Alik Sukh


Alik Sukh is a 2013 Bengali psychological thriller film directed by Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy, based on the novel of same name by Suchitra Bhattacharya. The film starrs Debshankar Haldar, Rituparna Sengupta and Sohini Sengupta among others.

Plot

Dr. Kingshuk Guha, a renowned gynecologist, finds himself in a professional crisis when one of his patients, Kabita Mondol, dies on the operating table while he is away purchasing a luxury apartment for his family. Kabita's enraged husband and relatives attempt to mob the hospital. Upon hearing the news, Kingshuk's wife, Rumi, rushes to the hospital to support him. There, she sees Kabita's corpse lying unattended in the empty operating theater and begins to imagine that the dead woman is communicating with her.
Though well-off, happily married, and pregnant with their second child, Rumi starts to question her right to happiness, given that her husband is responsible for depriving another family of their loved one. She becomes emotionally distant from Kingshuk, who refuses to accept responsibility for Kabita's death. In turn, Kingshuk grows frustrated with Rumi’s lack of support as he faces an investigation by a medical committee and a compensation claim of Rs 1,000,000 from Kabita's family. Their relationship deteriorates to the point where they stop speaking to each other, and eventually, Rumi leaves with their son to stay with her parents.
Kingshuk eventually reaches an out-of-court settlement with Kabita’s family for Rs 300,000. Relieved and hoping to reconcile with Rumi, he calls her and informs her that he has "bought off the patient’s family." Rumi, devastated by Kingshuk's callousness and the lack of justice for Kabita, suffers a fall shortly after the call, leading to a miscarriage and severe abdominal hemorrhaging.
In a cruel twist of fate, Kingshuk finds himself in the same desperate position as Kabita's husband, as the medical team at the local hospital takes its time attending to Rumi. She survives, and a remorseful Kingshuk seeks her forgiveness, vowing to make amends. From Rumi's perspective, Kabita finally finds closure, and hopes for a happier future emerge.

Cast

Crew

Direction

Nandita Roy is an Indian filmmaker, screenplay writer and producer. She has been working in the film industry for the past 30 years. She has worked in many television serials and National Award-winning films. Shiboprosad Mukherjee is an Indian filmmaker, actor and producer. He started his acting career by joining the Theatre in Education Project and was a regular theatre artiste at Nandikar. He learnt his art from celebrated thespians like Rudraprasad Sengupta and Ibrahim Alkazi.
The director duo ventured into cinema in 2011, with their first film, Icche. From then on, they have co-directed films like Accident, Muktodhara, Alik Sukh, Ramdhanu, Belaseshe, Praktan Posto, Haami, Konttho, Gotro, which have been critically acclaimed and commercially successful. Their films have been appreciated for their socially relevant content and entertaining narrative structure.

Influences

In an interview to The Times of India, director Shiboprosad Mukherjee said that although the film is based on a novel, it was influenced by his father's death on 15 April 1994. Regarding his personal experience regarding the lives of doctors, he said,

Soundtrack

Soundtrack of Alik Sukh has been composed by Anindya Chatterjee and Nachiketa Chakraborty.

Response

Alik Sukh has heavily stirred the conscience of all the individuals, irrespective of the profession they belong to. It has been critically acclaimed and has also contributed a big deal in raising the standard of the tollywood film industry. It ran in theatres successfully for 50 days. Later, on 15 September 2013, it made an all-India release.

Accolades

Alik Sukh was premiered at the Marché du Film section in Cannes Film Festival in 2013. Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee received the Filmfare Awards East for Best Direction for the film Alik Sukh this year. In the same Awards ceremony, Rituparna Sengupta received the award for Best Actor and Anindya Chatterjee for Best Lyrics for Alik Sukh.