Indubala Bhater Hotel Review: Indubala carefully nurtures all those messy, scattered memories in herself. There is a love for cooking taught by Thamma, but more than that, Indu’s mind is tied to memories. After losing the close people, Indubala comes to Chenu Mittir Lane and lives with Smriti.
The Kalapota village of Khulna, the sweet smell of Padmapar, the rain-drenched Katchuban, the mango orchards, and the childhood love of Indubala who is in harmony with him. Indubala, who was loved by her parents, left the country after her marriage, holding her husband’s hand and came to a two-storey house in Chenu Mittir Lane, Kolkata. He brought with him only a mountain of memories. ‘Indu’ was greeted with insults at the in-laws’ home. Nah, Swami Ratanlal Mallik was not there either. Flying like a bird in the open air, Indubala’s life changed in a flash. Indubala’s fight started with the unhappy marriage, with only Lachmi the fishmonger on her side. At a young age, Indubala took control of her husband’s life, raised two children and ‘opened Indubala Rice Hotel’. But that path was also shown by Lachmi-e.
Gradually, the ‘Indubala Bhatar Hotel’ on Chenu Mittir Lane grew, and the memory of Indubala Mallick merged with the menu of the hotel. Indubala carefully nurtures all those messy, scattered memories in herself. There is love for cooking taught by Thamma, but more than that, ‘Indu”s mind is more tied to memories. In a difficult life, slowly losing the people close to her, she came to Chenu Mitti’s lane and started a family with Smriti. He pushed away his children by loving loneliness. He made a little Kalapota village in that house through memory lane. Director Devalaya Bhattacharya has presented the story of the first season of ‘Indubala Bhatar Hotel’ based on the memories of Indubala. The memory of Indubala’s struggle for life, the loss of loved ones wets his lonely eyes. Tears rolled down from the corners of Indubala’s eyes as he sighed. Watching the series, I could not notice exactly when I entered the lane of Indubala’s life. Indubala, a teenager, middle-aged and old woman, tells her story at three levels in life. However, the story did not stumble anywhere. It’s progressing nicely. Rather, it seems that everything is happening in front of the eyes. The most touching scene is the pain of not being able to return to the country, tying one page of the passport to the chest and burning it in fire. Indubala is insulted by her mother-in-law, repeatedly assaulted by her mother-in-law as ‘Ryuuji’, and tortured by her husband Ratanlal after stepping into her in-laws’ home.
There is still quite a bit of storytelling left though. Indubala still has some more struggles and hardships ahead of him. Viewers will have to wait a bit more till March 24 to know that story. However, in the first season, this series based on the novel written by Kallol Lahiri, director Devalaya Bhattacharya succeeded in reaching the hearts of the audience. And once again Subhasree Gangopadhyay recognized her caste as an actress with ‘Indubala’, the make-up of Somnath Kundu was suitable. However, at the beginning of the series, the makeup of Subhasree’s face was caught somewhere in the close shot of the camera. Of course it didn’t seem that way in later parts. Especially her hand makeup is commendable. Subhasree’s voice changed with age, there was no doubt about seeing her as an old woman walking anywhere. In short, excellent acting. Even in old age, ‘Indubala’ Shubasree felt more perfect. But not only Subhasree, Parijat Chowdhury is very talented in acting as the teenager Indubala. His Padmapar Bengali speaking, accent was never out of place. Director Devalaya succeeded in combining the teenage and mature Indubala beautifully. Sneha Chatterjee also demanded praise. Also the performances of Prateek Dutta, Mithu Chakraborty, Angana Roy, Devpratim Dasgupta are mind blowing. Cinematographer Ramyadeep deserves huge praise. His camerawork makes the story come alive more and more. The resourceful dialogues of the series deserve praise. Because, without proper editing, it is not possible to unfold the story smoothly. If there is a disturbance in it, the director also has to stumble. But in this case it did not happen.
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Finally the song of ‘Indubala Bhatar Hotel’ series touches the heart. Eamon’s singing of ‘Pakhide Smriti’ succeeds in heightening the audience’s emotions as the story unfolds. The tune of the old days played by the flute on the radio hooked the audience with the series right from the start. Waiting for a second season for such an emotional story, even if everything is going well, seems like a let down. However, there is no way, to know the rest, to join the crowd of memories again, we have to wait until March 2.
Watch Season one on HOICHOI
