Ruchira reviews Samik Roy Choudhuri’s “Be Line”, a unique blend of social satire, black comedy, and psychological thriller, exclusively for Different Truths.
Be Line, by a young director, Samik Roy Choudhuri, is a film that cannot be summarised in a few words. Categorisation is tough for a film that continuously teases you with its unfolding, consistently surprises you with its orbit, moving back and forth between the domains of fantasy and reality. It may aptly be termed a social satire, a black comedy, and a psychological thriller all rolled into one.
It highlights diverse aspects of voyeurism that (sadly) spring from loneliness. The protagonist, Paran Bandopadhyay, is a lonely retired old man who resides in a ramshackle house in a dingy neighbourhood and enjoys occasional games of Ludo with a few of his neighbours. He is so obsessed with this ubiquitous game that when a newcomer to the group speaks of chess as being the ‘in’ thing, he argues to establish why, after a lifetime of thinking and fretting, he now prefers the random chance that Ludo offers.
Viewers can easily visualise how his daily life is – bleak, dismal, and monotonous. All day long, he is depicted as taking his meals or undertaking personal hygiene and ablution jobs. His other diversions include taking sneak peeks at the cleavage of the youthful housemaid, besides watching the run-of-the-mill soap operas on his archaic television set. We observe how his tiny world goes haywire when the telly malfunctions. He is restive until it is repaired.
However, things take an unexpected turn with a telephonic cross connection – involving a young woman and her live-in partner. It may be noted that the flick is set in a time frame when the mobile phone hadn’t become so commonplace and the landline had still not faded out.
At this point, the mind games begin. One may feel a bit foxed because, on one hand, you see the serial playing on the telly, and on the other, the same young pair are playing out an emotional drama like couples do in real life.
For the rest of the movie, the old man’s ear appears firmly glued to the telephone, as he keeps listening in on the conversation for three days in a row! The only interruptions are his unavoidable trips to the toilet. It is amazing to see the old man getting so deeply involved without meeting them or knowing their whereabouts either.
Rather shamelessly, he blends into the characters; with his imagination and fantasy working overtime, he paints lurid sensual details on the canvas of his mind: their gasps and heavy breathing, occasional pleasant conversations, foreplay followed by orgasms, sadistic, brutal acts, and what have you! The young lady’s sobbing and piteous cry for help moved the old man to tears! The viewer is at a loss to discover whether it’s real or simply the figment of the imagination of a senile individual.
Thus far, the viewers are most likely to get bored; some might even stifle a yawn…but wait for the finale, which comes as a startling anti-climax to the earlier portion of the narrative. In an unexpected move, the old man is seen being escorted to the lunatic asylum by a sympathetic and friendly neighbourhood psychiatrist.
The sheer loneliness and an overpowering sense of insecurity that have gripped him bit by bit have taken a heavy toll on his sanity. One is reminded of the immortal lines “Off of ye lending, come unbutton here…” from King Lear, Shakespeare’s magnum opus. Tragic and heart-wrenching to say the least, the last scene mirrors the ultimate reality of life. And therein lies the directorial brilliance of the master brain behind the camera!
Picture from IMBd
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