Reviews & Musings

Watching Basu Chatterjee’s Khatta Meetha feels like stepping into a gentle embrace of nostalgia and hope. It’s a film that captures the beauty of life amidst the everyday chaos, a tender reminder that while life never promised to be easy, it did promise to be worthwhile.  In 1978, it was revolutionary: telling the story of widow remarriage and the vibrant yet often overlooked Parsi community, while weaving in the universal struggles of the middle class like unemployment, limited salaries, dreams that stretch further than their means, and the unstoppable rise of inflation. Yet, in the face of these challenges, the characters remain radiant, waking each day with a smile in their hearts and a song on their lips. 

There are some filmmakers whose work doesn’t just entertain; it lingers, like an old melody that finds a way to stay with you long after the credits roll. Basu Chatterjee was one of them. His cinema wasn’t loud or grand, nor did it demand to be dissected and analyzed. It simply unfolded—soft, unhurried, full of everyday lives and everyday people, leaving us with stories that felt like home.