Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960) - Ritwik Ghatak

There is realistic cinema. There is cinema with realism and then

there is Ritwik Ghatak who managed to penetrate the viewers heart
with ‘enhanced realism’. Kumar Sahni quotes this term when he is
speaking with Saeed Mirza about Megha Dhaka Tara.
Ritwik Ghatak was deeply affected by the aftermath of the partition
that happened in the post-independence era in the eastern side of
India. He dealt with this tragedy in Meghe Dhaka Tara in a very
dramatic way. The story consists of a family which is almost on the
verge of going into poverty. A father who is an old school teacher. A
mother who is always stressed out about the daily situation and is
waiting for a daunting comeback for anyone who plays with her
sanity. Montu and Gita are always demanding younger siblings. The
eldest one Shankar is a struggling classical singer with zero income
or fame. Then there is Nita who is younger to Shankar but elder to
Montu and Gita, who studies at a university and takes part time
tuition which makes her the only breadwinner of the family after
her father. This story is very intricately woven to show that there is
always a person in this situation who bears the brunt of the
responsibilities and is compelled to shrug off her own desires in
order to fill the stomach of her near and dear ones. In this case it is
Nita who is in the centre of this situation as well as our film. She
fulfils the demands of her younger siblings, provides in the monthly
expenses which ensures that her family has food on the table, she
gives pocket money to her elder brother and repeats this cycle every
month.
Ritwik Ghatak encapsulates this whole situation in beautiful
imagery and composition. Like the shot of Nita coming from the
shadows of big banyan trees and stopping by to listen to her brother
singing on the banks of a river as the train is passing by on the
other side of it. We see Nita in the centre of the frame whenever
there are two or more characters in the frame which again reminds
us subconsciously that she is caught up in the centre of the
situation. With the aid of cinematographer Dinen Gupta, Ghatak
manages to pull off astonishing visuals keeping the foreground and
background in distinction to create depth and assuring the audience
that even if it is a self funded film their experience of movie
watching is still intact. He not only managed to create poetic shots
but also dared to shoot on the busy streets of the College road area
in Calcutta. The area where even the big budget studio owners never
dared to shoot. Ghatak also used the background score to uplift the
drama and convey the gravity of the situation. One of the most
surreal things in the film is the whip lashing sound in the
background score used to show the painful moments in Nita's
journey as if the lashes are a metaphor for her taking a beating from
life itself every now and then.
The realism in the film is often argued with it being too deep in
order to surpass the psyche of the audiences. Infact Ghatak himself
was aware of this. It happens every now and then that the narrative
is so real it stays with you for a long time and it stays real in time
even if it is being watched 50 years from now. It is so deep that it
always leaves you in a catharsis after watching it. In Spite of
demanding such emotional toll from the audience. This film is the
most commercially earning film of Ritwik Ghatak’s filmography.
Meghe Dhaka Tara is a triumph which proves the point that shrugs
off the overtop norms and expectations of commercial cinema and
still manages to earn the revenue it deserves.