# Alik Sukh

Alik Sukh (English: Unreal Happiness) is a 2013 Bengali Medical psychological thriller based on the novel Alikh Sukh by Suchitra Bhattacharya. The film is directed by the duo Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy, starring Debshankar Haldar, Rituparna Sengupta and Sohini Sengupta in the lead roles. It was released on 19 July 2013. The storyline is based on a novel of Bengali novelist Suchitra Bhattacharya.

## Plot

Dr. Kingshuk Guha (Debshankar Haldar), a renowned gynecologist, finds himself in a professional crisis when one of his patients, Kabita Mondol (Sohini Sengupta), dies on the operating table while he is away purchasing a luxury apartment for his family. Kabita's enraged husband (Biswanath Basu) and relatives attempt to mob the hospital. Upon hearing the news, Kingshuk's wife, Rumi (Rituparna Sengupta), rushes to the hospital to support him. There, she sees Kabita's corpse lying unattended in the empty operating theater and begins to imagine that the dead woman is communicating with her.
Though well-off, happily married, and pregnant with their second child, Rumi starts to question her right to happiness, given that her husband is responsible for depriving another family of their loved one. She becomes emotionally distant from Kingshuk, who refuses to accept responsibility for Kabita's death. In turn, Kingshuk grows frustrated with Rumi’s lack of support as he faces an investigation by a medical committee and a compensation claim of Rs 1,000,000 from Kabita's family. Their relationship deteriorates to the point where they stop speaking to each other, and eventually, Rumi leaves with their son to stay with her parents.
Kingshuk eventually reaches an out-of-court settlement with Kabita’s family for Rs 300,000. Relieved and hoping to reconcile with Rumi, he calls her and informs her that he has "bought off the patient’s family." Rumi, devastated by Kingshuk's callousness and the lack of justice for Kabita, suffers a fall shortly after the call, leading to a miscarriage and severe abdominal hemorrhaging.
In a cruel twist of fate, Kingshuk finds himself in the same desperate position as Kabita's husband, as the medical team at the local hospital takes its time attending to Rumi. She survives, and a remorseful Kingshuk seeks her forgiveness, vowing to make amends. From Rumi's perspective, Kabita finally finds closure, and hopes for a happier future emerge.

## Cast

* Debshankar Haldar as Kingshuk Guha
* Rituparna Sengupta as Rammani
* Sohini Sengupta as Kabita
* Biswanath Basu as Biswajit
* Saayoni Ghosh as Namita
* Kharaj Mukherjee

## Crew

* Directed by Nandita Roy & Shiboprosad Mukherjee
* Produced by Windows
* Screenplay & Dialogues by Nandita Roy & Shiboprosad Mukherjee
* Director of Photography Sirsha Ray
* Edited by Malay Laha
* Music by Nachiketa Chakraborty & Anindya Chatterjee
* Background score by Joy Sarkar
* Production Designer Amit Chatterjee
* Sound by Anirban Sengupta & Dipankar Chaki
* Costume by Dibyakanti Sen
* Publicity design by Saumik & Piyali

## Direction

Nandita Roy is an Indian filmmaker, screenplay writer and producer. She has been working in the film industry for the past 30 years. She has worked in many television serials and National Award-winning films. Shiboprosad Mukherjee is an Indian filmmaker, actor and producer. He started his acting career by joining the Theatre in Education Project and was a regular theatre artiste at Nandikar. He learnt his art from celebrated thespians like Rudraprasad Sengupta and Ibrahim Alkazi. The director duo ventured into cinema in 2011, with their first film, Icche. From then on, they have co-directed films like Accident (2012), Muktodhara (2012), Alik Sukh (2013), Ramdhanu (2014), Belaseshe (2015), Praktan (2016) Posto (2017), Haami (2018), Konttho (2019), Gotro (2019), which have been critically acclaimed and commercially successful. Their films have been appreciated for their socially relevant content and entertaining narrative structure.

## Influences

In an interview to The Times of India, director Shiboprosad Mukherjee said that although the film is based on a novel, it was influenced by his father's death on 15 April 1994. Regarding his personal experience regarding the lives of doctors, he said,
   It was Poila Baishak and my father suddenly complained of chest pain. I rushed him to a para-doctor and he asked us to shift Baba (father) to a hospital immediately as he had suffered a heart attack. I called an ambulance and took him to a hospital only to find that there were no attendants or doctors around as it was Poila Boishak! The few junior doctors present there couldn't do anything. When I finally got hold of a doctor, he was leaving for the day. He told me since it was a festive day, the hospital was low on staff and he couldn't help us. My father breathed his last that night. Whether it was family obligations or something else that was going through the doctor's mind, is a question that still haunts me as I lost my father for it.

## Soundtrack

Soundtrack of Alik Sukh has been composed by Anindya Chatterjee and Nachiketa Chakraborty.

## Response

Alik Sukh has heavily stirred the conscience of all the individuals, irrespective of the profession they belong to. It has been critically acclaimed and has also contributed a big deal in raising the standard of the tollywood film industry. It ran in theatres successfully for 50 days. Later, on 15 September 2013, it made an all-India release.

## Accolades

Alik Sukh was premiered at the Marché du Film section in Cannes Film Festival in 2013. Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee received the Filmfare Awards East for Best Direction for the film Alik Sukh this year. In the same Awards ceremony, Rituparna Sengupta received the award for Best Actor and Anindya Chatterjee for Best Lyrics for Alik Sukh.