The hidden star
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The hidden star |
| Original title | মেঘে ঢাকা তারা (Meghe Dhaka Tara) |
| Country of production | India |
| original language | Bengali |
| Publishing year | 1960 |
| length | 122 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Ritwik Ghatak |
| script | Ritwik Ghatak |
| production | Chitrakalpa |
| music | Jyotirindra Moitra |
| camera | Dinen Gupta |
| cut | Ramesh Yoshi |
| occupation | |
| |
The hidden star ( Bengali : মেঘে ঢাকা তারা, Meghe Ḍhākā Tārā) is a 1960 Indian drama film directed by Ritwik Ghatak .
action
A poor Bengali middle-class refugee family lives in a small town outside Kolkata . Since the income of the father, who works as a village teacher, is not enough, the eldest daughter Nita - actually a student in Kolkata - gives tutoring lessons. The money she earns goes to the household budget or is begged from her by her brothers, the would-be musician and idler Shankar and the somewhat younger student Montu, and her uneducated sister Gita. Not for herself or for her admirer Sanat (physics student in Kolkata), from whom she received a love letter, she has money left over. At the beginning of the next month, she even paid her brother's accrued debt to a local dealer.
One evening his father fell drunk on the way home and was injured so badly that he could no longer do his job. Nita, who now has the only income, has to give up her studies in order to earn as much as possible for the family. Sanat offers her that he would go to work and then they could marry. Nita refuses, because she feels responsible for her family, and says that if Sanat really loves her, he will wait for a wedding until Shankar has become a great music star and also makes money. Montu gives up his schooling in order to earn money by working in a factory, which horrifies the mother. But he is allowed to live near his place of work in Kolkata and to have his own needs, so he shouldn't give anything for the family. Montu resists Shankar's attempts at begging; Instead, Nita continues to give Shankar money.
When Sanat visits Nita one day, she has no time for him because she is completely busy with tutoring. Gita takes advantage of this situation and Sanat has beautiful eyes, which this does not elude. When she later learns that Sanat has given up his studies and is earning money, Nita is sad; Gita sees her chance.
When the father thinks about slowly marrying Nita off, his mother makes it clear to him that he would hardly get enough to eat then.
Sanat marries Gita. Nita is petrified when Gita tells her straight in the face that after all, not everyone wants to wait that long. Nita renounces the family jewelry that is actually due to her in favor of her sister, because she needs it more urgently.
The father realizes the destruction of Nita's future by the desires of the family, but suppresses his concerns again. Shankar blames Nita for being soft-hearted idiots like her who get hurt the most. Nita feels more empowered in her self-sacrificing role; she does not want gentle treatment for herself.
As the last of her siblings, Shankar now also announces that she is going - knowing that Nita will then no longer have a chance to go her own way, as she would be responsible for her parents as the last of the siblings present. He predicts that if she doesn't think about herself, she will be crushed to death.
Nita now lives alone with her parents and a letter arrives informing Montu of a serious accident at work. Nita drives into town and almost suffers from faintness herself in the hospital. When she wants to ask for support from Sanat and Gita, she is rudely pissed off by her sister.
In the evening Nita is completely ill, coughs and has bloody sputum - tuberculosis . Her mother's news that Shankar has made a name for himself as a musician in Bombay is only dismissive. Sanat visits her and for the first time Nita confesses her mistake of never protesting. She continues to work anyway.
Shankar returns as a rich and well-known musician and - unlike in the past - is coveted in the village. Nita has completely withdrawn from her family during her illness, but Shankar discovers a bloody handkerchief when he visits her and Nita's illness is revealed. The father - now relying on Shankar's support - reproaches her for having first carried all the burden and now becoming a burden himself and asks her to leave. She flees in the pouring rain, but Shankar is the only one who has not forgotten her good nature; he stops her and places her in a sanatorium in Shillong .
A long time later, Shankar visits Nita in the sanatorium and says that the house has now been built on two floors, Gita's son can already walk, and so on. Nita still has the letter from Sanat from the beginning with her, which she is now tearing up. Besides her body, her soul is also damaged; she calls out to Shankar: Brother, you know that I wanted to live, tell me that I will live, I want to live. Nita is completely enraptured and forgotten about the world. Nobody in the village remembers her anymore. Shankar is crying.
Remarks
The Hidden Star is the first film in Ritwik Ghatak's so-called refugee trilogy . It originated from a story by Shaktipada Rajguru . It was Ghatak's only commercially successful film. Not least because of its landscape shots and the film-photographic execution, the film is one of the most artistically significant works of Bengali film .
Reviews
"With the fatalism of a Greek tragedy, the stylistically straightforward and consequently staged film by a renowned Indian director, precise in its detailed description and supported by sensitive music, strives towards its fateful end."
Web links
- The hidden star in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Meghe Dhaka Tara at upperstall.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ The hidden star. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 20, 2016 .