Focus on IWD: Film Guldasta is A Bouquet Entwining Lives of 3 Spirited Women

Wait a minute. The  title  is a tad baffling. We are talking of a Bangla flick, not  Hindi or Urdu one as the name  suggests.

This  is  a film  which   you are  unlikely  to forget in  a hurry. For it is a reflection   of the  day to day lives of  ordinary folks.    Guldasta  is  out and out a women-centric film, interpolating lives of three lead female characters. Srirupa, Renu and Dolly constitute the trio whose journey of life is depicted in this gripping  movie  The realities of life faced by these three women, each of whom wallow  in  their own private hell, whose lives are gripped  by  overpowering emotions,is bound to touch your soul.

The lead character of the  film is a low profile saleswoman who  goes by the  name  of Dolly Bagree (Swastika Mukherjee). It is her cheerful  demeanour, gift  of  gab plus cordial interactions with the other two  ladies  that forms the  crux  of this movie. Srirupa(Arpita Chatterjee) is a house-wife who lacks confidence to  combat  her spouse with the  truth  regarding her health issues. Instead she remains cold and meekly submits to her partner  while having sex. Her   disguntled husband (Ishan Mazumdar) ets attracted to a younger colleague (Anuradha Mukherjee). The third woman Renu (Debjani Chatterjee) has  stable  relation  with her husband (AbhijitGuha)  who is posted  in another  town  but visits pretty often. But Renu’s   bête noir  is her nagging mother-in-law. As  if this was not  enough her son is a  drug addict. He suffers from mood swings and is highly incommunicative.

Now it is against this  troubled backdrop  that Dolly Bagri enters their  lives,  peddling cosmetics and beauty aids  et al. sell products of her company. In course of time, with  utmost symapathy  and concern, she solves the problems of both Srirupa and Renu inspiring both to pick up the threads  of life  once again. Dolly instills confidence in Srirupa who summons  courage to face her husband. Moreover she helps Srirupa to start dancing again. When Renu becomes critically ill because of her son’s waywardness, it is Dolly who helps the youth to return to the mainstream.

Sadly enough, beneath Dolly’s vivacious nature  joie-de-vivre and  bonhomie there is  hidden a sordid  tale. All along Dolly had been projecting    harmonious, positive picture of her domestic life. The grim  reality surfaces when  all of a sudden  Dolly goes missing  and the  two  women go looking for  her. The  duo discover to  their  horror that her husband is bed ridden and her daughter-in-law perpetually abuses her. Morever  the   family resides  a slum  amidst filth and squalor.

And yet it is heartening to note that  despite her misery Dolly adopts a  positive  attitude to life  and inspires people. As the  movie draws to a  close we see how  on the 25th of  December Dolly  arrives at  Srirupa’s home with a bouquet of flowers to wish her on her birthday!

Believe it or not  this is a page torn  from the book of our daily  lives  .  I  have  a  sister in law  by the  name of Mallika while  viewing the flick onscreen,  I was  bemused to discover that   Dolly  was  her splitting  image  Lying  glibly   ,with elan  a hyperactive imaginations she  smoothly worms her way   into  the hearts of  her  clients. Yes she  heads the marketing  division   of  a high profile   private company!!

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