Chaturanga opens and closes with Sachish (Subrat) crouching on the sand as the waves crash on the shore, his bare back facing the camera. He sits there absorbing the rhythmic chants of Sufi singers whirling around him in flowing white robes. Sachish’s quest for the infinite sets the tone for Suman Mukhopadhyay’s adaptation of Tagore’s novella, which takes on a life of its own.

Suman sticks to Tagore’s narrative structure — the book is divided into four episodes, each revolving around one dominant character. The story starts with Jyathamoshai (Dhritiman), before moving on to Sachish (Subrat), Damini (Rituparna) and Sribilash (Joy).

The well-bred and fiery Sachish is an atheist who defies his father’s (Biswajit Chakraborty) religious codes and supports his Jyathamoshai in feeding the poor and nursing plague victims. The background is colonial Bengal and a severely cast-conscious society.

But a chain of events alters Sachish’s course of life. He becomes a disciple of the mystic Lilananda Swami (singer Suman Chattopadhyay). Yet, passion stirs when Sachish meets Lilananda’s protégé Damini, a widow, and they begin to discover each other despite an apparent hostility.

The strong sexual undercurrent in the book runs through the film as well, and Suman does push his limits of subtlety while driving the point home. One addition is a scene where Sachish masturbates, the shot taken from the back, mirroring the struggle with his inner demons.

The crucial cave scene, where Damini tries to seduce Sachish, is filmed with care too. In the book, he hallucinates in a half-awake state, lying inside the dark cave. He feels someone or something groping him. Suman turns this into a dimly-lit cave with Sachish lying on the ground and Rituparna slowly climbing on top of him. Sachish wakes up with a start and Damini runs away.

There are several subplots in the book, but Suman manages to pack most of the twists and turns into the two hours. So the story doesn’t drag. Also, because Suman doesn’t get into philosophising while weaving the mystic elements into the tale.

With her coquettish glances and body language, Rituparna becomes a very flesh-and-blood Damini.

Joy breathes life into the affectionate and understanding Sribilash, Sachish’s friend and adviser, who later marries Damini.

But the one who rises above the script is Subrat. Though Tagore’s Sachish is a man of fair complexion and chiselled features, Subrat makes up with his brooding intensity. His character evolves in many different ways and Subrat does display a wide range of expressions, from love to lust, euphoria to agony.

The rich supporting cast — Neel Mukherjee as Sachish’s brother or Trina Nileena Banerjee as his spurned mistress — makes the central characters more convincing. Debajyoti Mishra’s minimal yet inspiring Sufi strains permeate the film without seeming out of place. The kirtans and Tagore songs blend in too.

So does Suman’s Chaturanga live up to its 105-billboard hype? Yes it does.

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