Ruchira reviews Ogo Bideshini, a Bengali rom-com that challenges stereotypes about white women and Indian families, featuring an Indian man’s English girlfriend, exclusively for DifferentTruths.
The majority of us Indians generally harbour a strong bias against white women whom we tend to consider coquettish, nay promiscuous, fun-loving, party animals. They would abhor settling down in a quintessential traditional (joint) family environment so typical of Indian society. The so-called ‘white girls’ lack the characteristics of ( they can hardly imagine) the demure low profile and adjusting ‘Bah’u as portrayed by the Indian media as well as the tinsel world.
It was therefore highly refreshing to watch a fresh new Bengali rom-com titled Ogo Bideshini (Oh Stranger/lady). The story in a nutshell: Anath Bandhu (played by Ankush Hazra), the only child of his parents, lives and works in London. He is in a fairly long-term live-in relationship with an English girl named Suzanne (Alexandra Taylor).She happens to be as devoted and meticulous as she can be. But trouble brews when his parents suddenly decide to visit him in London. So he safely lodges Suzanne elsewhere before bringing his parents home. Anath’s doting mother, Tara, comes across as a not-so-educated lady, steeped in superstition and unscientific beliefs. She is hell-bent on getting her eligible bachelor son to a pure Desi (read Bengali) girl. The real purpose of her London visit is to fix the
marriage of her son with Trisha (Rajnandini Paul), the daughter of her childhood buddy who now lives in London.
Meanwhile, Susan strikes up an acquaintance with Anath’s parents (played by the two well-known veterans, Shantilal
Mukherjee & Manasi Sinha) Surprisingly, she hits off with Tara like a house on fire. Together they indulge in sightseeing,
shopping, wining, dining and painting the town red.
Everything seems to move rather smoothly for the simple reason that Tara is blissfully unaware that Susan is her son’s beloved. Had it been otherwise, the elderly lady would have been horrified and, in all probability, avoided the latter like the plague. With every passing day, the two women grow affectionate in their relationship. Suzanne picks up desi culinary skills and clothing styles with great enthusiasm, secretly nurturing the hope that her mom-in-law-to-be would accept her once the secret was out.
However much to her chagrin, Anath’s mom, in a surprise move, gets her son engaged to her “chosen” girl. At this point, she appears to be exploiting Suzanne—sending her to do mega shopping for the upcoming wedding. As if these were not enough, she deputes the poor girl to cajole Anath to marry Trisha after he throws a tantrum. A heartbroken Suzanne nevertheless, complies. Moreover, she nurses the matronly woman back to health following a brief illness.
At this point in the narrative, a surprise development occurs. During several social gatherings, Trisha discovers how Anath and Suzanne are deeply attached to each other. Therefore, she meets up with Anath privately and divulges how she is not too keen to marry him since they hardly know each other. Tying the knot under societal and parental pressure would do more harm than good. She also points out how the two women in his life share a wonderful rapport. Hence, it would be grossly unfair to cut Suzanne out of his life. The young man awakens to reality and finally, at their ‘official’ engagement party, announces that he can’t think of his future life minus the “mem” (Brit) girl. Tara, who has grown genuinely fond of the young girl all this while, realizes her mistake and gives the couple her blessings. The film ends on a joyful, cheerful note as the love birds look forward to a blissful future.
Picture from IMDb
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