Titli | |
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Directed by | Rituparno Ghosh |
Produced by | Tapan Biswas |
Starring |
Mithun Chakraborty Aparna Sen Konkona Sen Sharma |
Distributed by | Cinemawalla |
Release date
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Language | Bengali |
Titli (Bengali: তিতলি) "butterfly") is a 2002 Bengali film by Rituparno Ghosh, starring Konkona Sen Sharma, Aparna Sen, Mithun Chakraborty. The film tells the story of a developing adolescent, played by Konkona, and the sensitivity of a teenager, and also the portrayal of the mother-daughter relationship and quiet understanding within the pair. Titli also means butterfly in Hindi.
The story develops around the evolution of Titli from a girl into womanhood, through the breaking of this crush. The dense jungles of Duars in north Bengal, covered in dense morning fog, sunshine playing hide-and-seek, Buddhist monasteries, the famous Darjeeling toy train, interleaved with poetry and music, create the romantic ambiance underpinning this film.
Titli is a 17-year-old girl (Konkona Sen Sharma), who has a teenage crush on a Bollywood superstar Rohit Roy (Mithun Chakraborty), who is more than twice her age. Though her bedroom is filled with his posters and memorabilia, Titli's mother Urmila (Aparna Sen) is surprised to learn that she could even marry this much older man.
Titli and Urmila are going by jeep to receive Titli’s father (Dipankar De) from the airport. Along the scenic road from Kurseong to Siliguri, Urmila shares a nostalgic moment when she is reminded about her teenage crush on Rajesh Khanna after hearing Titli play the song "Meri Sapnon Ki Raani Kab Aayegi Tu". The jeep is to be shared, and as it happens, their co-passenger is none other than Rohit Roy himself, who has a flight to catch from Siliguri. Titli's adolescent dreams are set on fire after she meets her crush face to face. Their conversation is interrupted by a halt necessitated by the coolant running out. Rohit also needs cigarette, and Titli wants to get them, and gets Rohit to agree. While she is gone, it is revealed that twenty years ago, Urmila and Rohit were lovers, when Rohit was an outsider looking for roles in the Tollygunge film industry. Today, Urmila is married, but the lingering romance is built up by the hill greenery and they both reminisce longingly. Urmila recites lines from the well-known Shakti Chattopadhyay poem Abani Bari Aachho? (Abani, are you home?)