Sometime released in the year 1980, roughly two years after I was born Dui Prithibi meaning Two Worlds is a gem of a Bengali movie; I discovered recently. My mom hadn’t watched it and neither had she heard about its popularity. The storyline of the movie is contemporary and projects an image of the world we are living in today. The theme of the movie revolves around two main characters Mrinal Dutta (Uttam Kumar) and Kunal Dutta (Victor Banerjee).Mrinal Dutta being the elder son of the family is the sole earning member of the family. He works as a reporter and strives hard to make the twain meet. On his shoulder; rest the responsibilities of a marriageable sister and aged parents. He spends most of his time in his office. His sister is a gifted singer and is in love with her music teacher Shukanta (Ranjit Mallick). Every thing seems to be picture perfect in Mrinal’s world. But every thing changes when his younger brother Kunal Dutta walks in. Victor Banerjee’s English man like looks ignites the screen and he stands staring quietly staring at his elder brother who is all engrossed in his work. He questions, “Chinte Parcho?” (Do you recognise me?). Mrinal slowly raises his head and takes some time to gather his memories together. Excitedly he embraces this young man saying, “Tuie Kunal Naa!” (Aren’t you Kunal?) Mrinal takes Kunal to his home located in a crammed locality. Suited Kunal is frustrated and irritated to walk through the by lanes and exclaims, “What place is this that you stay at?” Mrinal replies, “Limited resources can only ensure the bare minimum.” Answering the knock on the door their younger sister Toony opens the door. She too gets excited to see Kunal come back home. Mrinal’s parents too are visually appalled to see their estranged son come back to them. In a flashback scene, the reason of Kunal abandoning the family justifies his long time absence. While every one is seated, Kunal pulls out a cigarette excusing of unable to survive without it. Mrinal doesn’t like this and he easily traces the signs of sudden change in his family. His father doesn’t object Kunal’s smoking and the mother & sister duo are seen ignoring Mrinal completely.
The other Kunal takes his parents out for shopping. He also goes house hunting. Mrinal keeps waiting with an empty stomach for his family members to come back. He is surprised to see how phenomenally Kunal has taken over the reins of the family. Kunal announces that they will soon be shifting to a new home. Mrinal agrees to move along but reluctantly. He is still clueless about Kunal’s flamboyant lifestyle. Kunal objects to everything and anything that is related to Mrinal. When Toony watches her music teacher struggling to board a bus, Kunal warns her to ignore him as he thinks Shukanta is a misfit for the Dutta family. To separate Toony from Shukanata, Kunal hurriedly gets her enrolled in a modern music school. Time starts changing at a faster pace. Kunal goes on making money and is on a spending spree. On the other hand, Mrinal’s status of a sprawling investigative journalist gets stronger. He is invited by the Chief Minister of Bengal himself to head an undercover team to bust corruption and misdeeds of the chosen few. Slowly Mrinal also begins to get wind of Kunal’s sources of unaccountable wealth. The problem gets severe when Kunal brings home a woman and declares her his newly wedded wife. She is coincidentally the daughter of a famous freedom fighter. Mrinal therefore sympathises with her and goes to meet his estranged lover. On reaching her home, he informs her brother about Kunal’s high handedness and the arrival of his new wife. On hearing her father’s name, Mrinal’s friend jumps out of his chair to narrate a tale of his bravery. Mrinal comes back smiling and is pleased to appreciate his brother’s choice. As time passes, Kunal starts getting richer and rude. He starts abusing his wife. At times, he even compels her to accompany him to parties and to entertain his guests. His wife resists such advances saying that she is not a sex toy to be preyed upon. Kunal outrageously tells her that she was about to be sold out by her brothers but he saved her by immediately marrying her. Kunal starts coming home drunk every night. His abuses go from bad to worse. One night he again comes home drunk and physically assaults a servant. Mrinal gets very angry and asks his parents to keep a watch on their younger son.
Things start getting out of control. Seeing his elder brother’s probing nature, Kunal hatches a plan to send Mrinal off to a foreign locale as a guest journalist. His plan goes out well enough with Mrinal’s editor boss agreeing to send him off to America. In the meanwhile, Kunal’s wife discovers a grave secret of him being a smuggler. Police authorities begin their investigations and also procure a consignment of rare gems at a local post office that Kunal frequents. The police start hunting for Kunal and his whereabouts. Mrinal too discovers how his brother is in trouble. He declines the offer of an international tour, which is secretly sponsored by Kunal. Their sister Toony who deceives Shukanta for her modern music school teacher runs into trouble when she is fooled and impregnated. This is where the movie scores. It shows how the two different worlds of these brothers collide. Mrinal doesn’t forgive Kunal when he accuses him of having an affair with his wife. Mrinal walks out of Kunal’s home and settles down in his old home. The police finally zero in on Kunal and chase him like wild dogs. Finding no immediate rescue, Kunal ends up at Mrinal’s home begging for mercy. Mrinal in a very composed way declines Kunal’s requests. He asks him to leave his home and surrender. Kunal runs out of the home and is held at gunpoint by two senior policemen. Investigations also reveal Kunal’s ownership of unaccountable gold and rare gems.
Finally it is Mrinal who emerges the winner. Disheartened by their younger son’s plight, his parents return back to him. Shukanta, his sister’s estranged lover agrees to take responsibility of her impregnated situation. In spite of Kunal’s wife’s request of bailing him out, Mrinal holds his fort and silently witnesses his brother being sentenced to four years of rigorous imprisonment. He is heartbroken but he tells Kunal’s wife that this is payback time. He also assures her not to lose hope.
Dui Prithibi explores the finer nuances of Bengali cinema. Uttam Kumar towers over the others with his astounding performance. Every time he has appeared on the silver screen he has captured it with his unparalleled performance. Victor Banerjee’s anti hero image is top notch and he does justice to his role. Supriya as Uttam Kumar’s love of the past is a silent treat and downplays herself to the core. The movie belongs to the main protagonists Mrinal and Kunal. It depicts the triumph of good over evil and chronicles the stories of lives that are preciously two dimensional. The movie has no subtitles so Non Bengalis might have to rely on a trusted translator. The movie in itself is the finest to come my way. It has the potential for a prequel and a sequel to it. Somewhere down the line I felt that this tale of two brothers has so many things common with the ongoing corporate rivalry between the Ambani brothers. The only difference being, it is reel life inspired by real life.
MOVIE SOURCE: www.seventymm.com
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