Shubho Mahurat: Difference between revisions

Shubho Mahurat
Shubho Mahurat
	DVD cover
Directed by	Rituparno Ghosh
Written by	Agatha Christie (story) ; Rituparno Ghosh (screenplay)
Starring	Sharmila Tagore; Raakhee; Nandita Das; Tota Roy Chowdhury; Sumanta Mukherjee; Anindya Chatterjee
Cinematography	Avik Mukhopadhyay
Edited by	Arghyakamal Mitra
Music by	Debojyoti Mishra
Release date	2003;
Running time	150 minutes
Country	India
Language	Bengali

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Shubho Mahurat is a 2003 Indian Bengali mystery thriller film directed by Rituparno Ghosh. The film is based on Agatha Christie's 1962 Miss Marple detective novel The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side.^[1] Its ensemble cast includes Sharmila Tagore, Rakhee Gulzar, Nandita Das, Tota Roy Chowdhury, Anindya Chatterjee, Moumita Gupta and Rajesh Sharma. It won two National Film awards, those of Best Feature film in Bengali and Best Supporting Actress for Rakhee.^[2]

Plot

The phrase "Shubho Mahurat" (Bengali: শুভ মহরৎ) is associated with the beginning of shooting for a feature film. The first shot is marked by a grand reception.

An NRI producer and former leading actress, Padmini Chowdhury (Sharmila Tagore), has returned to India to invest in a film. Her second husband Sambit Roy (Sumanta Mukherjee), an out-of-work director, is assigned to direct. Padmini insists on casting a retired actress, Kakoli Sengupta (Kalyani Mandal), in a prominent role. Covering the event are a journalist for a local magazine, Mallika Sen (Nandita Das), and a freelance photographer, Shubhankar Chowdhury (Anindya Chatterjee). The production team also includes makeup artist Kalpana Sengupta (Moumita Gupta) and camera assistant Sunil Mehra (Rajesh Sharma).

At the reception, Kakoli feels unwell and leaves early. She takes Mallika home with her after agreeing to do an interview. At her house, however, Kakoli's condition deteriorates until she collapses and dies. Learning from her husband that she was a drug addict, police suspect an overdose, but the autopsy reveals strychnine poisoning. Investigating officer Arindam Chatterjee (Tota Roy Chowdhury) initially suspects the husband, who is in an extramarital affair, but the poison is found to have entered her system while she was at the reception event. Mallika reveals that Kakoli only had a glass of soft drink at the party, and the drink was actually meant for Padmini, meaning that she was the real target. Mallika discusses all this with her paternal aunt, Ranga Pishima (Rakhee Gulzar), who conjectures that another murder might soon follow. Meanwhile, a mutual attraction develops between both Mallika-Arindam and Mallika-Shubhankar. Pishima discovers that Shubhankar is actually related to Padmini: his uncle was Padmini's first husband, and she doted on Shubhankar when he was a child.

Kalpana tells Padmini about her relationship with Sunil, who is married, and how Sunil had refused to pay for the treatment of Kalpana's daughter. Padmini promises to help her, and tells her about her own son, who died aged 16 from a congenital disorder. Kalpana then goes to Sunil's, is seen leaving after having some soft drink, and is later reported dead. Sunil is arrested.

Pishima listens to the recordings of Mallika's interview with Kakoli, questions Shubhankar further about Padmini, then asks Mallika to call up the director of Kakoli and Padmini's last film together. She then places an anonymous piece in her niece's magazine, which is about whether infections during pregnancy can harm the unborn child, in the edition which is to carry Padmini's interview with Mallika. A copy is sent to Padmini with the page highlighted. This has the desired effect as Padmini rushes to Pishima and Mallika's home to enquire about the piece, and Pishima narrates to her how she has solved the mystery.

During their last film together, Padmini was pregnant and Kakoli had a contagious disease, which she spread to her co-actress. This infection was transmitted to the unborn child, which would later lead to his death. Padmini poisoned Kakoli in revenge, but was seen by Kalpana, who tried to blackmail her and was silenced in turn.

Pishima tells Padmini that she is her fan and her story is safe with her. Padmini returns home and is later found to have committed suicide. As per her last promise, she sends Pishima an autograph and a long reply to her fan mail, in which she also promises to support the treatment of Kalpana's daughter.

Conflicted between Arindam and him, Mallika asks Shubhankar if it is possible to love two people at once. Shubhankar replies that Padmini had once said the same thing before she left his uncle for Sambit. He also says that Padmini proved it herself that this was impossible: she had completely forgotten about Shubhankar after her son was born, to the point that she could not recognise him at the reception.

Cast^[3]

Sharmila Tagore as Padmini 'Ranu' Chowdhury
Raakhee as Ranga Pishima (Character based on Miss Marple)
Nandita Das as Mallika 'Mili' Sen
Tota Roy Chowdhury as Arindam Chatterjee, IPS
Sumanta Mukherjee as Sambit Roy
Kalyani Mandal as Kakoli Sengupta
Rajesh Sharma as Sunil Mehra
Aparajita Adhya as Pramila Mehra, Sunil's wife
Moumita Gupta as Kalpana Sengupta
Anindya Chatterjee as Shubhankar 'Jojo' Chowdhury
Abhijit Guha (special appearance)
Goutam Ghose (special appearance)
Soumitra Chattopadhyay (special appearance)
Subhendu Chattopadhyay (special appearance)
Madhabi Mukherjee (special appearance)

Awards

2003 – National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for Rakhee^[2]
2003 – National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali^[2]

References

^ "Aboard the mystery train | Cinemaexpress". Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c "'Shubho Mahurat' - Rituparno Ghosh and his memorable National Award-winning films". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
^ Shubho Mahurat (2003) - IMDb, 25 July 2003, retrieved 16 September 2020

External links

Shubho Mahurat at IMDb

[1] "Aboard the mystery train | Cinemaexpress". Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2020.

[:0-2] "'Shubho Mahurat' - Rituparno Ghosh and his memorable National Award-winning films". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 September 2020.

[3] Shubho Mahurat (2003) - IMDb, 25 July 2003, retrieved 16 September 2020

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[2]

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@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 {{Use Indian English|date=November 2015}}
 {{Infobox film
-| name     = Shubho Mahurat
+| name           = Shubho Mahurat
-| image          =Shubho Mahurat.jpg
+| image          = Shubho Mahurat.jpg
-| caption     = DVD cover for ''Shubho Mahurat''.
+| caption        = DVD cover
 | director       = [[Rituparno Ghosh]]
 | writer         = [[Agatha Christie]] (story) <br/>Rituparno Ghosh (screenplay)
-| music          = Debojoyti Mishra
+| music          = [[Debojyoti Mishra]]
 | starring       = [[Sharmila Tagore]]<br />[[Raakhee]]<br />[[Nandita Das]]<br />[[Tota Roy Chowdhury]]<br />[[Sumanta Mukherjee]]<br />[[Anindya Chatterjee]]
+| cinematography = [[Avik Mukhopadhyay]]
-| released   = 2003
+| editing        = [[Arghyakamal Mitra]]
+| released       = {{Film date|2003}}
 | runtime        = 150 minutes
 | country        = [[India]]
-| language = [[Bengali language|Bengali]]
+| language       = [[Bengali language|Bengali]]
 }}
-'''''Shubho Mahurat''''' (2003) is an [[India]]n [[Cinema of West Bengal|Bengali]] [[detective]] [[mystery film]] directed by [[Rituparno Ghosh]]. The film is based on [[Agatha Christie]]'s 1962 [[Miss Marple]] detective novel ''[[The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side]]''.<ref>https://m.cinemaexpress.com/stories/trends/2017/nov/22/aboard-the-mystery-train-3207.amp</ref> It won two [[National Film Awards|National Film award]] including [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali|Best Feature film in Bengali.]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title='Shubho Mahurat' - Rituparno Ghosh and his memorable National Award-winning films|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bengali/movies/photo-features/rituparno-ghosh-and-his-memorable-national-award-winning-films/Shubho-Mahurat/photostory/64556573.cms|access-date=2020-09-16|website=The Times of India}}</ref>
+'''''Shubho Mahurat''''' is a 2003 [[Cinema of West Bengal|Indian Bengali]] [[Mystery film|mystery]] [[thriller film]] directed by [[Rituparno Ghosh]]. The film is based on [[Agatha Christie]]'s 1962 [[Miss Marple]] detective novel ''[[The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://m.cinemaexpress.com/stories/trends/2017/nov/22/aboard-the-mystery-train-3207.amp|title=Aboard the mystery train &#124; Cinemaexpress|website=[[Cinema Express]]|access-date=14 August 2020|archive-date=27 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127163337/https://m.cinemaexpress.com/stories/trends/2017/nov/22/aboard-the-mystery-train-3207.amp|url-status=dead}}</ref> Its [[ensemble cast]] includes [[Sharmila Tagore]], [[Rakhee Gulzar]], [[Nandita Das]], [[Tota Roy Chowdhury]], [[Anindya Chatterjee]], [[Moumita Gupta]] and [[Rajesh Sharma (actor)|Rajesh Sharma]]. It won two [[National Film Awards|National Film awards]], those of [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali|Best Feature film in Bengali]] and [[National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]] for Rakhee.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|title='Shubho Mahurat' - Rituparno Ghosh and his memorable National Award-winning films|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bengali/movies/photo-features/rituparno-ghosh-and-his-memorable-national-award-winning-films/Shubho-Mahurat/photostory/64556573.cms|access-date=2020-09-16|website=The Times of India}}</ref>
 ==Plot==
-The phrase "Shubho Mahurat" is associated with the beginning of shooting for a feature film. The first shot is marked by a grand reception. This Miss Marple-esque film begins with this event. An [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|NRI]] producer, Padmini Chowdhury ([[Sharmila Tagore]]), has come to India to invest in a film. Her second husband Sambit Roy ([[Sumanta Mukherjee]]), an out-of-work director, is assigned the job of direction.
+The phrase "''Shubho Mahurat''" ([[Bengali language|Bengali]]: শুভ মহরৎ) is associated with the beginning of shooting for a feature film. The first shot is marked by a grand reception.
+An [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|NRI]] producer and former leading actress, Padmini Chowdhury ([[Sharmila Tagore]]), has returned to India to invest in a film. Her second husband Sambit Roy ([[Sumanta Mukherjee]]), an out-of-work director, is assigned to direct. Padmini insists on casting a retired actress, Kakoli Sengupta ([[Kalyani Mandal]]), in a prominent role. Covering the event are a journalist for a local magazine, Mallika Sen ([[Nandita Das]]), and a [[Freelancer|freelance]] photographer, Shubhankar Chowdhury ([[Anindya Chatterjee]]). The production team also includes [[Make-up artist|makeup artist]] Kalpana Sengupta ([[Moumita Gupta]]) and camera assistant Sunil Mehra ([[Rajesh Sharma (actor)|Rajesh Sharma]]).
-The out-of-work director has a shady past. A witness to his shady past is an aspiring actor, who was subsequently thrown out of the acting circuit. This actor started a catering service for the film unit.
+At the reception, Kakoli feels unwell and leaves early. She takes Mallika home with her after agreeing to do an interview. At her house, however, Kakoli's condition deteriorates until she collapses and dies. Learning from her husband that she was a [[Addiction|drug addict]], police suspect an overdose, but the [[autopsy]] reveals [[strychnine]] poisoning. Investigating officer Arindam Chatterjee ([[Tota Roy Chowdhury]]) initially suspects the husband, who is in an [[Infidelity|extramarital affair]], but the poison is found to have entered her system while she was at the reception event. Mallika reveals that Kakoli only had a glass of [[soft drink]] at the party, and the drink was actually meant for Padmini, meaning that she was the real target. Mallika discusses all this with her paternal aunt, Ranga Pishima ([[Rakhee Gulzar]]), who conjectures that another murder might soon follow. Meanwhile, a mutual attraction develops between both Mallika-Arindam and Mallika-Shubhankar. Pishima discovers that Shubhankar is actually related to Padmini: his uncle was Padmini's first husband, and she doted on Shubhankar when he was a child.
-The NRI producer insists on casting a retired actress, Kakoli ([[Kalyani Mandal]]) in a prominent role. Kakoli, a drug addict, subsequently dies under mysterious circumstances, on the day of 'Shubho Mahurat'. The journalist Mallika Sen ([[Nandita Das]]) is the only person present at the time of the death. The suspicion naturally falls on the husband of the actress, who reportedly has an amorous relationship with another lady.
+Kalpana tells Padmini about her relationship with Sunil, who is married, and how Sunil had refused to pay for the treatment of Kalpana's daughter. Padmini promises to help her, and tells her about her own son, who died aged 16 from a [[Birth defect|congenital disorder]]. Kalpana then goes to Sunil's, is seen leaving after having some soft drink, and is later reported dead. Sunil is arrested.
-The unnatural death of the actress causes a police investigation. An [[Indian Police Service|IPS]] officer named Arindam ([[Tota Roy Chowdhury]]) takes up the investigation. During the course of investigation, Arindam befriends Mallika. Meanwhile, Mallika catches the fancy of a still photographer named Jojo ([[Anindya Chatterjee]]) who, incidentally, is closely related to the NRI producer.
+Pishima listens to the recordings of Mallika's interview with Kakoli, questions Shubhankar further about Padmini, then asks Mallika to call up the director of Kakoli and Padmini's last film together. She then places an anonymous piece in her niece's magazine, which is about whether [[Vertically transmitted infection|infections during pregnancy]] can harm the unborn child, in the edition which is to carry Padmini's interview with Mallika. A copy is sent to Padmini with the page highlighted. This has the desired effect as Padmini rushes to Pishima and Mallika's home to enquire about the piece, and Pishima narrates to her how she has solved the mystery.
-This NRI producer had a past no less interesting than the other protagonists. The NRI producer was an actress of repute in her heyday. She divorced her husband and left the country to settle abroad. Before that, she had given birth to an abnormal child. The course of the film reveals that she bore a grudge against Kakoli for spreading a contagious disease to her while she was pregnant, resulting in the abnormal child.
+During their last film together, Padmini was pregnant and Kakoli had a [[contagious disease]], which she spread to her co-actress. This infection was transmitted to the unborn child, which would later lead to his death. Padmini poisoned Kakoli in revenge, but was seen by Kalpana, who tried to blackmail her and was silenced in turn.
-Another amorous affair runs parallel to the main theme: The camera assistant was repenting for his past affair with the hairdresser. The hairdresser has her problems and she was extracting money very often from the camera assistant. All through the movie, the aunt of the journalist, Ranga Pishima ([[Raakhee]]), gives vital leads to the investigation through deductive logic. She is able to read the mind of the niece correctly. Her valuable inputs finally leads to solve the murder mystery.
+Pishima tells Padmini that she is her fan and her story is safe with her. Padmini returns home and is later found to have committed suicide. As per her last promise, she sends Pishima an [[autograph]] and a long reply to her fan mail, in which she also promises to support the treatment of Kalpana's daughter.
-==Cast<ref>{{Citation|title=Shubho Mahurat (2003) - IMDb|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368969/|language=en|access-date=2020-09-16}}</ref>==
-* [[Sharmila Tagore]] as Padmini Chowdhury
+Conflicted between Arindam and him, Mallika asks Shubhankar if it is possible to love two people at once. Shubhankar replies that Padmini had once said the same thing before she left his uncle for Sambit. He also says that Padmini proved it herself that this was impossible: she had completely forgotten about Shubhankar after her son was born, to the point that she could not recognise him at the reception.
-* [[Raakhee]] as Ranga Pishima
-* [[Nandita Das]] as Mallika Sen
+==Cast<ref>{{Citation|title=Shubho Mahurat (2003) - IMDb|date=25 July 2003|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368969/|language=en|access-date=2020-09-16}}</ref>==
-* [[Tota Roy Chowdhury]] as Arindam
+* [[Sharmila Tagore]] as Padmini 'Ranu' Chowdhury
+* [[Raakhee]] as Ranga Pishima (Character based on [[Miss Marple]])
+* [[Nandita Das]] as Mallika 'Mili' Sen
+* [[Tota Roy Chowdhury]] as Arindam Chatterjee, [[Indian Police Service|IPS]]
 * [[Sumanta Mukherjee]] as Sambit Roy
-* [[Kalyani Mandal]] as Kakoli
+* [[Kalyani Mandal]] as Kakoli Sengupta
-* [[Rajesh Sharma (actor)|Rajesh Sharma]] as Sumit
+* [[Rajesh Sharma (actor)|Rajesh Sharma]] as Sunil Mehra
-* [[Aparajita Adhya]] as Pramila
+* [[Aparajita Adhya]] as Pramila Mehra, Sunil's wife
-* [[Moumita Gupta]] as Kalpana
+* [[Moumita Gupta]] as Kalpana Sengupta
-* [[Anindya Chatterjee]] as Shubhankar
+* [[Anindya Chatterjee]] as Shubhankar 'Jojo' Chowdhury
-* [[Abhijit Guha (director)]] (special appearance)
+* [[Abhijit Guha (director)|Abhijit Guha]] (special appearance)
 * [[Goutam Ghose]] (special appearance)
 * [[Soumitra Chattopadhyay]] (special appearance)
@@ Line 49: / Line 55: @@
 ==Awards==
-* 2003 - [[National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress]] for [[Raakhee]]<ref name=":0" />
+* 2003 – [[National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress]] for [[Rakhee Gulzar|Rakhee]]<ref name=":0" />
-* 2003 - [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali]]<ref name=":0" />
+* 2003 – [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali]]<ref name=":0" />
 ==References==
@@ Line 64: / Line 70: @@
 {{authority control}}
-[[Category:Bengali-language films]]
+[[Category:Bengali-language Indian films]]
-[[Category:Indian films]]
 [[Category:Indian detective films]]
-[[Category:2000s crime drama films]]
+[[Category:2003 crime drama films]]
 [[Category:Films based on Miss Marple books]]
 [[Category:2003 films]]
-[[Category:Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress National Film Award-winning performance]]
+[[Category:Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress National Film Award–winning performance]]
 [[Category:Films directed by Rituparno Ghosh]]
 [[Category:Best Bengali Feature Film National Film Award winners]]
 [[Category:2000s Bengali-language films]]
-[[Category:2003 drama films]]
+[[Category:Indian crime drama films]]