It’s sometimes intriguing why we pay to enter an auditorium enveloped in darkness, sit alongside strangers mostly and expect to be entertained, moved emotionally or even enlightened. Is it to escape the harsh realities outside? It’s not always escapist fare though we secretly relish the hero riding the elevator from poverty to prosperity, taking law into his hands and bashing the daylights out of the evil even as he’s being serenaded by the rich heroine. Most movies end with love culminating in marriage but life starts after that. We do sometimes seek to soak in the vicissitudes of stranger’s lives as a form of catharsis or the pacifying reassurance that nobody’s life is perfect. Shoojit Sarkar’s ‘October’ is a heart warming cinematic experience, extremely nuanced and touchingly told.
‘Parijatha’ is a fragrant flower exquisitely chiselled by nature with four pin-wheel shaped petals attached to an orange stem. Folklore has it that a princess Parijatak committed suicide after being spurned by the Sun and the tree grew from her ashes. That’s the reason the flower blooms during the night and wilts in sunlight. It falls gently to the ground creating a carpet. Juhi Chaturvedi spins a heartfelt tale about a girl named after this flower. The difference is that when she slips and falls to the ground it’s near fatal. Dan and Shiuli are co-trainees at a five star hotel. She’s quiet and focussed while he’s a man in a hurry. He complains continuously reminding you of Piku’s father. There’s no apparent attraction established but he seems to be intimidated because she appears to be more focussed and suited to the hospitality industry. Scenes of the everyday chores in a five star hotel are established in swift succinctly cut shots with a delightful interjection of a loud family loaded with money but low on manners.
Things take a tragic turn when Shiuli after a party to ring in the New Year slips off a parapet wall and falls. She’s alive but shifted to a hospital in a comatose state. Dan seems to find a purpose in his meandering life after learning that she enquired about his whereabouts before falling. Is he in love or is he intrigued about her feelings for him. He’s determined to see her recover probably just to ask her. The backbone of the film is Juhi painstakingly painting a collage of colourful characters however brief and her ability to infuse gentle humour in the most sombre of situations. How many times have you smiled even as you try to swallow a lump in your throat? The focus never veers. Everything else is skimmed over like the police investigation into suspected foul play or the moral dilemma over pulling the plug. There’s no blame game or hypothetical ifs and buts.
The characters are polarised from the practical to the passionate. Meet the uncle who lays down the cards on the table talking about the mounting bills and the chances of Shiuli recovering. There’s the hero’s colleagues who feel for Shiuli too but realise they have a life to lead. Shiuli’s mother is stoic yet confident about her daughter’s chances. Another superbly written character is the hero’s supervisor torn between rules and his inability to help Dan’s earnest intentions. The scenes in the hospital unfold achingly because Shoojit Sarkar wants you to realise that there are no miracles in some movies, just slivers of hope. The melancholy about loving and losing are palpable. The amusing parts are Dan’s interactions, be it with a nurse who slowly warms up to him or the guys manning the ICU.
We are used to heroes stalking unwilling girls till they give in mistaking it for love but here’s a guy determined to see one who cannot recognise or reciprocate recover. Juhi leaves some scenes tantalisingly unsaid like the one between Shiuli’s mother and Dan’s. The dialogues are pitch perfect even as the emotions are held on an even keel. We love to form opinions about others and Juhi wants that. The most sensitive of scripts can get lost in translation but Shoojit sinks his teeth in with ravenous glee. Juhi’s heartfelt lines are translated into celluloid luminously be it the cinematography, music or the brilliant performances by absolutely everyone.
‘October’ is a ‘feel for the good’ film about life, love, loss and death.
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