Kusum Ka Biyaah: A bridge that divides

Jharkhand was carved out of the state of Bihar many years ago. Perhaps some people in either state and the governments have not yet reconciled to the partition. There appear to be irreconcilable differences between them. With this background comes a small indie film, Kusum Ka Biyaah (Kusum’s Marriage), that is set in the border areas of the two states and involves the marriage of a graduate girl called Kusum, from Bihar, to a colliery worker from Jharkhand, called Sunil. Neither the title nor this brief synopsis prepare you for what you are about to see. It is based on a true story, which gives it a natural authenticity, but the makers must be complimented on sticking to the basics and delivering an eminently watchable film.

Dashrath Soren and his wife are retired, and live together, having lost their son at a young age. They have a daughter, Kusum, who is educated till a graduation level. Keen to get her married soon, they take the help of a Pandit, who suggests the date of 21^st March. A Munda family is found, which does not demand any dowry. Both parties are happy with the liaison, though Dashrath’s wife is concerned that the time is too short to make all arrangements. But it is 2020, and Covid has reached India. The Prime Minister makes an announcement that there will be a “people’s curfew” on 21^st March. This throws a spanner in the works of the marriage plans. Dashrath and his wife suggest to the grooms family that they should advance the date by a couple of days, and have a no frills wedding, since the decoration and rituals will not be possible on the 21^st. The family disagrees.

So, the wedding is held on 21^st March, in the bride’s home, and the next morning, the groom and the wedding troupe (baaraatee) leave for Jharkhand. But they are not allowed to proceed beyond the border, into Bihar, by the police, because all cross-state movement has been restricted on account of Covid 19. All of them have head back to Dashrath’s home. But how long can this go on? The curfew will be in force for at least 21 days. Dashrath approaches the Sarpanch (Head Man/Mukhiya) of the village, and after much persuasion, he agrees to approach the District Magistrate (DM)’s office, to grant this baaraat permission to cross the border. The DM obliges. Elated, they all rush to the bamboo bridge on the river Damodar that separates the two states. To their great relief, the police lets them pass, thanks to the DM’s permission, but their misfortune has just begun. Police on the Jharkhand side stop them, because they have no papers that would allow them entry into their home state. They cannot go back to Dashrath’s home either, because the permit they have allows exit, but not entry. They will now have to stay on the bridge indefinitely, with neither food nor water nor toilets in sight.

A round of applause for the writers, Vikash Dubey and Sandip Dubey. Transposing a true story on to the big screen is never an easy task, and they have done it with aplomb. Dialogue is rooted in the soil and never used in excess. No attempt is made to insert clap-trap situations or make any character a hero or a martyr. Almost everybody gets equal exposure, and even the cameos seem complete in themselves. The inherent goodness in humans, a quality that is getting rarer by the second, surfaces as if it is in-built in the good men and women, who carry it in their hearts. One scene, just one, has some humour in it: when a customer wants to deposit a huge sum of money in his bank because he fears that when the PM addresses the nation later that day, he might announce another demonetisation of certain currencies, as he had done some years earlier. There are only three scenes that strike discord. Firstly, the beginning and the whole author, award and audience is a leaf out of Anamika (1973), in which this writer acted. Secondly, the Manager/owner’s visit to the colliery seems unnaturally enacted, in comparison with the rest of the film. And lastly, the scene(s) between the colliery supervisor and his wife, at their home. Here is where the director should come in.

Shooting with great economy of time and space, Suvendu Raj Ghosh has done a very good job. Of course, he could have done better while shooting the above three scenes. All characters look their parts, and melodrama is avoided. Often, important information is conveyed in just one line or one word. Like when Kusum tells her husband-to-be that she wants to study further, after the marriage, and when another woman asks her, on the bridge, how far she has studied, she replies, “Graduate”. The TV crews are awkwardly portrayed, but who knows, TV crews in that region might really be like that. It is clear that the story of Kusum Ka Biyaah is symbolic, and while we empathise with the characters stranded on the bridge, we must also mull over booby traps of bureaucracy and petty politics. Curiously, one Police Officer, after declaring that he cannot do anything within the system, but agrees to help the hapless bridge-dwellers from outside the system. But I did not see him doing anything to further his stand.

Old-timer Mushtaq Khan plays the writer who is being honoured, in March 2024, for his book on the March 2020 incident. He underplays it, and is a good piece of casting. But I felt his voice was dubbed. Wonder why. Pradeep Chopra as Dashrath Soren has a good role, except that sometimes he sounds a bit younger than his looks. The film introduces two new faces: Lovekansh Garg as Sunil and Sujana Darjee as Kusum. Both come across as slice of life characters. I could not identify Tanmoy Bhattacharjee, Ayush Mukherjee, Moumita Paul and Arnab Santikary, who are among the main cast. But whatever roles they might have played, they jell together with the rest of the cast. Two other characters have names to them: Raja Sarkar as Prashant Munda and Suhani Biswas as Rewati Munda. It will be difficult to find fault with any of them.

Kudos also to Saurav Banerjee, the DOP, Bhanu Pratap Singh, the Music Director and Raj Singh Sidhu, the Editor. The title of the film could have been better, because Kusum’s marriage is not the focus of the film. It is used as a launching pad to highlight social evils and the triumph of the humane over the inhuman. Bridges are meant to bring people closer, not to divide and pitch one side against the other. Kusum Ka Biyaah is neatly packaged 100 minutes of good cinema. It is not entertaining, but then so many classics are anything but entertaining.

This review has come very late because I missed the preview screening and had to see it on Vimeo. I’m glad I did. See it. Wherever you can.

Rating: ***

Trailer: https://youtu.be/rxjFxGp16iw