(From top) Rupa Ganguly and Rituparno Ghosh on the sets of Antarmahal; Jackie Shroff as the zamindar; Abhishek Bachchan and Soha Ali Khan in the film

1878. Just two years after Queen Victoria is crowned Empress of India, a painter called William Clifford makes his way into a conservative household in a village of Bengal. Though commissioned to do a portrait of the zamindar, Clifford would rather paint the landlord?s young, beautiful second wife, who lives in the impenetrable inner chambers of this bleak house. Clifford and his journal ? documenting his stay in the mansion ? will be the sutradhar to the inner recesses of oppression in 19th century Bengal when Rituparno Ghosh?s Antarmahal releases on October 28.

The film stars Jackie Shroff as the zamindar, Rupa Ganguly and Soha Ali Khan as his two wives, and Abhishek Bachchan as a Bihari potter.

?Oppression at several layers ? social, economic, religious, sexual and colonial ? is the core issue of the film. Then there?s a class struggle (of the aristocracy versus the labourers) and the rebellion in love,? says Rituparno, having based his script on the skeletal structure taken from a short story by Tarashankar Bandopadhyay. ?I haven?t worked on the issue of economic oppression before and it?s a matter of interest to me, having been a student of economics. Also because this aspect is not extraneous to the subject,? says the film-maker.

The narrative zooms in on a palatial house ? the premises used is Thanthania Lahabari ? where the two women (Rupa and Soha) are trapped, with signs of patriarchy very evident everywhere, starting with the huge paintings of the family?s forefathers hanging along the corridor, ?as if they are observing the women?. There is also a strange politics of the married women?s world, of women who are almost forced to live the life of widows, adds Rituparno.

?Antarmahal is an ensemble film and everyone has contributed to it. When I cast Jackie Shroff, Abhishek Bachchan and Soha Ali Khan, they were not commercial propositions. I had decided on Abhishek after watching him in Yuva. I had faith in Soha and I think people will discover her in Antarmahal as they had discovered Raima (Sen) in Chokher Bali. Rupa is playing a very important role. Her?s and Soha?s are author-backed characters. Jackie has negative shades but the range of his performance is something we haven?t seen before.?

Early this year, Antarmahal was screened at the Locarno film festival where the foreign audience felt it was ?the boldest statement from India?. But Rituparno clarifies: ?The sexual component in Antarmahal is not titillation. The film is on the antarmahal of andarmahal, so sex is an element of oppression here. Personally, this is the boldest film I have ever made.?

If Antarmahal takes us back to 1878, Rituparno?s last Bengali release, Chokher Bali, was set in the urban Bengal of 1802. So how different are the two worlds, thematically and in terms of treatment?

?It?s like the difference that was there in (Satyajit) Ray?s Devi, which had a strong oppressive quality, and Charulata. Chokher Bali had a lot of delightful moments, but in Antarmahal there is only dark, black humour. It?s a poignant film,? says Rituparno.

Chokher Bali, he feels, had given him the scope to hone his skills in making a period film. After all, apart from the enormous research, execution is a vital aspect of such a film.

?In Chokher Bali, it was easier with most of the women wearing white as they were widows. In Antarmahal, they are all married women, whose costumes needed to be taken care of. Even the dasis (domestic helps) have specifically designated roles? This apart, we used the device of light and shade to set it apart from Chokher Bali. There is a lot of darkness in the film...?

AB Corp and Vasu Bhagnani have bought the creative rights of Antarmahal, slated to travel to London Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival.