Ram Kamal Mukherjee's film Binodini — Ekti Natir Upakhyan narrates the saga of Binodini Dasi, the first woman icon of the Bengali stage. The launch last week of Bhaisa zaibo, a song from the film, coincided with the death anniversary of the theatre legend of 19th-century Calcutta, whose illustrious career paved the way for many women after her.
Sung in the sweet and melodious voice of Rekha Bhardwaj, Bhaisa zaibo is a song of sorrow and heartbreak. The sad strains of the song poignantly convey the feelings of distress, agony, anger and betrayal of Binodini, who, despite her beauty, talent, fame and success, was the victim of disloyalty and exploitation by several men. An acceptance of her lucklessness in love also informs the song, which is centred around the theme of loneliness and isolation.
With its music composed by Sourendro-Soumyojit and lyrics penned by Mukherjee, the lyrics of Bhaisa zaibo paint a bleak picture of a lovelorn woman who has been cheated so badly in love that she has given up all hope of ever finding love again. Drained of all energy and life force, she wishes to accept her loss and carry her pain silently for the rest of her life. Rukmini Maitra as Binodini emotes the character with subtlety and grace, articulating her anger, frustration and despair and exploring the pathos of her condition through minimal expressions or actions.
The video of the song, which begins with a dazed and exhausted Binodini standing outdoors as it begins to rain, flips across her past experiences in love, all of which have ended abruptly and unhappily, leaving her devastated. The visuals evoke vivid memories of her love affairs with her patrons Kumar Bahadur (Om Sahani) and Rangababu (Rahul Bose), and later the wealthy businessman Gurmukh Rai (Mir Afsar Ali).
They also trace her journey through her innocent childhood, her maturity into a beautiful young woman, her training under Girish Chandra Ghosh (Kaushik Ganguly) and her rise to popularity and stardom as an actress, after which she falls prey to the false lure of love from several male admirers among her audience. It ends with a scene in which Binodini has given up the stage and is leading a simple, frugal life far from the din and bustle of the theatre, having calmly accepted her reality and finally at peace with herself.
Capturing the emotions and essence of Binodini's solitary journey, Bhaisa zaibo is the archetypal ballad of unfulfilled love, condensing in itself the bittersweet memories that refuse to fade away long after love itself has been banished into oblivion.