A scene from Akashitorar Kothare…

There is no denying the fact that serious meaningful Assam cinema is currently going through a bad phase. With the death of Bhabendranath Saikia, who ruled the sphere for about 25 years, a glorious chapter has come to an end.

It is only Jahnu Barua, who has been doing such kind of films at regular intervals. His immediate followers — Hemanta Das, Mridul Gupta, Hemen Das, Sanjiv Hazarika, Bidyut Chakraborty and Santwana Bordoloi — have had no releases over the past three years. It is, therefore, enchanting see Manju Bora, the last to join the elite band with her promising debut of Baibhav in 1999, coming up with another venture, Akashitorar Kothare… (A tale told a thousand times).

Unlike her maiden venture, Baibhav, (producer: Sangeeta Tamuly, banner: Chitra Communications) Bora this time deals with a relatively simpler content.

A young girl, Akashitora, completes her post-graduation in folklore and begins research into the woman-oriented cultural trails of Assam, defying her parents’ move to get her married. She finds tremendous inspiration in Tawoi (her father’s best friend) and gets completely involved in her research. She begins to explore remote rural Assam and gradually comes to learn how the women in these places are dominated by men. Even in the traditional customs and rituals, she finds that women are made to silently tolerate age-old male chauvinism — physically, mentally and otherwise.

At a time when she is about to finish her research, she agrees to marriage with a top officer in the state bureaucracy because of some mysterious reason. Her project remains incomplete. Yet she hopes to get support and co-operation from her husband to resume research after marriage, even though she hardly knows his background and mindset.

However, as expected, the husband — a typical male chauvinist — wills otherwise and poor, helpless Akashitora becomes a conventional housewife. She is left with no choice and submits herself fully to household affairs.

Soon she becomes the mother of two and her world becomes limited to rearing her children and looking after her ailing mother-in-law.

One day, her grown-up daughter starts wondering how she could have compromised with her husband’s wish and will so easily. Her brother-in-law also criticises her unconditional surrender to her husband. At that crucial time she finds herself pregnant. She realises that it is now time for her to reorganise her life.

The final jolt comes when her husband refuses to give shelter to her beloved Tawoi, who arrives in the city for medical treatment. She breaks down and collapses silently.

The film was shot (by cinematographer Raju Mishra) in exotic locales in rural Assam. The property arrangements and overall pattern in the sequences relating to the affluent lifestyle after marriage is also convincing. The music by Tarali Sarma bears significance from the ritualistic and traditional viewpoint, though the required subtlety in mixing is missing.

On the acting front, seasoned Bishnu Kharghoria (as Tawoi) and Pranjal Saikia (as the husband) are commanding. Aparna Dutta Choudhury (as the protagonist), Anup Hazarika, Ankur Bishaya and Dilip Bora have also made their mark.

The pleasant surprise is Ranjit Das (as the documentary filmmaker). This national-award winning director could think of taking up acting more seriously.

Rong Sarmah