“He taught her to tell stories…But will she complete his?” With this evocative line, the trailer of Bioscopewala draws to an end. The trailer is beautiful and intriguing, sparking interest in this Danny Denzongpa-starrer which is based on the famous short story by Rabindranath Tagore, Kabuliwala.
The film takes off from where Kabuliwala ends. Fans of Tagore’s short story, which was released in 1892, will know that the story follows a Pashtun merchant from Kabul, who comes to Calcutta to sell dry-fruits every year. While living in India he becomes friends with a five-year-old girl Mini from a middle-class aristocratic family as she reminds him of his daughter who lives in Kabul.
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Bioscopewala introduces us to a grown-up Mini Basu (Geetanjali Thapa). She loses her father in a plane crash. As she tries to find links with her childhood, she comes across her dead father’s old friend. He used to be the operator of a Bioscope show, which had been a childhood favorite of hers. The bioscopewala longs to meet his own daughter who lives in war-torn Kabul, Afghanistan.
It is at this point that Mini decides to reconnect the bioscopewala with his daughter. In the process, she also witnesses truths that are unknown to her… The trailer does a great job of whetting interest, even as it keeps the mystery intact. Veteran Danny has a role worthy of his long-standing status as an actor and is evocative even with minimal dialogues.
Besides its theme of partition and longing for one’s motherland, Bioscopewala also dwells on the magic of stories and storytelling. Mini herself points out in the trailer, “This man taught me how to tell stories, he taught me how to make things up. I live every waking moment in an attempt to find out about the man who played such an important part in my life.” Also starring Tisca Chopra and Adil Hussain, Bioscopewala releases May 25, 2018. See you at the movies!
Watch the teaser here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87brh5sJ244
