Had missed watching many episodes of this valuable series during its original run at EPIC Channel in the year 2015, so was really glad to catch it again and it is truly worth watching for many important reasons.
To begin with, the 26 episodes of STORIES OF RABINDRANATH TAGORE (of an hour each), take you back to the early 20th century in Bengal, through a note-worthy art direction, lighting, costumes, music and of course the direction of Anurag Basu (making a come-back to the medium).
Presented through a combination of sets and on locations shoots, Anurag selects his stories byTagore and narrates them in his own way (making some slight changes) connecting one story to another in a unique manner. The selection includes Gurudev’s novels and short stories that point towards our human relationships, the traditional mindset, its hidden shortcomings and the characters’ struggle with the conservative social values breaking the set norms. More than 15 stories presented in the series include Choker Bali, Atithi, Kabuliwala, Detective, Samapti, Two sisters, Waaris, Kankal and more. Where the short stories get completed in one episode alone, the novels get concluded in 2 or more episodes.
The drawback of the series at times becomes its pace and monotony in narration, presentation and style. Plus, many of the performances also look like not of that time period missing the magnetic pull (despite the fine costumes and appearances given to the characters). Hence it is suggested to see the episodes at intervals and not at one go giving them the required space and time to grow.
Overall a highly recommended series, especially for the young friends, who are not familiar with Rabindranath Tagore’s stories and their path breaking content amazingly written a century back. To be fair, such attempts made in the present times have their own importance (much above their creative and technical merits and demerits) as they rightly introduce the younger generation to our rich culture/literature and its world-renowned exponents, who otherwise might not reach or influence their minds through the medium of books in the present era of videos and internet.
Rating : 3.5 / 5 (including additional 0.5 for making this series in the present era reviving the good times when literature based content ruled the Doordarshan serials.)
Directed by Anurag Basu, Debatma Mandal and Tani Basu
Starring : Radhika Apte, Sumeet Vyas, Rohan Shan, Bhanu Uday, Jannat Zubair and more.
