It was the cheapest buy of the known names on the DVD stacks of Music World,least knowing it could be one of the best experiences watching it. "Paroma" as the name of the film goes is the bengali term for the (feminine) cynosure - the creative,the brilliant,the best of all.The film unfolds the structure of traditional bengali patriarchy, which has reproduced itself even in the modern times in a joint family of a third world metropolis ,confining the house-wife and thus gendering her identity.

In the first part of the film,Paroma (the part played by Raakhi Gulzar)- a middle-aged, conformist house-wife who's not quite lost her girlish charm looks resplendent.She is bright and yet indecisive.Thus,her life is stereotypical.The coy and much taken for granted house-wife suddenly gets that special eye-ball- the focus of a camera of a brilliant photographer.Rahul (played by Mukul Sharma) is young,wanton,an NRI thus not very adherent to the Indian tabboos and norms.He starts adding value to her otherwise shelved self like her play of "tanpura".Her nibble on hot, green chillies with her meals and all's done just with a camera...and the invisible scabbard of thoughts.

A smooth (a part of a well-to do, urban), sacrificial life possibly slightly unmeaningful and hence unmindful when she is lonely was all about Parama's life before the moth of a man barged in saturated with feelings for this dormant pupae of a (woman) butterfly.Rahul comes to kolkata to capture the bengali woman in Durga puja - the Goddess of "shakti" or power.

The intriguing part of the movie are the paradoxical imageries of a local,popular woman deity and a woman live- full of flesh and blood.The deity known for her infinite powers and yet the woman socialized to be meek.As this woman grows from being the quiet and numb being to someone more sensitive and perhaps assertive.She recovers her identity with the strong winds of freedom that blows past her life.

What Aparna Sen (the director of the film) wonderfully potrays is the free flow of interaction,be it betwixt inanimate items or the much alive ones.Movements in an old mansion,with its classic forms in terms of architecture and then the room in the attic - much toned down,utensils,the old city and yes plants rejuvenating life forms.Infact the last scene is reflections of Parama as she revisits her childhood with the plant which Rahul gifts her.Memory thus gets a new life. Parama gets into a trauma after switching her self from an unconscious to a more conscious being, as more of her loved ones start despising her.For instance , her daughter who thought her mother was old fashioned initially and would advise her to renew herself in terms of style but when Parama did that with her lifestyleThese two metaphorical support for Parama happens to be her aunt potrayed (ab)normal ,confined in a room and a friend who responds to her felt problems who help her recover.

The film beautifully concludes with the freshness of the green plant (that Rahul had gifted Parama) refracting its youthful charm in the sultry rays of the sun towards Parama.The being of the woman is wonderfully potrayed with her inhibitions,desires and the want to break free.

The film was a piece of an experience.Definetely worth a watch.