Personally, I feel Goynar Baksho is one of Aparna Sen’s best-looking films, and my heartiest congratulations to cinematographer Soumik Halder, who has truly brought a superior edge to Bengali cinema with his artistry.

This loose adaptation of Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay’s novel offers another ‘ghost’ movie but with a signature Aparna Sen touch. The first half is laced with humour and wit and then the second half takes a more serious direction with social commentary. Moushumi Chatterjee is the scene-stealer as the foul-mouthed, mischievous Rashmoni or Buri Pishima, who, being a child widow, is a ‘rebel with a very good cause’. Pishima hangs on to her jewellery box for dear life, and in death as well, to ensure relatives don’t get their hands on her jewels. She assigns Somlata, her nephew’s stammering faint-hearted wife played by the graceful Konkona Sensharma, to safeguard her jewels. Konkona’s refreshing comic timing and sense of control as an actor adds layers of complexity to one of the meatiest roles she has played yet.

Somlata has the instincts of a businesswoman and uses the jewellery as capital to help her good-natured but slightly useless husband Chandan (played to the hilt by Saswata Chatterjee) to open a sari shop. Somlata’s daughter Chaitali, the next inheritor of the box, played by Shrabanti is a pleasing presence in the film, as she represents the educated woman of the ’70s. Being young and politically active, she has little interest in the jewellery and gives it away for a cause. The handing over of the jewellery box by the women from one generation to the next is a commentary on the changing times, and the changing role of women.

In memorable scenes where the ghost of Pishima smokes a hookah while Chaitali smokes a cigarette, over a chat; or where the ghost of Pishima sits behind Chaitali’s scooter egging her on to drive faster, we see the generation gap between the thakuma and naatni made apparent by the jewellery box, vanish briefly, as these women across generations share these moments of bonding. Shrabanti’s double role is worth a special mention. Stripped of all make-up, Shrabanti emerges as an angelic beauty as the young Rashmoni. Also a special shout out to Sudipta (Chakraborty) for her impeccable comic timing as she leaves her mark as the dubious woman Chandan has an affair with.

But I have to say that when I saw the awesome trailer, I was looking forward to seeing a lot more of one of my favourite actors, Saswata Chatterjee. I just wish Sen’s script had given this fine actor an even larger canvas to play with. Also the brilliant Koushik Sen from Iti Mrinalini, I would have loved to see more of. Having said that, I totally understand that in a female-centric film, with so much story to tell, the scope for greater development of supporting characters was perhaps limited. Also, Koushik Sen’s character, as the poet love interest of Somlata, is reminiscent of Parama in its theme, and thus holds resonance when seen from the spectrum of Sen’s filmography where she has spoken out time and again about the independent sexuality of a woman that may not be restrained within the laws of marriage.

A seasoned actor like Paran Bandopadhyay makes comic lines even more hilarious with his delivery. Other supporting roles like Chandan, played by Saswata Chatterjee, Annapurna, played by Manasi Sinha, Bandana played by Aparajita Adhya, and Chandranath, played by Pijush Ganguly, add layers of sophistication to the fabric of the film. Like a lot of Sen’s films, this too has the backdrop of a significant chapter in political history, with the jewellery box ending up with the muktijoddhas striving for a free Bangladesh. What was a pleasant surprise was the sari rap in Bangal bhasha. Rabiranjan Moitra’s editing lends its touches of magic, while Debajyoti Mishra’s background score adds a sense of history and fusion to the film’s changing framework while standing apart as a distinct character and element of entertainment in itself.

I hope audiences appreciate Sen’s efforts to hold on to her dream project for over a decade until she found the perfect team together with Shree Venkatesh Films that would help her bring the ghost of her beloved dushtu Buri Pishima to ‘life’.