The perfect Parineeta

Here's reason why sometimes it's sacrilege to remake a classic that has stood the test of time. When I saw Ajoy Kar's Parineeta, I realised how hollow and OTT the Pradeep Sarkar film is. How inappropriate is the depiction of the characters in the new-age romance and how absolutely simple yet stunning the 1969 film is. Kar is as faithful to the Sarat Chandra classic, as Lalita is to her book version and Shekhar to his literary avatar. In short, the old Bengali film is flawless, marvellous and a must-watch for those who crave for golden oldies...
By now, thanks to the distorted tale from the Vidhu Vinod Chopra stable, everyone roughly knows the story of Parineeta. But to set matters straight, here's what it is in actuality. Shekhar (Soumitra Chatterjee) is the younger son of the rich Nabin Roy (Kamal Mitra). He is adored by his mother, played by Chhaya Devi. He has tutored Lalita (Moushumi Chatterjee), their poor neighbour, from a very young age. So, even without their own realisation, the two have developed very complicated feelings for each other. Shekhar feels he has a right to order Lalita around. And, Lalita, the naive teenager, feels that she owes every explanation to Shekhar. What the two do not gauge instantly is that the two are heavily in love with each other. The catalyst here is Girin (Samit Bhanja), the sudden presence of whom in Lalita's life makes Shekhar envious. He cannot stand Lalita being close to Girin and at the same time throw his sentiments around while telling her to do whatever she wants. The sensitivity of the emotions is so beautifully depicted by Kar. It's breathtaking to see Shekhar's jealous face as he brushes Lalita aside with, "You are big enough to realise what good for you."
Soon, matters complicate as Lalita's maternal uncle Gurucharan (Bikash Ray) returns the loan that he had taken from Nabin Roy, much to the ire of the latter. Nabin babu was looking forward to confiscating Gurucharan's ancestral house that was mortgaged in return of the loan. Shekhar also does not take it lightly that Girin was the one who gave all the money for the repayment of the loan. Lalita is tormented amidst all these ego battles, as she slowly realises that her relation with Shekhar is jeopardised due to her unintentional proximity with Girin. The rest of the story is as all of us know...
The beauty of this 1969 magical movie is the truth and simplicity in execution. The clothes, set, performance, everything is so easy to believe. The acting is subtle and the rituals remind one of the Bengal of yore. Like, Annakali spends most of her play time getting her dolls married. It is on of one such occasion that Lalita accidentally garlands Shekhar. The scene is beautiful. The dialogues are ethereal. The union of these two young souls is sublime (a world different from the physicality harped upon in Pradeep Sarkar's work).

Every character is well-etched in the film and everyone acts immaculately. The degree of subtlety and perfection really stunned me. For, just concentrate on Shekhar's character here. Soumitra is beyond perfection. He is serious, sober and very, very handsome. That he is steeped in erudition shows from his behaviour. He maintains a certain amount of dignity while dealing with all kind of situations. That he takes time to realise the depth of his love for Lalita is not a surprise. After all, he has always treated her like a younger sister. But when he realises that life without her will be empty, he owns up his true feelings to Lalita on a moonlit night. He trusts Lalita with all his belongings, but at the same time it is his insecurity as a man that makes him distrust her with regards to Girin. But the moment he gauges his error in judgement he takes up the cudgels to educate everyone that Lalita is the girl who he must marry... Let me tell you my readers, a certain Saif Ali Khan can never ever match up to the finesse of Soumitra Chatterjee. Yes, not even Ashok Kumar can give him competition. You have to see this one to believe my words...  

Coming to the title character, Moushumi is the best Lalita I've seen till date. She is soft, sensitive yet extremely mature. Moushumi was terribly young in 1969 but it does not show in her performance. She has the sweetest voice and the most innocent disposition. When it comes to the display of the array of emotions credited to Lalita's persona, Moushumi is absolutely fantastic. Lalita is a 14-year-old girl, stepping into youth gradually. She is coming to terms with the laws of womanhood and of love. Her silent tears will melt you. Note the scene where she runs to her room after suddenly garlanding Shekhar. Arati Mukherjee's Laajey ranga holo (the music by Hemanta Kumar is good) is playing in the background. Taken aback by her own actions, Lalita slowly realises the gravity of what she has just done. A faint smile escapes lips and her eyes light up. She knows now that she is Shekhar's parineeta. She is happy in her heart. And, we are happy that we get to see this brilliant metamorphosis of a young girl to a beautiful woman...