''Bariwali'' (''LandLady'') is a

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

film released in 2000 directed by

Rituparno Ghosh Rituparno Ghosh (; 31 August 1963 – 30 May 2013) was an Indian film director, actor, writer and lyricist. After pursuing a degree in economics, he started his career as a creative artist at an advertising agency. He received recognition for h ...

. The film features

Kirron Kher Kirron Anupam Kher (also Kiran ''Indian Express'', 12 May 2002. or, Kiron, born 14 June 1952) is an Indian politician, actress, television personality, singer, and entertainment producer. She is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and in Ma ...

, Roopa Ganguly, and

Chiranjeet Chakraborty Deepak Chakraborty (born 2 November 1950), known professionally as Chiranjeet Chakraborty, is an Indian actor and director in the Bengali film industry located in Kolkata, West Bengal. He is the son of renowned cartoonist Shaila Chakraborty. ...

Synopsis

The film is a quiet drama about a lonely, sad, unfortunate middle-aged woman. Banalata ( Kiron Kher) has lived a solitary existence since her husband-to-be died the night before their wedding from a snake bite. Never having quite gotten over the tragedy, she rarely ventures out and is clearly very lonely. This changes when she agrees to allow a film production unit to shoot in a wing in her sprawling estate. Suddenly her house is filled with movie stars and glamorous people, including the beautiful actress Sudeshna (Roopa Ganguly) and charming director Deepankar (

). Though she knows that not only is Deepankar married but that his former lover Sudeshna still holds a torch for him, the lonely woman finds herself drawn to the director. He is exactly the sort of worldly character whom she has always longed to meet. The rakish man flirts back and even persuades Banalata to appear in a

bit part In acting, a bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British televisio ...

in the movie. Yet once the film crew decamps, things at the estate return to the same grinding tedium as before, though the woman feels her isolation all the more acutely. The letters that Banalata writes to Deepankar go unanswered, and her bit part in the movie ends up on the cutting-room floor.

Cast

as Banalata *

as Deepankar * Roopa Ganguly as Sudeshna Mitra * Sudipta Chakraborty as Malati * Surya Chatterjee as Prasanna * Abhishek Chatterjee as Abhijeet Chatterjee * Shiboprosad Mukherjee as Debashish * Rukkmini Ghosh

Awards

National Film Award for Best Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to an actress for the best performance in a leading role within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry. ...

for Kirron Kher * National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for Sudipta Chakraborty * Netpac Award for

(tied with

Yuji Nakae is a Japanese film director who specializes in films set in Okinawa, featuring Okinawan music, language, themes and atmosphere. He shared the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award for his debut film, '' Pineapple Tours'', which was an om ...

for ''

Nabbie's Love is a Japanese film written and directed by Yuji Nakae, released in 1999. The story follows the character of Nanako (Naomi Nishida), who quits her job in Tokyo to return home to Okinawa. The film is set on Aguni Island, where Nanako visits her g ...

'') *

Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards commonly referred as BFJA Awards, is given by The Bengal Film Journalists' Association. The BFJA is the oldest association of film critics in India, founded in 1937 to serve the developing film journalism ...

2001 – '' Best Supporting Actress'' for the film 'Bariwali' for Sudipta Chakraborty

Controversy

Rita Koiral, an Indian actress in the

Bengali language Bengali, also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Bangla (, , ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. ...

, in a 2017 TV show, claimed, she was asked to withhold to the media, the fact that she had dubbed the voice of actress

. Her contribution was not declared in the national awards nominations for the movie.

Notes

References

External links

*
Critical look at ''Bariwali'' - Sydney Film Festival
{{Rituparno Ghosh 2000 films Bengali-language Indian films Films featuring a Best Actress National Award–winning performance Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress National Film Award–winning performance Films directed by Rituparno Ghosh 2000s Bengali-language films Films about landlords