One day, the examinations being over, I decided to see a really good film in a really good hall. In our locality a new Cinema house had recently been opened. It was provided with all comforts. When I reached the house, a long queue had already formed but my seat had already been booked and the ticket purchased. So I had only to step into the allotted seat.
The interior of the hall dazzled me. The seats were superbly cushioned. The walls were pleasingly decorated. The colour schemes soothed the eyes. The hall was air-conditioned; so there was a total absence of the usual stuffiness. One could breathe lightly. The fluorescent lighting arrangement had a pleasing moonlight effect that was smoothing to the tired nerves.
Slowly the audience filled the seats — at first in twos and threes, and then in large numbers. In a short time, the hall was full to capacity. There were men and women of all types and classes. Some seemed to have come to make a display of their dress. I passed few happy minutes surveying the scene when the bell rang and the curtain rose.
The film was a much-talked to one — Bindur Chhele – ‘Bindu’s Son’. The story was the famous long story by Sarat Chandra. It was the story of Bindu, a childless woman who came to take her sister-in-law’s sons as her own and to love him with something more than a mother’s love. It described Bindu watching over her Amulya from day to day; the misunderstandings developing to bitter quarrels that finally broke up a happy joint family. It ended with Bindu’s realization of her faults and the healing of old sores and a re-union of hearts. From the beginning to the end, the story gripped my heart.
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I had seldom seen a more moving film. I could hardly restrain tears. It was a heart-warming film, a vivid inside of a middle class joint family with under-currents of love and affection.
The two-hour illusion was soon over; but the magic spell remained. For a while, I felt myself shifted to another world. I felt a great admiration for the great author and for the artistes who recreated the novelist’s conception on the silver screen by playing their respective roles, neatly. The direction was superb and enthralled us right up to the end.