aPARAJITA tUMI!

A two year ‘gap’, a beautiful story, two dazzling ladies, heart-wrenching musical score, stunning photography, restrained performances. Yet, I wonder if he still could be called “Aparajito Anirudhdho”!
“Aparajita Tumi” is a tribute to women (an adaptation of Sunil Ganguly’s ‘Dui Naari Haathe Torobari’). The two ladies in the film, Padmapriya and Kamalinee are ravishing. Roy Choudhury’s female leads are rare gems. After “Antaheen’s” Radhika Apte, here we have another dusky beauty Padmapriya (an interesting combination of Mahie Gill and Tabu), who carries the entire film on her shoulders. Kamalinee’s Ushashee with her ‘hour-glass figure’ adds to the nuances of this relay-tion-ship story! Prosenjit is good, Chandan Roy Sanyal rehearsed but stands out in his void. Indraneil Sengupta in his cameo as Yusuf (with Bangladeshi accent) is sensitive. The film comes closer to “Dosar” in its treatment of the extra-marital affair and Kuhu (Padmapriya) returning to her ailing husband and attending him is an echo of Kaberi and Kaushik. But does she forgive him like Kaberi does?
The opening sequence with the roaring waves acts as a prelude to the emotional turbulence of the characters involved. And as the story proceeds we delve deep into the psyche of the characters and it is perhaps here that the film starts to falter. The lack of prominent action hampers the pace of an otherwise adroitly directed venture. Relationships are ‘prolonged intrusions’ comment Pradeep and Ushashee, and perhaps the director wants his audience to soak up the flavors of passions, pains, desires and choices in this two-hour ‘roopkatha’.
The striking and repetitive metaphors of the bridges and the ‘Mind-the-gap’ conversation are amazingly collaged, and so apt is Ronojoy’s (Sanyal) “A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!” But the triumph, definitely, is of the brave queens, even if one apparently loses the battle and leaves the battlefield, and the other succumbs to her circumstances and prepares to fight her own on the home-front. What was striking was the portrayal of Anish (Kalyan Roy) and his search for home-land. The director merges several complex issues, personal as well as political, in the film and attempts a lyrical montage on screen.