Arjunn Dutta’s Deep Fridge, winner of this year’s National Award for Best Bengali Film, is a simple story told with a mature take. It deals with a broken marriage, a long night, and a faulty refrigerator. The film draws you in with its simplicity and holds you there because every moment feels lived-in.
The story revolves around Mili (Tnusree Chakraborty) and Swarnava (Abir Chatterjee), once married and now separated for five years. They find themselves under the same roof when their young son falls ill.
A storm rages outside. But inside, an old fridge groans and is on the verge of shutting down. This sets the stage for a quiet revisit of the past, of old memories resurfacing and unspoken wounds discovered.
Dutta divides the film into three parts: Ice Cube, Melting Point, and Defrost. These aren’t just titles. Each section mirrors the emotional temperature between the two characters. In the beginning, the air is cold. The conversations are polite, even warm at times, but there’s a wall in place. This slowly leads to a defrosting of emotions.
Tnusree Chakraborty captures that guarded distance with ease. Her Mili isn’t bitter, but she’s cautious, because she had to rebuild her life from scratch. Swarnava, played by Abir Chatterjee, stays low-key, but every glance gives away his feelings of regret and affection. The knowledge that the damage he caused cannot be undone is eating him away.
Then there’s Ronja, the woman in Swarnava’s life now. Anuradha Mukherjee plays her with warmth. She isn’t portrayed as the villain in the relationship. She genuinely cares for Tatai, Mili and Swarnava’s son, and the child responds with instinctive trust. Their bond shows that new families can grow without replacing what came before.
Mili’s partner Asif is similarly sketched with care. He is sensitive and patient, someone who offers Mili a chance at a different life, if she can allow herself to step into it.
Visually, Deep Fridge chooses blue-green tones, dim lighting and a grim mood, reinforcing the core theme of two people circling around old memories. The failing fridge becomes a metaphor for the bottled up emotions.
Most importantly, Dutta doesn’t settle for any reconciliation or happy endings. In the end, they let go. They walk into separate futures with fewer knots in their hearts. This is where the film manages to make a mark.