Charulata: Silence & Subtext

Oindrila Mukherjee talks to Heather about Charulata, directed by Satyajit Ray from 1964 and adapted from Rabindranath Tagore’s 1901 novel Nastanir or The Broken Nest. The main character Charu was married before puberty and now as a young woman in her 20s, she blossoms as a writer under the guidance of her husband's cousin. But the film is a tragedy as it examines what it means for a woman to awaken to herself in a culture where she has no way to live out any of her choices. Oindrila Mukherjee teaches creative writing at Grand Valley State University. She is the author of the novel The Dream Builders, published on four continents in 2023.