Dharmajuddha teaser is both refreshing and confusing

The teaser of Raj Chakraborty’s upcoming drama Dharmajuddha (2020) offers glimpses of the communal tensions that often plague lovers from different religious backgrounds. It almost gives the outline of the storyline in a few seconds, and it is not hard to predict what the characters face in the name of religion.

However, there are few refreshing moments in the teaser. Chakraborty has also roped in a few new faces for the prominent characters, which is rare these days, as most Bengali films seem to repeat the same actors.

In the teaser, Shabnam (Parno Mittra) and Munni (Subhasree Ganguly) are seen to be delightfully engaging into romantic rendezvous with their respective love interests. A beautiful folk track in the background lends an authentic and earthy charm to their equations as they secretly steal moments of expressing love to each other.

Munni seems to be married from her avatar and hence, it raises questions regarding the trials that she is shown to be facing in the later phase of the teaser. Is she married to a man from a different religious community and still faces trials despite being married? She is also seen to be carrying the child of her love interest, which fuels the communal tension.

The teaser is divided into two parts. While the first promises that there will be light-hearted moments in the film, the next portions, containing intense moments of communal riots shows that the film will also attempt to paint the stark reality surrounding the notion of ‘Love Jihad’.

In the riot portions, the characters of Raghab (Ritwick Chakraborty) and Zafar (Soham Chakraborty) are introduced. They both represent the radical sections of Hindu and Muslim communities, respectively.

Interestingly, towards the end of the teaser, Shabnam and Munni, the two female characters are projected as the forces of resistance, defending their basic rights as human beings in the society.

The teaser ends with a dialogue by Swatilekha Sengupta, as she states she represents an ideology beyond communal boundaries. However, that takes the teaser into a melodramatic approach, which until then appeared to be quite realistically composed.

Dharmajuddha is due to be released on 20 March 2020. Watch the teaser below and let us know if you are keen to watch the film.