Asha Jaoar Majhe (Labour of Love) is a 2014 Bengali language film written and directed by Aditya Vikram Sengupta. The film won two National Awards at the 62nd National Film Awards. A wonderful work that proves that language is no barrier to understanding the feelings of a working class husband and wife. Since this film has no subtitles, the language barrier will not be a barrier for the viewers.
The entire film is about a day in the life of a working middle class husband and wife. The biggest plus point of the film is that heroine Baspdatta Chatterjee and hero Rithvik Chakraborty, apart from being husband and wife, have shown themselves to be normal people.
The walls that know the secrets of every house and bury them in themselves without telling anyone, clock, stove, plate, coffee pot, fridge, bed, washed clothes, wet cloth, toilet, soap, water tap, wet cloths, drying line, cat walking around the house, making noise. Fan, bicycle, crowded market, bus stop, tram, fish broth, chopsticks, alarm, all the things that we don’t even touch in our daily life, this movie is a classic work of art.
Baspdatta Chatterjee is so beautiful that the heroine sits in the last seat of the tram on her way to work and eats a cake for breakfast.
Likewise, the director would have shown it so beautifully when he comes home from work and goes to sleep and wakes up hearing the sound of the alarm. Likewise, all women who go to work buy tickets and keep them attached to their wristwatches during bus journeys. The director would have showcased that too.
Sticking a speck on the mirror, hanging a torn pair of pants in the entryway to attract the wife’s attention, sticking a very thin old bar of soap on the back of a large new bar of soap, throwing worn-out fish bones to the cat, locking the window to escape the noise of the street vendor, turning down the fan’s incessantly whirring speed is an average. All the daily happenings at home are depicted in the film.
Cinematography and music are intertwined in this very realistic life. Especially the sound of that Senai musical instrument in the title card and climax scene will do something in the mind of the movie watchers. All you need is 1 hour 22 minutes 55 seconds and a little patience. Enjoy this wonderful work of art. The film is currently available on YouTube.