Why Paoli Dam's Chhaad makes a relevant watch

Filmmaker Indrani Chakrabarti's Chhaad is a film that voices human entrapment within societal norms. Starring Paoli Dam, Rahul Arunodoy Banerjee, Rajnandini Paul, Anuradha Roy, and others, Chhaad is Indrani's first debut feature film. We watched it and it made us think. Here's why you should watch it too.

Why you need you watch Chhaad

The symbolism

The filmmaker has used symbols in the film, quite prominently, that can be be easily fathomed by the audience. The film revolves around chhaad or terrace as the symbol of independence, artistic freedom, nurturing and going back to childhood. And Paoli Dam has rightly said in an interview, it is not about women empowerment but of human empowerment. Most of our lives fall into a cyclical pattern that goes on until it breaks us or we find a reason to break away from it. To Paoli's Mitra Roy, the terrace is the reason to break away from that mundane cycle, which when went missing for days, broke her confidence, resilience, and stunted her creativity. There were also three more recurrent symbols that we could notice. The locked door, which happened to be the symbol of the restrain that society often brings in the way of a person's growth, the big windows as a doorway to nostalgia and the river that, as always, symbolises the ebb and flow of life.

The relationships

The relationships shown in the film explore very regular ones, which you might have seen in your life or in your periphery. The relationship between the husband-wife, or that of the in-laws with Mitra, is pretty common. It is nothing out-of-box and that is what makes the film even more relatable. What we find noticeable is the bond Mitra has with her younger sister-in-law Mukul. She's more like a sister to Mitra, than the latter's own sister Chitra, who doesn't even consider her elder sister a part of her family, since she's married. While it may be common among families, it's rarely spoken about in films. So, this breaks the stereotype that younger sisters-in-law are always vile, complaining and jealous about their boudi (elder brother's wife). Also, how Mitra draws a line to Ranojoy Bishnu's character, after submitting the story, also shows no matter how people think, some relationships are just meant to be professional.

The element of nostalgia

The story, probably set in summers 2017 has an element of nostalgia, with spending afternoons on the terrace, sitting by the windows and listening to the birds cooing, and spotting unknown little blue birds, kids flying kites, and of course summer vacations.

Paoli Dam as Mitra

Paoli Dam's Mitra is a reflection of almost every other woman we see around in the society. A middle-class, educated young woman, who teaches in a nearby primary school, and hones her creative skills in her free time is quite a common picture. Probably she isn't an ideal daughter-in-law that her mother-in-law expects her to be, but Mitra doesn't leave her house at the drop of a hat either. She tries to though, but returns when she realises that she's just a guest at her paternal house. She gets angry, frustrated, but never really talks back or is disrespectful to anyone. Paoli as Mitra is on point. She also kind of reminded us of Sreela, her character in Pratim D. Gupta's Maacher Jhol. Simple, but extremely meaningful.

Chhaad currently running at the theatres.

Timings: Nandan 3.40 pm | INOX South City 6.15 pm