Review of Choker Bali: A Passion Play

Ghosh's new film has source material of high pedigree (Rabindranath Tagore's novel), sumptuous production design and gorgeous sepia-toned photography, but is self-indulgently, unnecessarily long. The big crime—-in my eyes—-was not using that time to properly tie up the narrative threads. It ends with a couple of unresolved plot points, and new unrelated themes introduced in the final minutes...probably meant to demonstrate the mysteriousness of the inscrutable East, but which reeks of shoddy film-making. I am annoyed by directors who hide behind cultural exoticism (you know: how could you foreigners understand it all because we Indians are from a culture where there are many unanswered questions, and other such nonsense) and are needlessly opaque in their narrative. Anyway, former-Miss World Aishwarya Rai looks ravishing without tops (it's a period piece; none of the women wear blouses for most of the three hours...in fact, the Brits are credited with introducing the fashion of blouses, according to the film) and turns in a decent performance as the manipulative, victim-of-circumstance young widow Binodini. Not a "powerhouse, tour-de-force performance", as the Indian press is giddily trumpeting, but merely a decent one. Just a minute: do not get too excited about the topless bit; the actress is demurely covered by her saree, save for one scene where you see her bare back.