through his mind. Downstairs, musical celebrations begin as Shekhar meets Vasundhara, a widow from his neighborhood, who is thankful to her son-in-law, Girish (Sanjay Dutt), for supporting their family after the death of her husband, Gurcharan. Lolita, who is present there, playfully confronts Shekhar as to why he is being indifferent to her. Shekhar admonishes her for speaking so in spite of being married.
An angry Shekhar comes back home to play a favorite tune from the past on his piano. The flashback shows a young Shekhar playing the Rabindranath Tagore’s tune on his piano while young Lolita and Koel are around. Lolita, with her parents having died in a car accident, lives with Gurcharan’s family whereas Koel and Charu are her neighbors. As this scene flashes across Shekhar’s mind, he sings a song full of sadness and loss. As time flies, they grow up to become close friends. A rebellious and musically inclined Shekhar, spends his days playing the music of Rabindranath Tagore or Elvis Presley and composing his own songs with Lolita, rather than becoming part of his shrewd father's world of profit and business. Part of this rebellion involves resistance to meeting Gayatri Tantia (Diya Mirza), the beautiful but, devious daughter of a wealthy industrialist, whom his father would like Shekhar to marry into. Meanwhile, Girish, a steel tycoon from London, makes a dramatic entry into Koel’s house. Girish seems smitten by Lolita whereas Koel is by Girish. Shekhar is visibly jealous of Lolita’s close friendship with Girish.
One day, a shocked Lolita, who’s employed at the Rai’s office, realises of a hotel project from Gurcharan’s ancestral haveli (palatial house). On an earlier occasion, Gurcharan had borrowed money from Navin Rai after putting his haveli on mortage. She understands that if the money is not be repayed in a few months, Navin Rai would take over the property. She immediately thinks of asking Shekhar for monetary help. Unforeseen circumstances prevent this and Girish upon realising this, alleviates their problem by making Gurcharan his business partner. Gurcharan repays the debt and the turn of events prompts Shekhar to think why Lolita chose to ask Girish for money instead of him. On one auspicious night, Shekhar and Lolita apparently get married without anyone’s knowledge.
While Shekhar is off to Darjeeling on a business trip, Navin Rai violently thunders on Lolita about the loss of his hotel project embarrassing and humiliating her. Rai gets a wall built between his and Gurcharan’s house symbolizing the end of their association. Gurcharan unable to digest this faces a heart attack. Upon Shekhar’s return, Rai informs him of the ill-health of his mother and Gurcharan and viciously adds a note of Lolita and Girish’s marriage. Shekhar is digusted to hear of the marriage and in the anger he scowls at Lolita, humiliating her like his father. In the meanwhile, Girish assists the Gurcharan family and takes them to London for the heart treatment. Misunderstandings follow and upon the family’s return from London, Shekhar assumes that Girish and Lolita are married and agrees to marry Gayatri. The film returns to the night of Shekhar’s marriage when Girish hands him the ownership papers of Gurcharan’s haveli. He shocks Shekhar by telling him that he got married to Koel because Lolita denied his marriage proposal. As a conclusion, Shekhar confronts his father and symbolically breaks down the wall separating the two families. He then brings Lolita to his home as his bride much to the delight of his mother
