Chokher Bali (2003 film)

Chokher Bali
Directed byRituparno Ghosh
Based onChokher Bali
by Rabindranath Tagore
Produced byShrikant Mohta
Mahendra Soni
StarringAishwarya Rai
Raima Sen
Prosenjit Chatterjee
Tota Roy Chowdhury
Lily Chakravarty
CinematographyAvik Mukhopadhyay
Edited byArghyakamal Mitra
Music byDebojyoti Mishra
Production
company
Release date
  • 2 October 2003 (2003-10-02) (India)
Running time
143 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageBengali
Budget₹25 million[1]

Chokher Bali (lit. sand in the eye, fig. constant irritant) is a 2003 Indian Bengali language drama film based on the 1903 novel Chokher Bali by Rabindranath Tagore. It was directed by Rituparno Ghosh in 2003 and stars Aishwarya Rai as Binodini and Raima Sen as Ashalata. Ashalata and Binodini refer to each other as Chokher Bali. The other major characters are played by Prosenjit Chatterjee as Mahendra, Lily Chakravarty as Rajlakshmi, the mother of Mahendra, Tota Roy Chowdhury as Behari, Mahendra's best friend, and Swastika Mukherjee in a cameo role. The film was later dubbed into Hindi and was released internationally in that language.

Upon release, Chokher Bali met with critical review and positive box office reception.[2][3][4]

Chokher Bali won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali, National film award for best costume design, and National film award for best art direction. It was nominated for the Golden Leopard (Best Film) award at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2003.[5] The film screened at the 34th International Film Festival of India on 19 October.[6] It was the Official Selection at the Chicago International Film Festival in 2003 and was showcased in over 25 international festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival,[7]

  1. ^ Ghosh, Tanmoy (2003). "Chokher Bali". Filmfare. Archived from the original on 4 December 2003. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Alluring Ash". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 13 November 2003. Archived from the original on 28 November 2003.
  3. ^ "| Bollywood News | Celebrity News". Bollywood Hungama. 2 April 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  4. ^ "Bengali films zoom in on profits". Rediff.com. 10 January 2004. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  5. ^ "International Film Festival Locarno". Archived from the original on 27 February 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2007.
  6. ^ "Why Ash loves Binodini". Rediff. 20 October 2003. Retrieved 20 October 2003.
  7. ^ "The Toronto Film Festival". Time. Archived from the original on 17 May 2007.