Unishe April
Encyclopedia
Unishe April (1994) is an award-winning feature film directed by Rituparno Ghosh
. The film is in Bengali
. It stars Aparna Sen
, Debashree Roy, Prosenjit Chatterjee and Dipankar Dey. The film's music is composed by Jyotishka Dasgupta. It won two National Film Awards
in 1995, including the Golden Lotus Award for Best Film. It is a loose remake of the 1978
Ingmar Bergman
film Autumn Sonata
.
) is a dancer, whose immense love and dedication of her art raises her to a level of a great dancer. She is honored with acclaim and prizes on one hand, while she drifts away from her family on the other hand. Her growing popularity resulted in development of an inferiority complex by her husband Manish (Boddhiswatta). This complex seemed to crop up in daily family matters resulting a rift between the couple. The husband shapes their only daughter in his hands and coddles her from her mother who is too busy with her career. Sarojini seems to find a replacement for the void in her life through dancing, however she is unsure whether her blossoming career and success is really bringing her happiness.
The sudden dismise of Manish forces Sarojini to put her daughter in a hostel. The glittering memory of her father and her mother's inability of give her proper time results in a developing complexity inside little Aditi (Debashree Roy
) and hatred towards her mother. The film, however, starts when Aditi is grown up and is keen to make a go of her career as a doctor, like her father. By that time, there has already been a sharp cleavage between mother and daughter. What hammers in Aditi's mind is that her mother has forgotten her father to such an extent that she does not remember her father's death anniversary. Misunderstanding and mismatch of temperaments crop up, creating an air of suffocation for both.
Aditi has chosen her life partner and is obsessed with him as she had been always looking for somebody to care for her. She wanted a love that she didn't get from her mother. She was ditched by her boyfriend that very day and it forced mother and daughter into a face-to-face conversation. Gradually they unlock their hearts to each other. The story of twenty years came out for once. Untold facts gets deciphered, misunderstandings seems to get cleared. All hint to a big question: "Will Aditi be able to forgive her mother?"
1995 National Film Awards
(India
)
Rituparno Ghosh
Rituparno Ghosh is a Bengali film director. He has won 8 National Film Awards in India and several awards at international film festivals abroad.- Early life and background :...
. The film is in Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
. It stars Aparna Sen
Aparna Sen
Aparna Sen is a critically acclaimed Bengali Indian filmmaker, script writer, and actress. She is the winner of three National Film Awards and eight international film festival awards.-Biography:...
, Debashree Roy, Prosenjit Chatterjee and Dipankar Dey. The film's music is composed by Jyotishka Dasgupta. It won two National Film Awards
National Film Awards
The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it is administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.Every year, a national panel...
in 1995, including the Golden Lotus Award for Best Film. It is a loose remake of the 1978
1978 in film
The year 1978 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 1 - Bob Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour premieres in Los Angeles, California....
Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...
film Autumn Sonata
Autumn Sonata
Autumn Sonata is a 1978 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film stars Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann and Lena Nyman. It tells the story of a celebrated classical pianist who is confronted by her neglected daughter...
.
Cast
- Aparna SenAparna SenAparna Sen is a critically acclaimed Bengali Indian filmmaker, script writer, and actress. She is the winner of three National Film Awards and eight international film festival awards.-Biography:...
as Sarojini - Debashree RoyDebashree RoyDebashree Roy is a Bengali cinema actress. She acted in more than 100 films and has 40 awards, including a National Film Award for Best Actress for the film Unishe April in 1995. She was also known by the name 'Chintamani' in Tamil Nadu, when she acted in a few Tamil movies.- Early life :She was...
as Aditi - Dipankar Dey as Somnath
- Chitra Sen as Bela
- prosenjit Chatterjee as Aditi's lover
Plot
Sarojini (Aparna SenAparna Sen
Aparna Sen is a critically acclaimed Bengali Indian filmmaker, script writer, and actress. She is the winner of three National Film Awards and eight international film festival awards.-Biography:...
) is a dancer, whose immense love and dedication of her art raises her to a level of a great dancer. She is honored with acclaim and prizes on one hand, while she drifts away from her family on the other hand. Her growing popularity resulted in development of an inferiority complex by her husband Manish (Boddhiswatta). This complex seemed to crop up in daily family matters resulting a rift between the couple. The husband shapes their only daughter in his hands and coddles her from her mother who is too busy with her career. Sarojini seems to find a replacement for the void in her life through dancing, however she is unsure whether her blossoming career and success is really bringing her happiness.
The sudden dismise of Manish forces Sarojini to put her daughter in a hostel. The glittering memory of her father and her mother's inability of give her proper time results in a developing complexity inside little Aditi (Debashree Roy
Debashree Roy
Debashree Roy is a Bengali cinema actress. She acted in more than 100 films and has 40 awards, including a National Film Award for Best Actress for the film Unishe April in 1995. She was also known by the name 'Chintamani' in Tamil Nadu, when she acted in a few Tamil movies.- Early life :She was...
) and hatred towards her mother. The film, however, starts when Aditi is grown up and is keen to make a go of her career as a doctor, like her father. By that time, there has already been a sharp cleavage between mother and daughter. What hammers in Aditi's mind is that her mother has forgotten her father to such an extent that she does not remember her father's death anniversary. Misunderstanding and mismatch of temperaments crop up, creating an air of suffocation for both.
Aditi has chosen her life partner and is obsessed with him as she had been always looking for somebody to care for her. She wanted a love that she didn't get from her mother. She was ditched by her boyfriend that very day and it forced mother and daughter into a face-to-face conversation. Gradually they unlock their hearts to each other. The story of twenty years came out for once. Untold facts gets deciphered, misunderstandings seems to get cleared. All hint to a big question: "Will Aditi be able to forgive her mother?"
Direction
Rituparno depicts their embittered relationship with utmost care. How the daughter shows indifference to her mother's activities and to her mother's friends and students are woven with extremely natural dialogues and sometimes quoted in "Thanx." Some scenes like Sarojini celebrating her success on her husband's anniversary, her daughter's not taking part in celebrations, daughter's ignorance of mother's knee pain do justice in the weaving of the relationship. He has gone into depth in portraying the mental status of Aditi throughout the film. Some details, like Aditi forgets to close the tap or switch off the light, brings in the naturality of the film. The flashbacks come quite naturally and match the state of mind. Rituparno has taken care that every character blooms forth with bold performances by Debosree Roy and Aparna Sen.Awards
The film has won the following awards:1995 National Film Awards
National Film Awards
The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it is administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.Every year, a national panel...
(India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
)
- Won - Golden Lotus Award - National Film Award for Best FilmNational Film Award for Best FilmThe National Award for Best Feature film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, India, and was constituted in the year 1954. This is one of the Golden Lotus Awards given among National Film Awards...
- Rituparno GhoshRituparno GhoshRituparno Ghosh is a Bengali film director. He has won 8 National Film Awards in India and several awards at international film festivals abroad.- Early life and background :... - Won - Silver Lotus Award - National Film Award for Best ActressNational Film Award for Best ActressThe National Film Award for Best Actress is an honor presented annually at the National Film Awards of India to an actress who has delivered the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film industry...
- Debashree RoyDebashree RoyDebashree Roy is a Bengali cinema actress. She acted in more than 100 films and has 40 awards, including a National Film Award for Best Actress for the film Unishe April in 1995. She was also known by the name 'Chintamani' in Tamil Nadu, when she acted in a few Tamil movies.- Early life :She was...