Kolkata: Devlina Ganguly’s Una is everything in the upcoming Bengali short film Agol that Nargis’ Radha wasn’t in Mother India. Una isn’t the mother-martyr like Nirupa Roy’s Sumitra Devi of the 1975 film Deewaar. She is a single woman trying to raise her daughter while accepting her flaws and desires.
For too long, mothers in Bengali movies such as Deya Neya (1963), Maya Mriga (1960), and Pita Putra (1969) have been stuck in a cookie-cutter role of sacrificing, self-effacing, and one who loves the husband and son unconditionally. First, Rakhee Gulzar challenged the stereotype early in Aparna Sen’s Parama in the 1980s. Then, Rituparno Ghosh broke the mould with Aparna Sen in Unishe April in the 1990s. Shonar Pahar (2018), Posto (2017) and Mukherjee Dar Bou (2019) were others. Now, in a brave new world of social media, cancel culture, and OTT, the Bengali mother has found her voice and autonomy.
Amlan Ganguly’s short film Agol features a protagonist who, in the words of the lead actor, “is not a martyr to motherhood.”
“Una is every woman who has agency today, challenging gender norms by embodying strength through emotional intelligence and moral clarity. Her independence is a central theme in her characterisation,” Amlan Ganguly told ThePrint over the phone. According to the director, Una’s character defies societal expectations, living life on her own terms while skillfully balancing the demands of her start-up, relationships, daughter, and household.
Una, the uninterrupted
Agol, which translates to barrier, is the story of a couple whose marriage has fallen apart. Romit grapples with his self-destructive tendencies after his wife Una asks him to leave their home to preserve her self-respect. Just when Romit’s life appears on the verge of spiraling out of control after the separation, an unexpected phone call from Una changes the course of the story.
Una entrusts him with the care of their young daughter Roshnai for one night as she has to step out, and Romit agrees to take on the responsibility despite the bitterness between the couple. A bond begins to form between the father and daughter, awakening a sense of purpose Romit thought he had lost. He begins to see glimpses of the man he used to be before his life took a dark turn.
“The film is an exploration of love, loss, and the power of second chances. It establishes a binary between a man who has failed to take charge of his life and fulfill his responsibilities for his wife and daughter and a woman who defies the stereotype that strength and rationality are exclusive to men,” Devlina Ganguly told ThePrint.
She added that Una is not perfect and doesn’t pretend to be. “Mothers in South Asian societies are still struggling to break the stereotype of a holier-than-thou woman who would happily sacrifice herself at the altar of motherhood,” Ganguly said.
The yardstick used to judge a woman’s character is not the same as the one used for men.
“Eyebrows won’t be raised if a father chooses to go to a pub on a Friday evening for a few drinks post-work to unwind. But if a mother is seen doing the same, she would be branded irresponsible. Sadly, society is still pretty selfishly judgmental against mothers,” Ganguly said.
Amlan Ganguly said that with financial independence, most women are refusing to carry the burden of their families and society’s expectations. They are seeking marriages and relationships based on partnership and shared responsibilities. “There has been some progress but many men still expect women to manage a significant chunk of domestic responsibilities, leading to dissatisfaction and even breakdown of the very institution of marriage. Many women today are walking out of marriages, delaying them, choosing cohabitation or single parenthood and even remaining child-free. Una is the very face of this change,” he said.
For Devlina Ganguly, playing Una was almost cathartic.
“I really did find a lot of myself in Una. She is a person who has a lot on her plate—looking after a teenage daughter is no easy feat, surviving a broken marriage, that too one with a childhood sweetheart, is something that might turn many into pessimists. But not Una. She won’t let life and its many challenges bow her down,” she said. Una will have fun, dress up, click a thousand pictures, and spam on Instagram with them, Ganguly added.
In the film, as her marriage breaks down, Una strives to find meaningful relationships. Despite the disappointments she faces, she remains resolute in not tolerating disrespect at any cost.
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Mothers in movies
The Bollywood mother has come a long way since Mother India and Deewaar. For the makers and actors of Agol, the late 1980s and 1990s marked a transformation in this portrayal. With movies such as Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) (featuring Reena Lagoo as Salman Khan’s mother) and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) (with Farida Jalal as Kajol’s mother), the mother began evolving from a martyr to a bestie.
Kajol in Helicopter Eela (2018) and Priyanka Chopra in The Sky is Pink (2019) are two of the favourite mom characters in Indian films for Devlina Ganguly. The game-changing character, according to the actor, is Mandira (played by Kajol) in My Name is Khan (2010). “Mandira is her own woman, bringing up a child single-handedly after a failed marriage. She is not gloomy or bitter, lives life with a big smile and has the courage to open the doors of her heart once more to love as she marries Rizwan Khan, a man from another religion and one suffering from Asperger’s syndrome. Thankfully, Karan Johar portrays Mandira as a woman first, with her own life trajectory and needs that are distinct from her child’s,” she said.
Another favourite Hindi cinema mom is Shashi Godbole (played by Sridevi) in the 2012 movie English Vinglish. Shashi was the perfect new-age cool mom, who would not shy away from taking new challenges, or give up her core identity. She recognised her potential and wanted to do something different in life apart from the role destiny had so far assigned to her, beyond the corners of her familiar kitchen making those melt-in-your-mouth laddoos.
For Amlan Ganguly, the films produced by his production house, Prayasam Visual Basics, are trying to portray a more authentic representation of the modern-day mother. Ganguly is not just focussed on the character of the mother but is also drawn to stories about friends, neighbours, colleagues, and acquaintances. “Women and men who are not paragons of virtue and embody different shades of grey” appeal to him more than superheroes or underdogs.
“In my film Qissa, for example, the women are scheming, selfish, and manipulative. But these traits do not make them one-dimensional villains. They are human, grappling with the same complexities and moral ambiguities that we all face. Such portrayals challenge the binary of good versus bad, suggesting that even those who appear ‘bad’ often possess depth and humanity,” he added.
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Content is queen
Agol is set to release in August but has already got critics talking in Kolkata. Noted film journalist Bhaswati Ghosh said Una reminds her of the mother played by Aparna Sen in the 1994 Bengali film Unishe April, directed by Rituparno Ghosh. In that film, the mother is a busy dancer trying to raise her daughter alone after her husband’s death. Despite her daughter’s initial disapproval and resentment toward her boyfriend, the mother remains undeterred in living her life.
“When you keep showing mothers as martyrs in popular cinema, it has an adverse effect on society, where this gets normalised. Thankfully, our audience is getting mature, craving for content that shows life as is and not how it was,” Ghosh said.
Ghosh added that Agol is a short film that can have a big impact. “We cannot predict what will work now. Formulaic portrayals of characters, whether that of the hero of a film or his mother, are gradually getting the thumbs down. Content is Queen,” she said.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)