Rabindranath Tagore

`Kabuliwala`- the timeless tale of Rahmat is a story of a middle-aged Afghan man, whose heart overflows with fatherly love for a little girl-Mini, in the bustling city of Kolkata set in the year of 1965.The film captures the period that encapsulates the essence of heartwarming connections and the deep significance of love that knows no boundaries, transcending both borders and cultures.

This film revolves around the era of 1947 and explores the consequences of partition of India. Delving into the grim history of the partition, Mukherjee`s movie Rajkahini is weaved around a border between the two nations that runs through a brothel housing eleven women.

A group of young intellectuals and revolutionaries led by the brilliant young Indranath, a villainous party leader are fighting for independence from the colonial system. Ela, the group`s emancipated muse, feminist and teacher revolted first against her mothers orthodoxy, then against her aunt and finally against the larger politics, where she does not hesitate to deploy her physicality. The poet Attindra, Ela`s romantic love, who, like her doubts the cruelty of revolutionary acts sanctioned by Indranath`s ideals.

Binodini is a young widow who lives with a woman and her son, Mahendra, who had once refused to marry her. Their lives are thrown into disarray when there is deceit and adultery between Binodini, Mahendra, his wife and his friend. The book, Binodini, is the story of a young woman, who is left to her own devices when her sickly husband dies soon after they are married. She returns to her village and lives there for a couple of months until she sees one of her relations passing by there on her way to somewhere else. Binodini hails the woman and the two soon agree that it would be best if Binodini came to live with the woman and her son, Mahendra (who, by the way, was one of the first to see Binodini's photo when she was unwed and up for grabs yet refused her on account of his being "unready for marriage"). Now, when the two arrive the woman's son and his new bride are in the throes of passion, constantly sneaking off to be alone together; this infatuation does not last long, however, when Mahendra begins to see that his wife's friend, Binodini, is more his type. The story details the lives of these three and Mahendra's best friend as they deal with certain issues as distrust, adultery, lies, and numerous fallings-out between them. The movie correctly depicts what Tagore so skillfully wrote and is a sad, stirring tale of the deceit and sorrow that come from being unsatisfied and unhappy. —gavin (gunmasterM@hotmail.com) Mahendra is a doctor circa British rule in India, who lives a comfortable life in a city in Bengal (India). He is friendly with a young man, a bachelor named Behari. Both Mahendra and Behari are of marriage age, and do get a lot of proposals. One day they receive a proposal of a young woman named Binodini along with a photograph. Neither of them shows any interest nor even take a look at the photograph. They get news that Binodini has got married. Shortly thereafter, they receive another proposal without a photograph, for a young woman named Ashalata. Behari is asked to check her out for Mahendra - he ends up consenting to marry her, but subsequently let's Mahendra be the groom. A few months later Ashalata gets pregnant, and the family gets the news that Binodini has been widowed only after a year's marriage. Then things get complicated when Ashalata befriends Binodini - and both Mahendra and Behari get attracted to her - so much so that Mahendra is considering separating from his bride - and Behari separating from his bachelorhood - but both in quandary over the social taboo of marrying a widow - and of the present agitation aimed against the British to quit India. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

1) Koni is a young girl from a poor family; Khsitish Sinha is an experienced swimming coach. One day Khsitish sees Koni swimming and thinks she can be an excellent swimmer. Koni does not have the money to hire a coach. Khsitish decides to coach her for free but because his family is also not rich, he adopts her and puts her to work in a tailor shop. After struggling to learn how to properly swim competitively, Koni makes it onto the Bengal national swimming team. She is not selected to compete in any events until a team member is injured. Koni takes first place in the swimming competition, Kony is a great inspiration for children and adults 2) I opine that this book is the best Indian sports novel. The sports journalist - Moti Nandi has creatively brought up the fact of hidden talent. There are many people out there who in spite of having a talent can't excel in their domain due to lack of economy and resources. The main themes of this book revolves around love for sports, hard work, dedication and the role of a teacher in the course of a student's success. Koni with all her power and hard work fights against all the obstacles and made the whole of Bengal proud whereas the character of Khitish Singha as her trainer showed the role of a perfect teacher 3) The inspiring story of Hima Das led us to Koni, Bengali writer Moti Nandy's heartwarming tale of a young girl who fights social prejudices and material challenges to emerge as a champion swimmer------The reed-thin teenager is spotted first during her skirmishes in the Ganges by coach Sinha who again bumps into her during a non-stop walking contest she entered to earn money for her family. The temperamental coach, who has been forced out of his club of three decades, is looking for a charge he can shape into a future champion. Thus starts the unlikely association between an unwilling but stubborn swimmer and an indomitable coach who is convinced of the potential of the starving girl he bullies into learning the proper technique of swimming. In many ways, Koni is a story that will inspire even the most cynical of us as the underdog battles poverty and the web of petty politics that are the bane of sports bodies. Mukherjee keeps the tale moving in a simple narrative that captures well the frustration of defeat as well as the subdued elation of winning. Having been denied the chance to swim for her state, abused by team mates and summarily left to thaw on the stands at a national meet, Koni's fight back to glory is a feel-good "grit and determination always wins" tale, that Nandy is known for scripting. The book will appeal to a teenage audience with its easy language and inspiring story of a girl who refused to make poverty an excuse to achieve her potential. -------THANK YOU------- -SB

A landowner's wife emerges from seclusion through education, defying social norms. Her newfound freedom leads to political awakening when her husband's old friend brings revolutionary ideas to their door. When the movie opens, a woman is recalling the events that molded her perspective on the world. Years ago, her husband, a wealthy Western-educated landowner, challenged tradition by providing her with schooling, and inviting her out of the seclusion in which married women were kept, to the consternation of more conservative relatives. Meeting her husband's visiting friend from college, a leader of an economic rebellion against the British, she takes up his political cause, despite her husbands warnings. As the story progresses, the relationship between the woman and the visitor becomes more than platonic, and the political battles, pitting rich against poor and Hindu against Moslem, turn out not to be quite as simple as she had first thought. —Anonymous

Anoop and Minoo get married, but she remains childish even after moving to her in-law`s house. Her carefree behavior forms a rift between them that they may not overcome.

Shankar, an author working at one of the most reputed hotels of Kolkata, meets a wide array of people who go through various tragedies.

A tax collector is amused after seeing an ancient fort and decides to stay there. He falls in love with a woman but is shocked to learn that the woman is a spirit.

Meghe Dhaka Tara is a 2013, Bengali movie, directed and written by Kamaleswar Mukherjee. The movie was shot in black and white, except the last scene, which was in colour. The movie follows a struggling artist, Nilkantha, who suffers from depression.

A selfless young woman (Supriya Choudhury) sacrifices her own happiness for her unappreciative family. "Meghe Dhaka Tara" tells the tragic story of the beautiful daughter of a middle-class refugee family from East Pakistan, living in the outskirts of Calcutta under modest circumstances. Neeta sacrifices everything for her family, including her personal happiness, her money, and her health, while her achievements are hardly ever recognized by the people around her. —meitschi