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| Image: A Tale of a Naughty Girl (Manda Meyer Upakhyan) |
'Buddhadeb Dasgupta has long been considered one of the major forces in India cinema...Poetic and haunting, A Tale of a Naughty Girl doesn't just reaffirm this reputation; it underscores it in the most vivid way possible...It may well be worthy of that overused term: masterpiece.' Toronto Film Festival
The year is 1969, and while the world is waiting with baited breath to see if man walks successfully on the moon, life in a small Bengali village continues unabated. Wealthy businessman and cinema owner Badu spends his spare time obsessively watching a specially made film reel of rape scenes. He also lusts after young girls, and his gaze falls on Lati, the daughter of local prostitute, Rajani, who plans to marry her daughter off to the lecherous cinema owner. Lati, however, dreams of escaping from the village in order to get an education and she begs her schoolteacher, Nagen, to help in her quest.
Exquisitely photographed and filled with an array of colourful and often humorous supporting characters, A Tale of a Naughty Girl is a deeply felt and poignant film experience. A highlight of the Panorama section at the Berlin Film Festival this year.
Buddhadeb Dasgupta is a guest of the Melbourne International Film Festival.
Born in 1944, in Anara, India, Buddhadeb Dasgupta is a renowned Bengali poet and novelist. His feature films include Distance (1978), The Red Doors (1996) and The Wrestlers (2000).
