Aparna Sen's 'Goynar Baksho' has received heavy criticism mostly with regards to the imbalanced plot and drastic change in the third act. To be honest, the third act did feel like a sudden change in both tone and story and heavily rushed. It ought to have been further developed and more humour could have been added (to balance it adequately with the rest of the picture). Moreover, the connection with the first half felt weak. There should have been more focus on the mother-daughter relationship than just that one scene. Maybe Sen could have left this act for a whole other film, a sequel. That would have given room for the story and characters to flesh out.

And now for the plusses, the first and second act are sheer delight. It's a bit like watching a hilarious folktale and it's beautifully shot. The colourful visuals (sets, costumes and landscape) are stunning. I've never seen CGI of this high quality in any Indian film. Sen has obviously hired some of the best technicians and designers. The cinematography and score are first rate.

Not to take anything away from Aparna Sen and her crew's input but what would have 'Goynar Baksho' been without the fabulous performances of Moushumi Chatterjee and Konkona Sen Sharma. I doubt Moushumi's done anything like this before but she's at her best here. The same goes for Konkonaas she holds her own. Their shared scenes are the highlights of 'Goynar Baksho' and most of them had me laughing out loud.

To sum it up, this isn't Aparna Sen's best work but it's amusing, entertaining and visually satisfying nonetheless.

The production quality is excellent. The first half was really good. The storytelling, acting, directing, cinematography everything was spot on. Sadly everything started tumbling downhill thereafter. I was enjoying the first half and expected more in the second. Then it all started...forced character entries, forced activism. I then kicked back to me that it was an Aparna Sen film. One factual error was showing of the daughter of Konkona Sen's driving a Vijay(red color) scooter in the year 1971. The fact is SIL- makers of Vijay scooters only started production in 1975. Mopeds like Luna were available but its hard to believe a girl in the 70's going to college on these and that too not in Calcutta. It seemed to be done to make the character Uber Modern. Bengalis will understand when i say the second half was full of "aantlami" (pseudo intellectual). Inter religion love affair, extra marital affair, feminism and revolution packed in 1 hour. The movie should have kept itself to story telling without being preachy. There were many places where the film could have ended. Like when Konkona (Somlata) gives birth or it could have gone forward and if it ended with "Chaitali" getting married and gets back the "Goinar Bakso" My review is on the movie and is not anyway a comparison with the novel.

Goynar Baksho- The box of jewels - A much awaited new Aparna Sen movie. The expectations was way too high this time. I had to bring it down a few notches to actually like the movie and talk about it. A story woven around 3 women, a ghost, a lady, and a rebel, on the canvas of dramatic border conflicts, stretched through time and lives of people across the Bengal border. The portrayal of the three women is so well done, it tugs on your heartstrings long after the movie is over. The movie explores these women intimately, their desire, their dreams, their despair, their arty manipulations, myriad shades of feminism. The male characters in their life add to the spice and drama, played with by some great actors.

While, the mortals and the dead had a lot to say and act, the main character in the movie, is still the silent wooden Goynar Baksho holding exquisite gold jewellery weighing nearly 5500 gms, changing hands from generation to generation, one woman to another in the family. As the story unfolded it was losing its materialistic value and transforming to an asset, used for fulfilling it's owner's desires and dreams.

The three women had a choice to use the box of gold for achieving their own purpose in life. The original owner, Pishima (Rashmoni, played by Moushumi Chatterjee),the spiteful , beautiful child widow, living in her paternal household, uses her box to demand respect and generate fear in her kin. Her nephew's wife, Somlata, an ordinary girl from a poor family, uses it to become the breadwinner of the dying zamindar family (landlord). She almost fixed the egotistic men around her, who would rather die of poverty then work to earn a living. And her power comes through, when she does all the changes in her life and her families, without raising her voice or finger. She even wins the heart of Pishima's ghost after much trials and tribulations. She always had her feet on the ground and was truly fearless.

The first half of the movie was intense, funny and immensely likable and I wish the movie ended at intermission and I could have left the theatre with a smile on my face. But the movie took a rather odd abrupt dramatic change in the second half . Although fast paced , it lacked the former's sense of drama and the storytelling eventually fell apart. It become an ordinary movie, with no Sen magic.

Somlata, shared the stage with Pishima in the first half, and matched her expletives with her subtleties, but the director could have given her some time and space in the script, to share her story and her life later. Her subtlety was very well done and it went along with the 50's woman she portrayed, but , her desires could have had some on-screen recognition. Thus, the middle part of the movie felt stifled and stopped short of the greatness it was due for. The hint of romance in Somlata's life was way too subtle. The roses and the poetry passed by like a whiff of smoke leaving no significant impression. The musical piece by Shubha Mudgal faded with the smoke too and the dates changed on the screen bringing to another better part of the movie. The hiatus in the transition could not lift the tempo and it was flat in the overall context of the movie.

During the 70's , as the youngest woman of the family Chaitali (Shrabonti) who could see Pishima's ghost, shares a smoke with the eldest, Pishi Thakuma's apparition(Moushumi Chatterjee) and discusses love, life and politics. In this scene, the movie almost comes back. Chaitali, the young dreamer, a socialist, a rebel at heart, devoid of bourgeois sentiments, comes to possess the box of jewels and she decides to passed it up for the greater cause. Her story and her mother Somlata's story do not mingle on screen and we miss Konkana's act as a mother and the chemistry she shared with her daughter (that would be interesting).

Whatever the storyline, at the end it is Pishima' s who always touches our heart, she moves through time and space effortlessly, (being a ghost did help), her pride in her high class blue blood, love of wealth, self and ego. She slowly accepts the worldly ways afterlife. When with Somlata, she accepts her middle class life and with Chaitali, she learns to let go of all her earthly desires, finding peace at last.

Nice movie ...but

Why the rush in the second half, why this substandard direction and script, why the lack of Aparna Sen's perfect touch. Why she went overboard with her idealistic "love of the moment" concept, which we see in all her movies. A love so pure that it has no ending , no beginning, no future, no physical fulfillment. Just an ache. I love this concept and her way of portraying it. But it did not fit into this movie in a way that it would linger with you, like it did when Raja comes close to Meenakshi in the ending scene of Mr. and Mrs. Iyer. I want that magic again....maybe next time

The original story spoke about the Bangladesh war, the lifestyle of the zamindars, the selfish attitude of the old hag, the scared new wife and the young modernist daughter.

The problem with the movie is that it has tried to capture everything from the story in its 150 min screenplay. The result? - Bad.

The audience becomes overwhelmed with the vastness of the script and the movie fails to capture their hearts because it has failed to focus on one thing and make it a beautiful entity. It has tried to focus on all the aspects and ended up making a mess of things.

The script was poor- it failed to keep the audience from fumbling for their cell phone and checking the time.

However the cinematography, the acting especially by Saswata, Konkona and Poran were outstanding. The art direction and acting always create an illusion of the 1950's Bengal.

Definitely worth a watch but Aparana Sen, we had high expectations from you.

This movie is not for everyone, and its not as bad as the reviews suggests.. its not flawless and bit slow at some parts, but definitely worth a watch..

It's a great film 🎥. It's basically a story of a woman ðŸ'© set in 1950's West Bengal and her family ðŸ'ª. The movie 🎬 fails to impress as soon as it starts but it takes at most 10 minutes to gain your attention. It paces forward like a comedy film which doesn't have stupid impractical punch lines. The comic elements are provided by the out dated society and the ingesting characteristics of the family members. The protagonist will really impress you. The dirty is really amazing and the sub plots beautifully shows the forgotten Bengal. The movie gets a sudden change in mood around in the middle and started moving on with seriousness but with out becoming a bit less interesting. A part of the movie is dedicated to Bengal.... In short this movie offers a lot and is a #mustWatch....

We shouldn't talk about what's the quality of video or graphics or directing because this movie has a country to country relationship status.I will thank to sen that she made a movie that show the love of border-less , love of religion-less ,and overall show how Bengali peoples of India love Bengali peoples of Bengal .In 1971 the liberation of Bangladesh was not only expectation of east Pakistan but also the Indian Bengalis also. So, this movie show us how all Bengali's in the world should help each other. the story line was also nice. I don't give a crap to people who said story was not good or directing should be more accurate when I watch this film I feel it from heart. The story line is quite true.

But if I watch the movie as hoping that i will see comedy,action, I wouldn't realize the story about what is it talking about or say goddammit . now the second half was also nice but Rasmoni want's Somlata to make physical relation ship with her lover. This is the only thing that weird to me because in that time people was confined they shouldn't want this to happen Great and Meaningful movie

Positives first: 1) Beautiful cinematography. Film has beautifully captured the sense and sights of a period long gone past. 2) Performance of Paran Banerjee and Saswata - as authentic as it gets

That's about it. Overall, a waste of a evening - the much hyped feminist director Aparna Sen still fails to deliver on a setting so intimately known to her. The dialogues are run of the mill, Konkana's acting is like a jatra, missing genuineness, a most ordinary storyline with a highly nyaka 3rd half.

I had sworn I would watch this movie till the end no matter how bad - I kept my promise till 2 hours and 20 mins, and then gave up.

I have not read the original novel... So cant comment on the adapted screenplay.. However when I watched the movie from the audience point of view I experienced people laughing and having a nice time on a Sunday evening... A movie for family to watch and think less because when you start thinking about the movie it will not be captured in your mind... The first reason is the length of the film that has been unnecessarily stretched... Repeated scenes and a flat middle half of the film...

Goynar Barsho(The Jewellery Box) is a story of the three generations of females and their lives and their struggle surrounding the Jewelery box that belonged to the eldest... The story starts with the first generation where the bride turns to a widow within one year of her marriage... she survived in the family due to the jewelery she carried with her in a box which she is not ready to give to anyone... she counts and wears the jewelery everyday... Soon her brother's son gets married and the new bride comes to the house(Konkona Sen Sharma), within few days the widow dies and gives the jewelery box to Konkona to hide it somewhere and not to use it herself... However the widow appears as a ghost in front of Konkona every time to make sure that her jewelery is safe and she is not using it or giving it to anyone... The widow's ghost goes to extremes to save the jewelery by paralyzing the elder bride in the house so that she cannot tell anybody else in the house where the jewelery box is... In the backdrop it is shown that the economic condition of the house is dropping and Konkona had to keep one item of jewelery in custody to give some amount to her husband to start a business.. The widow's ghost was furious at the beginning but eventually calms down when the business prospers and Konkona releases the item from custody.... Time goes by nd even our ghost is interested in the business because the name of the shop represents her name... This is where the movie goes flat... Later Konkona has a daughter who looks like the old widow... Her daughter grows up and now the ghost appears only to her... Her daughter joins the Bangladesh independence movement where she discovers the secret lover of her mother who has written poems for her mother and has committed suicide.... The film ends with one of his written poems... Where is the jewelery box???????? Konkona's daughter took all the jewelery... Film ends...

More than 2 hrs 15 minutes runtime... most of which was flat and lacked pace... Aparna sen(Director) tried to show everything in 2 hours... Starting from Independence of India and Bangladesh... Extra martial affair... A women's unsatisfied sex life... freedom movement... All these can be covered in a 200 pages novel, not a 2 hrs movie... The positives of the movie is the good camera work portraying the old Bengal and the rural Zamindar House.. The good cinematography and the mind blowing performance of Konkona Sen Sharma who proves that good acting can hold a film together... Other performances were also up to the mark... All in all a movie to go with your family to know how your ancestors were and how the generation changed... STATUTORY WARNING: NON BENGALIS MAY FIND THE LANGUAGE A BIT TOUGHT TO UNDERSTAND....

OK, I have read all 5 reviews (up to my writing) and found some disappointments from reviewers. But I've found more amusing things than errors which are more strong than these errors.

Although we have got a good numbers of spectacular movies from Aparna Sen and it's another. Yes, "Goynar Baksho" is a long story but she tried her best to represent all in 2.5hours. Because you must have to consider the tricks to grab "Audiences" of all classed and regions. May be she have some future plan about '71 liberation War (Just my assumption).

In a single word it's a complete movie with complete sense of making. Superb set, screenplay, cinematography. Most importantly dialogues. Just amazing. But I must say Konkona Sen Sharma acted 20% of her acting skill. I think a poor performance came from her in this movie. May be director could choose a different actress replacing Konkona who would be fit for this character.

Now telling something boring stuffs about Bangladeshi directors. More or less Aparna Sen had putted '71 plot here inside this movie and I should say it's a brave stuff, where Bangladeshi directors or film makers are not so interested to work with this beautiful plot (except some movies like Guerrilla, MeherNigar, Amar Bondhu Rashed and some other more). They just think complete war film with this plot. But I must say they can put this plot into commercial film like this "Goynar Baksho". Salute and thanks Aparna Sen to use this '71 plot.

At very end of my review, I'm thanking to the Director/Writer of this movie "not to let her(Somlata) go with that Rose hold poet lover". :)