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Head lines A personal view on Chandrakatha SHUMONA KANEEZ, The Independent tRecently I got to watch a film Chanthrakatha. As a viewer, I have some personal views about the film. The release of the film stirred the imagination of the cinema viewers as it always happens when it comes to Humayun Ahmed's films. Viewers in general wait with a lot of anticipations that a film by Humayon Ahmed would be a fascinating one. I had done the same and I ended up watching the film. All I thought after watching was far from my expection. The story of the film is no different except a few queer sequences. And I am trying to explain what I feel about this film. In the film, the influential Sarkar Shaheb's role is played by Asaduzzaman Noor, a very powerful actor. But the role of a cruel man little suites him in the film. However, I find it quite odd to see Sarkar Shaheb killing crows with the help of his granddaughter and Amin. Every morning he shoots two crows to test his targets Not only this, the killed crows are put in a burial-ground. I don't think the viewers would be pleased with this even with a pinch of salt. Amin, the domestic help and the right hand of Sarkar is a character played by Ahmed Rubel who is normally a very good and promising actor. But in the film he could not live up to his promise may be due to the potential weakness of the character. Amin does what Sarker wants him to do. Amin has done all the misdeeds according to Sarker's order. Sarker is almost an insane man who hates his paralyzed son, Sadek played by Shadhin, quite a new face in acting. The hateful relation between father and son seemed to me simply absurd. Sarker goes to such an extent in hating his son that in a scene he orders Amin to spit on Sadek. How inhuman! There are a few redeeming features in the film. I was moved by a scene in which the cute little girl Joitory played by Bohta hits Amin with her small hands. I believe, the audience empathised with her and felt emotionally involved with the sequence. Champa played the role of Joitory's mother and again proves to be really a good actress. In an insignificant role though, she did an excellent job. The main character of the film is Chandra played by Meher Afroze Shaon. She has done justice to her character. She seemed to be a talented actress though not in the conventional Dhallyood snese of the term. And of course the songs specially " Amar Shayam Jodi-----" was fascinating. Again let me come to the absurd and sleazy sequence. Zahir, a handsome village vagabond played by Ferdous is a cousin of Chandra whom he loves but can not express it in the opportune moment. However, he is used for picking up one of Mr. Sarker's dead crows. The very scene of burning crows seemed to me sick and sickening. Chandra delivers milk to the Sarkar Bari ( Sarker's House) where, her second lover Amin stays. Amin loves Chandra and decides to marry her. The way he makes arrangement for his marriage is nice to see. What happens is that he fails to marry Chandra. On the day of their wedding Chandra leaves the house with her cousin and lover Zahir. Amin can't marry Chandra neither can Zahir. Chandra has to marry the old Sarker to avoid influential village court. It is so painful that she is so ill fated. It may be accepted that Chandra was married to an old man to save her life but the extent of tortures Sarker inflicts on her is beyond measure and unrealistic. Sarker does not torture her directly. Sarker forbids Chandra to go out of the four walls, even she is barred from seeing her mother. The story is at times pathetic and touching. On the positive front, the film is free from ribald and torrid scene, as is the common feature in our contemporary Bengali films. The dialogues are decent and coherent. Zahir dies because of not having Chandra. True love is very rare now a day. I could not stop shedding tears. In another sequence, Sarker touches Chandra's fingers and again forbids her to go out and threatens her that he will chop one of her fingers off from her hand. He acts up to his words. It is Amin who has to do the dirty job of chopping off Chandra's finger. The scene was quite revealing which was out of proportion by all accounts. The film ends abruptly. Amin can't stand Sarker's torture on Chandra anymore and as such ends up killing Sarker. I have just shared my personal opinion in a subjective way. This is in no way a criticism or review of the film. It is the story of the film that seemed to me nothing but commonplace with quite a few inconsistent and overblown sequences. As for making, it is up to the mark.
Exhibition Fayza Haq, The Daily Star
Beauty in stark simplicity Two simple stars, one white and the other black placed on a pink rectangle stand for Venus and Adonis. A singles white flower with pastel pink dots for the centre, seen with three hearts on a muted gray rectangle, framed with a gray-green frame brings in subject of La Traviata. The yellow ochre in the poster brings in sand in the focus while the white pyramid with its striped side and two geometrical forms on top in pink and black tells the romantic tale of Aida. A lacy outline of a dress against black represents the story of Figaro. The silhouette of a man in beige with a hint of a scarlet tie to offset the female figure, seen standing on its head on a pool of blood, has another stirring tale of The Threatened Murder. The pale yellow ochre is continued on to the frame which holds together the inner black background. A silhouette of a woman is placed against a cut up one dollar note and this is seen against a backdrop of black in The Bartered Bride while Simon Boccanegra has a single hat and a crown placed on a red background, and Slaughterhouse-5 has a airplane with a broken wing and a swastika on its front for another set of wings. Again black and gray form the setting for the dramatic poster. An oval form with suggestion of neat piled up hair with centre parting and floating bits of gray for the Anna Bolena poster in gray-blue, gray and black. A heart with a pink outline and trailing strings set on red and purple rectangles is the notice for Cosi Fan Tutte. A white rectangle with a red triangle on top and a small yellow crescent moon at the side seen on a indigo background is the notice for SOS children's home while ten illustrations of eyes, ranging from a woman's seen behind a lacy black veil, a sketched eye, that of a Far Eastern form Art Opens the Eyes. The graphic image used nowadays in advertising or to express an idea in the form of a trademark, has accompanied us since the first cave drawings of primitive man, since our habituation to concrete symbols, since the origin of the myths. Graphic design that deals with communication requires attention and induces contemplation on a subject. The product has to be sold, the play seen, so that a subject is thrust upon the graphic designer. Pierre Mendell's posters are often superb having no pretensions. They are not illustrative; they are simply posters for cultural institutions. The remarkable part of the posters is that they are so interesting and informative and yet so simple. As he goes about exploiting the forms he uses strong bold colours such as red and black and simplifies the forms such as human figures. These posters are esthetic manifestos and reflect with intensity the scope of visual communication. They reflect cultural understanding of a society and deal with it codes and signs. They are an expression of a personal programme of the designer and provide indications of his artistic working methods. His posters are remarkable as they fulfill the requirements of the medium. Despite the simplicity the message goes home. The posters stand out for their patterns which are a result of an artistic and intellectual analytic research. The sign for closed has a cross formed on white with a dash of white and paintbrush forming the other line of the cross against the black. Mendell sticks to a traditionally artistic method of design by making the poster in its original size without being tied down by images or reproductions. The emphasis is on the centre, expansion to the edge and flowing empty spaces. In typographic posters the readable message becomes the pattern, the characters form the area covering structures. Although up to date Mendell's posters are timeless. Pierre Mendell was born in 1929 in Essen. He emigrated to France in 1934. He lived and went to school there until 1947 when he emigrated to the USA where he became an American citizen. From 1958 to 1960 he studied Graphic Design with Armin Hofmann in Basel. While working there he met Klaus Oberer and founded the studio Mendell and Oberer. Pierre Mendell is responsible for concept and design, Klaus Oberer for organisation and implementation. |
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What
one found so remarkable about the poster exhibit at the Goethe Institut
was the dramatic effect despite the stark simplicity of the forms and
colours. With the hint of the names of the plays at the side one could
trace down the meanings and impact of the posters by Pierre Mendell and
Klaus Oberer, displayed in two parts due to lack of space. Black and white
hands brought up the image of jealousy and the murder of Desdemona that
followed in Othello, the play within a play was depicted in a huge
Falstaff holding out a smaller version of himself in the historical
comedy's representation, while enormous splashes of scarlet blood laced
with black told the gruesome tale of multiple murder of royal family
members in Macbeth.