Arijit Biswas’s Surjo Prithibir Charidike Ghore (2019) was screened at the competition section of Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) last year. Biswas, known for writing the script of Sriram Raghavan’s Andhadhun (2018), won the award for Best Director.
As interesting as the title sounds, Surjo Prithibir Charidike Ghore is based on the life of KC Pal, who firmly believes that the sun revolves around the Earth. In the film, the fictionalised character is TC Pal and has been enacted by the eminent theatre actor Meghnad Bhattacharya. The film also features veteran actors Chiranjeet Chakraborty, Anjan Dutt, Sreela Majumdar and Pallavi Chatterjee in crucial roles.
While the trailer appears a bit fragmented, it is quite apparent that there are two dominant themes in the film. One, Pal's struggle to convince the world of his theory, and another involving a political conflict deal with the Left's uprising and later fall in the state of Bengal. The trailer offers bits and pieces of the equation between the important characters, but delivers a confusing outline regarding the plotline.
There are two striking aspects in the trailer. Until the end, only natural sound has been used for the background score, perhaps, with the intention to lend the film a realistic approach. Then there are glimpses of some real dramatic performances by all the actors that hold the attention despite the trailer appearing jarring at times.
The colour tone of the trailer also has an impression of a perspective that doesn’t represent a sophisticated approach towards life at large; rather, it is slightly greyish.
Surjo Prithibir Charidike Ghore is slated for release on 29 November.