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Bokul

by Reema Borah

09.06.2018

21:00

India, 2015
Assamese with English subtitles

Raktim comes back to his town after five years to attend his sister’s wedding and is mildly struck by the few changes that have happened here during his absence. Though everything looks the same at the outset, major changes seem to have happened from within that seem to overawe the fabric of the society and alter Raktim’s perceptions of his homeland forever. In this journey, he comes across three people – all coincidentally named ‘Bokul’ – and observes the silent turmoil that pulls their lives apart. He initially bonds with the elderly fisherman Bokul, who looks jovial and content despite the protracted disappearance of his only son, then comes across a woman named Bokul who is scorned by the society, but bravely handles all the criticism and manages two professions to make a living and take care of her only daughter, and finally searches for a young man named Bokul, whose father was Raktim’s music teacher when he was young.
Raktim’s gradual journey opens up various aspects of the society to him, aspects that he was not aware of till now. He also realizes that though this journey of his has created a new awakening for him, other people (like his family) are still blissfully unaware of the intolerance and violence that is brewing within the society. For Raktim, the town also acts as a collage of old memories, of deep-rooted friendships, adolescent love and a lost fragrance. But everytime he dissolves himself in the recollections of his past life – something or the other wakes him up, often in the form of a rude jolt.
Raktim’s stay also coincides with festivities and celebrations – specially, the harvest festival that eclipses the lives of all the people of his state. But despite the fervour and the festivities, a certain hollowness prevails – and Raktim decides to find the young Bokul, whose father used to teach him music, someone who he has only heard of and never seen clearly. Though the search proves elusive for Raktim, he continues with it; while the inner tension and the violence of the society takes a monstrous shape putting all the Bokuls at crossroads.
Will Raktim be able to find the young man he is looking for? Will the fisherman Bokul and the single mother be able to allay their own demons? Or will Raktim remain just another silent spectator as the society transforms and disintegrates itself in an inevitable process? And finally, will the old fragrance still haunt him?
(Text: Bokul)

Director | Reema Borah
Producer | Sandeep Patil
Production Company | All Mitra Talkies