Underplayed Gems

Rajnigandha (1974)

Rajnigandha poster
Original title
रजनीगन्धा
Directed by
Basu Chatterjee
Genre
romantic comedy
Country
India
Runtime
1h 50m
Rating
5.9 of 10 from 16 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A woman reconsiders her upcoming marriage and her feelings for an old flame when she meets him again in a city. The film quietly follows her everyday choices and small emotional shifts.

gentlenostalgicgroundedtenderintrospectivewryunderstatedromantic

What happens

Rajnigandha (transl. Tuberose) is a 1974 Hindi film directed by Basu Chatterjee. It is based on the short story "Yehi Sach Hai" by noted Hindi writer Mannu Bhandari. The movie starred Amol Palekar, Vidya Sinha and Dinesh Thakur in the lead. Rajnigandha went on to win the Best Picture, the Popular Award and the Critics Award at the Filmfare Awards in 1975. It was considered to have a realistic outlook of urban middle class on cinema in 1974, an era when potboilers were ruling Bollywood, a genre which was later called the Middle Cinema. The film was the first screen role of Vidya Sinha and first Hindi film of Amol Palekar, both of whom went on to work with Basu Chatterjee in many films. Rajnigandha was remade into Bengali in 2012 as Hothat Shedin. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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