Bioscope stands for a hand driven film projector, whereas wala is a Hindi word for owner or person. When we mix them both, it gives way to a someone who own or runs a bioscope.
Based on the short story of Rabindranath Tagore’s “Kabuliwala”, Bioscopewala is a contemporary rendition of the same but with essential changes to the backdrop of Kabuliwalah’s life and social milieu of the story.
Directed by Deb Medhekar, who puts his strong foot into cinema from advertisements through this film, Bioscopewala carries the overall essence of thoughtful cinema. It isn’t only the story of a foreigner and a small child, but the entire human relationships and complex emotions. By briefly portraying the Afghanistan’s terror state, it takes the story of Kolkata’s (Calcutta) meager locality and goes to the distant places where people face similar problems in life.
Review
Bioscopewala Poster
Unlike Rehmun, a dry fruits seller from Kabuliwala, Rehmat Khan in Bioscopewala travel places with his hand-made bioscope projector showcasing clips of Hindi films to eager children and pedestrians. The original story dates back to 1892 when most of Indian subcontinent was still a part of British colony and Kabuliwalah was an economic migrant in India.
Rehmat Khan belongs to Hazara community of Shia Muslims in modern day Afghanistan. After facing constant oppression from major Sunni tribes and Wahabi militants, Rehmat migrates to Kolkata with two Pashtun women. Here he finds his new life as a Bioscopewala. He rejoices in sharing his cinematic experience with small children. Here he befriends Minnie, a Bengali girl of same age as his daughter killed by the militants back in Afghanistan. He sees his own daughter in her.
The story comprises the timeline from 90s till present. Minnie and Kolkata sees much upheaval in 25 years, however, the time is stuck for Rehmat when he is jailed for 20+ years. When he’s finally released, he finds solace in Minnie’s compassion however he cannot make of anything due to his deteriorating health and Alzheimer.
The film covers varied topics, such as; human relationship, communal violence and exodus, however, the core theme revolves around the expulsion of complex emotions, the understanding and concern for a fellow human being and lack of intrinsic value in relations. Director Deb Medhakar began where Tagore left off. He offers insight into the life of a migrant and what causes a person to change over the time. The story isn’t only of Kolkata or Afghanistan but the entire human settlements around the world.
Rafey Mehmood’s brilliant cinematography and Sandesh Sandhilya’s relevant background score lights up the entire film. It runs for a full 91 minutes, however, you do not get bored even for a bit, unless you’re looking for dance numbers or actions.
Synopsis
The film begins with Robi Basu (Adil Hussain) a famous photographer and middle-aged man, traveling to Afghanistan. Due to uneventful circumstances, the plane crashes killing the entire crew and passengers. Minnie (Geetanjali Thapa), Robi’s daughter, comes to know about it and rushes to the airport to find his whereabouts. After he’s pronounced dead, Minnie walks back home to find his Kaku, a housemaid, in grief.
In a state of hullabaloo, Minnie finds it difficult to cope with all the legal procedures. To her misfortune, a stranger lands up in her house; a 70 year old Rehmat Khan (Danny Denzongpa), a freed convict and an Alzheimer patient. She finds out that Robi had secured his custody upon his release from the prison, however, after his untimely death, Minnie has to deal with it. After some time, she recalls that the man is the same person she used to adore in her childhood, Bioscopewala. She tries to find out more about him, however, due to lack of information she isn’t able to find anything important. With the help of Kaku, she locates people from the life of Rehmat Khan and tries solving the mystery of his past life.
Alike her, Rehmat has a daughter back home, whom he hasn’t met for ages. Minnie tries consolidating his remainder life by traveling to Afghanistan and finding her whereabouts, however, in the process she unravels the past of Rehmat Khan’s life. His daughter was brutally killed by the hands of militants and his small home-run cinema burned down to ashes. Upon this, she knows Rehmat migrated to India to find peace and his bleak future.
When she finally returns back home, she finds Rehmat in a state of delusion from Alzheimer and old age. She tries convincing him that she found his daughter. In reminiscence of his early life in India, he sees his daughter in present day Minnie again and rejoices.
Bioscopewala (2018), Adapted from “Kabuliwala”
Directed by Deb Medhakar, Written by Sunil Doshi and Deb Medhakar, Produced by Sunil Doshi, Starring: Danny Denzongpa, Geetanjali Thapa, Adil Hussain and Tisca Chopra
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