Ashani Sanket, The Distant Thunder

Ashani Sanket, the celebrated film by the legendary Satyajit Ray, is based on a novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhay by the same name. This movie is based in rural Bengal during the Bengal famine of 1943. The film shows the effect of the famine on the villagers and the silent transformation of the central characters. The famine was a man made disaster caused due to the stockpiling of rice for the army during World War II, even when the civilians were starving. 'Distant Thunder' refers to the Japanese warplanes flying over their heads. The movie depicts famine without being gloomy at all.

The characters are very finely etched and distinct from one other. The story is told in a superb fashion- the sleepy village of the simple villagers and the bewilderment of the villagers at the rising cost of rice and not able to understand the reason behind it. This is the second color film bySatyajit Ray and the scenery does full justice to the beautiful rural Bengal. On this movie he had once quipped 'poverty has its own special color'.

Gangacharan Chakravorty, essayed by Soumitra Chatterjee, comes to the village Notungaon to perform priestly duties and teach children, is shown as the regular person who puts self and family before everything else. His character is revealed in the event when he is asked to perform puja to stall cholera in a neighbouring village. He performs the puja for materialistic reasons and puts up a great show, but he smartly tells everyone to avoid drinking the river water for he knows, that, to be the real reason. He gets very irritated when Ananga, his kind wife, played byBobita, feeds the hungry old brahmin when there isn't much food in the house. But, by the end of the movie, he stands transformed when he spots the old brahmin with his dependants in the distance, coming to Gangacharan's place, and he calculates how many extra mouths he will have to feed.

I personally liked the character of the vibrant Chutki, played by Sandya Roy, the most. She personifies the tremendous love for life when she runs away with the scar faced Jado(whom she abhors) instead of facing death due to starvation. The scene when Chutki asks Ananga to pray that she gets food in hell, is extremely moving. Chutki was captivating, her turmoil was visible on the screen.

The scene which stayed with me for a long time is when the hungry Gangacharan sits down for a meal of rice and fish but stops midway thinking of his waiting wife. As well as the classic opening scene which shows Ananga in a pond and the camera focuses on her hand, which looks like a lotus in the pond, playing with the water.

The movie needless to say is a masterpiece where all the scenes are shown in great detail. This film is not meant to be rushed, it is to be viewed in leisure without distractions. My grandmother sometimes recounts the Bengal famine, when starving bengalis used to knock the gates of the well off with the cries of 'phaen dao ma' (lady, give us rice water). This movies made all those stories come alive.