Tasher Desh

Rabindranath Tagore’s Tasher Desh (Land of Cards) was a simple story of a land which is so rooted into silly rules that they refuse to see life as something that needs to be celebrated.  Tagore’s aim (and this is my interpretation) was to ask people to challenge the status quo both in their own lives and that of the population in general.  Something that people have written about for generations in a variety of ways.

Tasher Desh, is a movie that comes from the stable of acclaimed director Q (Just Q. Nothing else).  Q is best known for his rage of a movie called “Gandu” (yet to see it) that released a year or so back.  I must say that my first experience with Q has not led me to believe that I will enjoy his other movies.  Not because he is a bad film maker.  Not at all.  It is just that the way he makes a movie is not meant for even the slightly above average Joe like this writer.

There are so many layers in Q’s interpretation of Tagore’s simple story that one is left nauseous and even claustrophobic in the first few minutes.  The start is frenetic.  There is so much going on that you have no idea about the reasons for the goings on.  For e.g. why was it essential for the author to go to the Widow (Horotoni) or for that matter the railway station where he spends the night?  Just some of the questions in my pea brain.

Q’s representation of Tasher Desh – which I could decipher after quite a bit of thought and patience – starts with a crown prince (Soumyak Kanti De Biswas) of a kingdom that is in ruins.  His mother, the Queen (Tillotama Shome) has an equally disappointing back story (which again added no value to me).  The prince wants to break free from his day to day monotony that involves lots of green stuff, wine and women (I wonder why ;)).

The prince and his friend (Anubrata Basu) eventually find their way to Tasher Desh where they are confronted by the so called guards.  And all hell breaks loose. Not just in Tasher Desh but also in your ears because all these guys in Tasher Desh do is scream out rules and regulations and culture – ad nauseum, ad infinitum.

On many an occasion, Tasher Desh reminded me of yet another critically acclaimed movie called Tree of Life (Terrence Malik) that I slept through.  I didn’t sleep through Tasher Desh but I can tell you that it took a lot out of me.  Do movies like Tasher Desh have a market – of course they do.  But if they are aiming to change the way a market behaves, the task is going to be gargantuan.

I have to get my hands on Gandu to try and figure out if the style is similar or not.  Watch this space for developments on that count.  For now, watch Tasher Desh only if you have it in you to handle a very different and convoluted representation of a very simple message.  I give TD 4 on 10 but honestly, it is just not mainstream and I don’t have even a basic understanding of this genre. The rating is only indicative of what i felt while watching the movie.

Of course, can anyone tell me why "sex" is the only way you can represent rebellion?  Surely there are better methods to communicate the same.

Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2jU5VuVprA