Chitrangada

Starring: Rituparno Ghosh, Jisshu Sengupta, Raima Sen, Anasua Majumdar, Anjan Dutt
Directed by  Rituparno Ghosh
Rating: ***

If a director is only as good as his last film, Chitrangada—The Crowning Wish—is a reiteration of Rituparno Ghosh’s mastery over the medium. A gem of a movie delivered by a genius with 11 national awards under his belt—two for best director, eight for best feature film and one for best screenplay. Besides providing viewing pleasure, Chitrangada nudges us to be tolerant of the unconventional and give every human being his space. Rituparno casts himself as the gay choreographer Rudra, who has a steamy affair with junkie drummer Partho played by the handsome Jisshu Sengupta. Rudra is so madly in love with Partho that he goes in for a sex-change surgery to become a woman so that the couple, as husband and wife, can legally adopt a child and live as a ‘conventional’ family. But Rudra is betrayed. Partho falls for the dishy Kasturi (Raima Sen).

Besides Jisshu, who Rituparno casts in film after film to the amusement of many in the industry, Anjan Dutt as counsellor and Anasua Majumdar and Dipankar De as Rudra’s parents stand out. So do Avik Mukhopadhyay and Arghyakamal Mitra as cinematographer and editor respectively. Rituparno, whose own appearance has changed over the years, insists that Chitrangada is not autobiographical.

Gender fundamentalists might see red but the Bengali director’s message is timely against the background of the higher judiciary’s increasing acceptance of gays and transgenders.