En-gendering the detective: of love, longing and feminine follies

Abstract

This paper sketches an outline of Rituparno Ghosh’s films through some of the recurring themes and elements, in order recognize the significance of mise-en-scene in these films. Furthermore, it considers the realm of mise-en-scene as a point of departure to analyse films like Shubho Muharat (2003) and Satyanweshi (2013), which work within masculine genres such as detective films, disrupting its equanimity and logicality. The ‘feminization’ of masculine orders through the feminine every day, makes these films significant despite the fact they are mostly chamber dramas, and trade with middle-class concerns. In such films interior spaces become expressive landscapes, as objects become intimates. As well, the figure of the female detective unprecedentedly transforms the schema of the detective genre through the involvement of effect and emotions. By and large, these films are part of Ghosh’s larger oeuvre which addressed the predicaments of the Bengali bhadralok, examined from a predominantly women’s perspective. In effect, the dichotomy between gender and desire became a cogent tool through which Ghosh produced a rich fabric of present-day narratives that also brought into focus strong homoerotic bonding between women characters. Briefly, this paper examines the ways in which Ghosh’s subjects and designs created ruptures within spaces marked by male fantasies.