Tota Roy Chowdhury and Rituparna Sengupta

Almost a decade after Kumar Shahani steered a Hindi adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore?s Char Adhyay, debutante director Reshmi Mitra is retelling the story in Bengali. Starring Rituparna Sengupta, Tota Roy Chowdhury and Sabyasachi Chakraborty, the film takes the Indrapuri Studio floors on May 26.

Set in the pre-Independence era, Char Adhyay tells the story of Ela (Rituparna), a liberated 28-year-old involved with the armed rebellion for Independence, who influences the individualist Atin (Tota) to join the movement. As the two get involved, Ela starts detaching herself from the movement that finally ruins their relationship.

?The subject of Char Adhyay is universal and is still very relevant, in the backdrop of today?s Naxal movement for instance. The interplay of violence being integrated into the identity of youth and its conflict with the man-woman relationship is very interesting in Char Adhyay,? says Reshmi, who has steered around 25 telefilms.

Sabyasachi plays Indranath, the leader of the armed movement who indoctrinates Ela but finally has to order her killing.

?Ela is a very complicated character. She nurtures nationalistic ideas but is also emotionally vulnerable. She tries to strike a balance between the two. She is confident of herself and very much today?s woman,? says Rituparna, who is taking special care of her costumes and look for the Tagore tale. ?I will probably speak to some scholars to learn more about Ela and also Tagore?s women characters in general.?

Reshmi will be true to Tagore?s narrative structure, which divides the story into four episodes in the life of Ela ? joining the movement, her love affair with Atin, her disillusionment and the crumbling of their relationship, and finally her execution.

The prologue that shows Ela?s parents and her family will be thrown in through flash cuts.

?Tagore had written the novel in such a way that it reads like a screenplay. Almost every detail is there, from the sets to costumes and location. I am closely following the text,? stressed Reshmi.

The colour scheme will be vital in separating the four episodes in Mitra?s film. "I want to have different colour tones for each chapter. But red, the colour of love and violence, and darkness will be the dominant themes."

The soundtrack, to be scored by Debojyoti Mishra, will include four Tagore songs.

Portions of the film ? also featuring Chandan Sen, Ramaprasad Banik, Soma Chakraborty and Chaitali Dasgupta ? will be shot at the Baruipur palace and Lahabari.

Char Adhyay is Reshmi?s home production, to be financed by Niva Arts at a cost of around Rs 50 lakh.