Charulata (Spell as Cārulatā; lit. 'The Lonely Wife') is a 1964 Indian drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray. Based upon the novel Nastanirh by Rabindranath Tagore, it stars Soumitra Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee and Sailen Mukherjee. The film is considered one of the finest works of Ray.
Both the first and the last scenes are critically acclaimed. The first scene, with almost no dialogues shows Charu's loneliness and how she looks at the outside world through the binoculars. In the last scene when Charu and her husband are about to come closer and hold their hands, the screen freezes. This has been described as a beautiful use of freeze frame in cinema.
Charulata is based on the story "Nastanirh (the Broken Nest)" by Rabindranath Tagore, set in Calcutta in the late 19th century. The Bengali Renaissance is at its peak, and India is under British rule. The film revolves around Charulata (Madhabi Mukherjee), the intelligent and beautiful wife of Bhupati (Sailen Mukherjee). He edits and publishes a political newspaper. Bhupati is an upper-class Bengali intellectual with a keen interest in politics and the freedom movement.
Charu is interested in the arts, literature and poetry. Although Bhupati loves his wife, he has no time for her. She has little to do in the house run by a fleet of servants. Sensing her boredom, Bhupati invites Charu's elder brother Umapada and his wife Manda to live with them. Umapada helps in running the magazine and the printing press.
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