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Synopsis: Jadunath, a labour leader in the Jethia Jute Mill, is sentenced to death for the murder of the brother of Jethia, the mill owner and another employee. Although he is innocent, he realises that his time his up, so he bequeaths his eyes to a worker who has lost his sight.
The first workman on the panel of those waiting for corneal transplants, is Chedilal and his fellow workmen want him to get him the eyes of Jadunath. At the same time, the son of Jethia has also lost his eyesight and also needs a corneal transplant. Jethia learns that a pair of eyes from a donor is available and wants them for his son.
Thus starts a sordid tale of manipulation and interference. Dr. Mukherjee the eye surgeon refuses to carry out the operation since he has learnt that the donation is conditional and demands the related papers. He is pressurised, but is unyielding. Jethia arranges another surgeon to do the operation, but suddenly learns that the eyes belong to the person who, he believes was the murderer of his brother. His mind rebels at the thought that his son will see through such eyes and he is bent on destroying them.
Meanwhile the workers have started agitating. They collect together and are confronted by armed policemen. Then, the wife of the dead leader steps forward with the blind Chedilal. As she takes the first steps towards the police cordon, other workers start to join her in small groups....
Comments:
Chokh is one of the most political films I have seen. The left leanings of the Director are obvious, but the film transcends the political message. It is a brilliant film, perhaps one of the finest ever in Bengali Cinema, ranking on par with some of the better films of Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak. It is a stark film that has no comic interludes or digressions.
There is little subtlety in the tale but, the genius of the Director lies in his realistic portrayal of each character. If Jadunath is a fiery labour leader, he is not without his ego and his faults. Jethia may be the epitome of the scheming capitalist, but he is also a loving father and a man who is not above superstition. If Dr. Mukherjee is the honest, idealistic doctor, he is also limited by his official powers and is unwilling to go beyond them. Each character is carefully drawn out, warts and all, and the film, as a result, engrosses you and becomes wholly believable.
Although Utpalendu Chakraborty acknowledges the contribution of Satyajit Ray, this is not a carbon copy of a Ray film. True the detail work matches that of Ray. The location shooting is also reminiscent, but that's where the similarity ends. This is a savagely critical film that mercilessly exposes the graft and manipulation in Government circles. It is uncompromising in its critical look at poverty and the impact of a burgeoning population. There is no lyricism like Ray, instead there is the searing anger at the injustice of society.
Utpalendu Chakraborty's use of background score is also worth noting. Nowhwere does the music ever interfere with the story, its all there in the background, helping to create the ambience. I do not like the use of colour - Utpalendu may as well have made the film in black and white, so irrelevant is the use of colour in it.
This film won the Golden Lotus for the best feature film in 1982 and the OCIC award in the Berlin film festival in 1983. It propelled Utpalendu Chakrabarty into the ranks of the brilliant young filmmakers of his generation. Sadly he made very few films after Chokh.
Tech Specifications:
General: Name of film:Chokh Year/Date of Release: 1982 Genre: Feature Film DirectorUtpalendu Chakrabarty Actors: Anil Chatterjee, Shyamanand Jalan, Om Puri, Sreela Majumdar, Asit Mukherjee, Madhabi Chakrabarty, Deepak Sarkar. Music By: Utpalendu Chakrabarty
Color: Black & White Duration: 1:41:20 Source: DVD9 Size: 667 MB Subtitles: English (.srt file provided)
Uploader's Notes: This was a very difficult film to rip. The video is dark and with very little contrast. The film is full of scratches and the conversion to DVD very poor. I have tried to clean up the video to the extent I could. Watch the movie on full screen mode to appreciate the quality of the rip.
Please use VLC Player or Media Player Classic to play this film. I have run it on Windows Media Player as well and it works, but you should have the necessary codecs installed.
Re: CHOKH.Utpalendu.Chakrabarty.X264.667MB.AC3 
Linear Mode
