''Shubho Mahurat'' is a 2003 Indian Bengali

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

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 is based on

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

's 1962

Miss Marple Miss Jane Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Miss Marple lives in the village of St Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterised as an elderly spinster, she is one ...

detective novel '' The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side''. Its

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

includes

Sharmila Tagore Sharmila Tagore (; born 8 December 1944) also known by her married name Begum Ayesha Sultana, is an Indian actress primarily known for her work in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali films. Widely recognized as one of the gre ...

Rakhee Gulzar Raakhee Gulzar ( Majumdar) (; born 15 August 1947), professionally known as Raakhee, is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi and Bengali films. One of the leading and most popular actresses of the 1970s and early 1980s, Raakhee is a ...

Nandita Das Nandita Das (born 7 November 1969) is an Indian actress and director. She has acted in over 40 feature films in ten different languages. Das appeared in the films ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth'' (1998), '' Bawandar'' (2000), '' Kannathil Muthamittal' ...

Tota Roy Chowdhury Tota Roy Chowdhury is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Bengali and Hindi cinema. He is also known for his versatile acting performances, fitness, martial arts and dance moves. His notable roles include Feluda in the Hoichoi web series ...

Anindya Chatterjee Anindya Chatterjee is an Indian people, Indian Bengalis, Bengali film director, music director, singer, lyricist, actor and Film producer, producer based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He is the singer-lyricist of Bengali band Chandrabindoo (b ...

Moumita Gupta Moumita Gupta is a Bengali film and television actress. Works Films * '' Ebong Kiriti'' (2017) * ''Bhroon'' (Unreleased) * ''Mone Pore Aajo Seidin'' (2011) * ''Bhumiputra'' (2006) * ''Je Jon Thake Majhkhane'' (2006) * ''Nagardola'' (2005 ...

and Rajesh Sharma. It won two

National Film awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

, those of Best Feature film in Bengali and Best Supporting Actress for Rakhee.

Plot

The phrase "''Shubho Mahurat''" (

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

: শুভ মহরৎ) is associated with the beginning of shooting for a feature film. The first shot is marked by a grand reception. An NRI producer and former leading actress, Padmini Chowdhury (

), has returned to India to invest in a film. Her second husband Sambit Roy ( Sumanta Mukherjee), an out-of-work director, is assigned to direct. Padmini insists on casting a retired actress, Kakoli Sengupta ( Kalyani Mandal), in a prominent role. Covering the event are a journalist for a local magazine, Mallika Sen (

), and a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

photographer, Shubhankar Chowdhury (

). The production team also includes

makeup artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions inc ...

Kalpana Sengupta (

) and camera assistant Sunil Mehra ( Rajesh Sharma). At the reception, Kakoli feels unwell and leaves early. She takes Mallika home with her after agreeing to do an interview. At her house, however, Kakoli's condition deteriorates until she collapses and dies. Learning from her husband that she was a

drug addict Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

, police suspect an overdose, but the

autopsy An autopsy (also referred to as post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of deat ...

reveals

strychnine Strychnine (, , American English, US chiefly ) is a highly toxicity, toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, ...

poisoning. Investigating officer Arindam Chatterjee (

) initially suspects the husband, who is in an

extramarital affair An affair is a relationship typically between two people, one or both of whom are either married or in a long-term monogamous or emotionally-exclusive relationship with someone else. The affair can be solely sexual, solely physical or solely em ...

, but the poison is found to have entered her system while she was at the reception event. Mallika reveals that Kakoli only had a glass of

soft drink A soft drink (see #Terminology, § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) Carbonated water, carbonated, and typically including added Sweetness, sweetener. Flavors used to be Natural flav ...

at the party, and the drink was actually meant for Padmini, meaning that she was the real target. Mallika discusses all this with her paternal aunt, Ranga Pishima (

), who conjectures that another murder might soon follow. Meanwhile, a mutual attraction develops between both Mallika-Arindam and Mallika-Shubhankar. Pishima discovers that Shubhankar is actually related to Padmini: his uncle was Padmini's first husband, and she doted on Shubhankar when he was a child. Kalpana tells Padmini about her relationship with Sunil, who is married, and how Sunil had refused to pay for the treatment of Kalpana's daughter. Padmini promises to help her, and tells her about her own son, who died aged 16 from a

congenital disorder A birth defect is an abnormal condition that is present at childbirth, birth, regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disability, disabilities that may be physical disability, physical, intellectual disability, intellectual, or dev ...

. Kalpana then goes to Sunil's, is seen leaving after having some soft drink, and is later reported dead. Sunil is arrested. Pishima listens to the recordings of Mallika's interview with Kakoli, questions Shubhankar further about Padmini, then asks Mallika to call up the director of Kakoli and Padmini's last film together. She then places an anonymous piece in her niece's magazine, which is about whether infections during pregnancy can harm the unborn child, in the edition which is to carry Padmini's interview with Mallika. A copy is sent to Padmini with the page highlighted. This has the desired effect as Padmini rushes to Pishima and Mallika's home to enquire about the piece, and Pishima narrates to her how she has solved the mystery. During their last film together, Padmini was pregnant and Kakoli had a

contagious disease A contagious disease is an infectious disease that can be spread rapidly in several ways, including direct contact, indirect contact, and droplet contact. These diseases are caused by organisms such as parasites, bacteria, fungi, and viruses. ...

, which she spread to her co-actress. This infection was transmitted to the unborn child, which would later lead to his death. Padmini poisoned Kakoli in revenge, but was seen by Kalpana, who tried to blackmail her and was silenced in turn. Pishima tells Padmini that she is her fan and her story is safe with her. Padmini returns home and is later found to have committed suicide. As per her last promise, she sends Pishima an

autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Intern ...

and a long reply to her fan mail, in which she also promises to support the treatment of Kalpana's daughter. Conflicted between Arindam and him, Mallika asks Shubhankar if it is possible to love two people at once. Shubhankar replies that Padmini had once said the same thing before she left his uncle for Sambit. He also says that Padmini proved it herself that this was impossible: she had completely forgotten about Shubhankar after her son was born, to the point that she could not recognise him at the reception.

Cast

as Padmini 'Ranu' Chowdhury *

Raakhee Raakhee Gulzar ( Majumdar) (; born 15 August 1947), professionally known as Raakhee, is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi and Bengali films. One of the leading and most popular actresses of the 1970s and early 1980s, Raakhee is a ...

as Ranga Pishima (Character based on

) *

as Mallika 'Mili' Sen *

as Arindam Chatterjee, IPS * Sumanta Mukherjee as Sambit Roy * Kalyani Mandal as Kakoli Sengupta * Rajesh Sharma as Sunil Mehra *

Aparajita Adhya Aparajita Adhya (born ) is an Indian actress who works primarily in the Bengali film and television industry.She achieved popularity after starring in the film Praktan. She has been an actress for many years. In 1997 she met her husband, Atanu ...

as Pramila Mehra, Sunil's wife *

as Kalpana Sengupta *

as Shubhankar 'Jojo' Chowdhury *

Abhijit Guha Abhijit Guha may refer to: * Abhijit Guha (anthropologist), Indian anthropologist * Abhijit Guha (general), Indian Army general * Abhijit Guha (director), Indian film director, actor and writer {{hndis, Guha, Abhijit ...

(special appearance) *

Goutam Ghose Goutam Ghose (also spelled Gautam Ghosh; born 24 July 1950) is an Indian film director, actor, music director and cinematographer who works primarily in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema. He is the only Indian to have received the "Vittorio ...

(special appearance) *

Soumitra Chattopadhyay Soumitra Chatterjee (also spelt as Chattopadhyay; ; 19 January 193515 November 2020) was an Indian film actor, play-director, playwright, writer, thespian and poet. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history ...

(special appearance) * Subhendu Chattopadhyay (special appearance) *

Madhabi Mukherjee Madhabi Chakraborty (née Mukherjee) is an Indian actress. Considered to be one of the greatest actresses of Bengali cinema, she has acted in some of the most critically acclaimed films in Bengali cinema. She won the National Film Award for B ...

(special appearance)

Awards

* 2003 –

National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role is an honour presented annually at India's National Film Awards ceremony by the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), an organisation set up by the Indian Ministry ...

for

Rakhee Rakhi or Rakhee may refer to: Film and television * ''Rakhi'' (1949 film), a Hindi film of 1949 * ''Rakhi'' (1962 film), an Indian Hindi-language drama directed by A. Bhimsingh * ''Rakhi'' (2006 film), an Indian Telugu-language film directed by ...

* 2003 –

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali The National Film Award for Best Bengali Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Ka ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Bengali-language Indian films Indian detective films 2003 crime drama films Films based on Miss Marple books 2003 films Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress National Film Award–winning performance Films directed by Rituparno Ghosh Best Bengali Feature Film National Film Award winners 2000s Bengali-language films Indian crime drama films