Iti Mrinalini

Melwood Screening Room: May 12 8:00PM & May 15 4:30PM

Passes not accepted on Opening/Closing Night. Please arrive at least 15 minutes ahead of start time to ensure availability of seating. Film schedule and Q & A's are subject to change.

2010/India/Director: Aparna Sen/128 minutes
Cast: Konkona Sen Sharma, Aparna Sen, Rajat Kapoor, Priyanshu Chatterjee
Language: Bengali
Festivals and Awards: U.S. premiere at 9th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles
Filmmaker/actress Aparna Sen’s lovely, melancholy drama Iti Mrinalini opens with a suicide note. Protagonist Mrinalini Mitra, portrayed by Sen, is a popular actress facing the twilight of her career. Her life of glamour and creativity has been punctuated with too much pain and disappointment to bear any longer. Thus, the film opens with Mrinalini penning her final missive.
In a moment of epiphany, Mrinalini realizes that the press that has hounded her her entire life will have access to her most private thoughts and possessions after her demise. She decides to curtail this by destroying all the memorabilia that is meaningful to her. This purge is deftly utilized as the mechanism by which we are given Mrinalini’s life history. Aparna Sen’s daughter, Kokona Sen Sharma turns in a stunning performance as the younger Mrinalini. The phrase “all that glitters is not gold” rings all too true as the heartbreaking events of Mrinalini’s life unfold. The trajectory of her life is set against social and political backdrop of Bengal.
Doomed affairs, family and friendships lost and regained and the turbulence of a career in cinema haunt Mrinalini. Despite the presence of paramour Siddhartha Sarkar (Rajat Kapoor) in her life love, in its many forms seems to elude her. Moments of happiness are never enough to erase one particularly tragic event that haunts her memory and shapes her present. The poetry of Tagore and Yeats add to the nostalgic feel. While the material could easily have devolved into melodrama, Sen expertly extracts subtle performances from her entire cast.
Iti Mrinalini is indeed, the story of one woman. Yet her search for love and fulfillment are universally resonant. Mrinalini’s search for peace and self knowledge ultimately culminate in a surprising conclusion.