Aparoopa (1982)

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Aparoopa is a 1982 Assamese film by noted film maker Jahnu Barua. Produced by NFDC, with Suhasini Muley, Girish Karnad and Sushil Goswami in lead roles, it was Barua’s first feature film. The film went on to win the National Award for the best regional film in 1982.

Cast

• Suhasini Muley —————– Aparoopa
• Biju Phukan ——————— Rana
• Sushma Seth ——————– Rana’s mother
• Sushil Goswami —————– Aparoopa’s Husband
• Girish Karnad ——————- Khanna
• Nipun Goswami —————– Rana’s friend

Crew

• Director ———–  Jahnu Barua
• Screenplay ——– Jahnu Barua, J. S. Rao
• Producer ———- Jahnu Barua
• Editor ————– Jahnu Barua
• Camera ———— Binod Pradhan
• Music ————– Bhupen Hazarika

Story

Aparoopa

Aparoopa is the wife of a rich tea estate owner in the foothills of Assam. A young woman who had to give up higher studies for getting married, she feels trapped in a golden prison of the four walls of her bungalow. The fact that her husband is always busy with the affairs of the estate doesn’t help things much.

She is shocked to know that her marriage was a union of convenience by his father to pay off a debt. She feels as if she was sold out by her family. At this point she meets Rana, her sweetheart from the college days. She is drawn to him to fulfill the gap in her life..

Commentary

Aparoopa is remarkable as far as its style and techniques are concerned. It is a subtle story set in the colonial period in one of the lush tea plantations for which Assam is famous for and takes full advantage of the beautiful outdoors.

Aparoopa has a woman as its central figure and it captures her loneliness, dreams and love with great sensitivity. There is a scene where she tells Rana about her childhood dream, that she wanted to fly. The crushing of that dream and the feeling of being entrapped in her domesticity is brought out well by Suhasini Muley who looks beautiful and plays her part with elegance. Her predicament and moment of truth forms the crux of this film. In this context, it draws a contemporary parallel to Satyajit Ray’s Charulata.

Awards

• National Film Awards (1983) – Best Regional Film

Reference

• Wikipedia – Aparoopa
• Chaosmag – Jahnu Barua
• Buzz in Town – Jahnu Barua Retrospective – Film Festival

Aparoopa On YouTube