Love knows no religion, caste, creed or barrier. The story of Puti and Madhu in Kaushik Ganguly’s Nagarkirtan treads the very beaten path. Two individuals cross path, meet often and fall in love. The boy's family is disapproving of the match and the two try to escape to a place, where they can live happily ever after.
What makes it off beat is the fact that the two people in love are men. Parimal aka Pari, lovingly called Puti by her lover Madhu -- a flautist from Nabadwip, who works as a delivery boy at a small Chinese eatery in Kolkata – is a 19-year-old woman trapped in a man’s body.
The film deftly moves in and out from the past and tells a simple love story in the most lucid manner. Rebuked by parents for liking things girlie, and jilted by a private teacher, who marries Parimal’s sister instead, the boy from an overgrown village, Bagnan, escapes into the world of eunuchs in Kolkata to find solace and seek identity.
The transformation from Parimal to Pari has been so sensitively executed that not for a while would you feel uneasy watching her on screen. Neither would you feel uncomfortable watching Puti and Madhu in bed.
Riddhi Sen, who got the National Award for playing Puti last year, has not only internalised Puti’s gait, moves, looks and mannerisms, but has also made us smile, sing, laugh and cry with the character all the way, till the end. Puti’s yearning for love, happiness at being wanted, the coy look when she opens the door for her lover, the way she walks, talks, eats or behaves, everything will make you feel for the character.
It’s hard not to empathise with Puti, when she admires Madhu’s sister-in-law’s (played by Bidipta Chakraborty) curves and yearns desperately for a female body. In her journey, she had the silent and steady presence of her lover, Madhu played by Ritwik Chakraborty, who till the last scene, remained in search of his sexual identity.
Despite his deep love for Puti, Madhu was ill-at-ease with how Puti really looked and insisted on never taking off that wig till she grows her own long hair. Shorn of any mannerism or make-up to support his act, Ritwik bowled us over with his heart-wrenching act. The climax which ends with Ritwik, will surely leave a lump in your throat for a long time after you have left the theatre.
There are a few moments that needed improvement. The scenes with real-life transgender Manabi Banerjee (who happens to be the country’s first transgender to be appointed a college principal), were unnecessary and rudely interrupted the romantic pace of the movie.
The scenes depicting Puti’s childhood where his father rebukes him for his rather girlie ways appeared realistic but hackneyed.
Though the filmmaker had said it’s a love story of a eunuch and a man, Puti is essentially not a eunuch. The portrayal of eunuchs begging at traffic signals was avoidable.
But in its totality, Nagarkirtan is a must watch for anyone who has a taste for relationship tales. It’s moving and powerful.