Ajantrik

Dramatic and full of exaggeration, yet a very sentimental, realistic and good movie; just watched 'Ajantrik' (Pathetic Fallacy or The Unmechanical) by Ritwik Ghatak, which I have borrowed. The movie speaks about the attachment of a taxi driver Bimal (played by Kali Banerjee) to his old classic style car, which he calls by name. The car is in a dismal state, it is in shambles yet does its work, reaches the place where it is supposed to and in time. The movie revolves around a few scenes about the travels in the car and the driver's love for his car - he has no one else except for the car whch is his lifemate and a small boy who is his neighbour. Midway in the movie the car breaks down. He brings it back home, to the ridicule of his neighbours and vows to get it back to life. He spends all his money to repair it; everyone suggests he sell it off, but he works on it day and night relentlessly and finally makes it run again. As soon as he starts climbing a slope, the car works for the last time, sputters and falls silent. He is infuriated and in anger breaks the windows and finally sells off the scraps to a trader - the movie ends with the scraps being taken off in a push-cart; suddenly he hears the familiar sound of the car's horn. He is baffled about where the sound is coming from and looks around to find a little boy playing with the horn. The driver smiles at the smiling child, as tears stream out of his eyes.
The accompanying classical music by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan in the movie, is just amazing and blends perfectly ...
LINKS: [1] An excellent Essay on Ajantrik and Ghatak [2] [3]