Queer stories have always struggled to find their place in a heterocentric society, but in the past few years, they have developed their own niche. Movies like Fire by Deepa Mehra started this revolution. And now In Abar Jodi Iccha Karo, ( If You Dare Desire) Debalina Majumdar turns back time and takes us back to the story everyone has forgotten.
We travel to Nandigram, a small town in West Bengal, where the tragic tale of Swapna and Sucheta, two women in love, unfolded, but still remains largely unheard. They aren’t allowed to coexist together in this heteronormative world. Their bodies are still left unclaimed, desires buried, and dreams unrealized. The movie sets up on this premise, based on a true story and explores the idea of a parallel reality, where they might get a happily ever after.
Debalina gives their story a chance and leaves us with a film that opens the door to endless possibilities – Where would they be now? Holding hands in a Pride Parade or still hiding who they are from the world? If they escaped to the city, would that have made any difference ? Will their lives be any different?
We explore these ideas in this make-believe world. We deal with their delicate desires and insecurities. We see how these characters navigate the society and its orthodox spaces. We see them fall in love, we see how they are desperately kept apart. In this world even though Sucheta was forcibly married and Swapna was oppressed by her family. They decide to run away from the chains that tried to suppress who they are. By expressing their desires they come to terms with their identity.
The movie explores the idea of sexuality and women’s agency in terms of identity when you are banished as “different”. It also foreshadows how gender, patriarchy, caste and sexuality are connected. And all of it leads to an important question: Can every person dare to desire?
In the movie we see both of them laughing in the dainty streets of Kolkata, lacing their hands even when the whole society dismisses their quest for love. For a moment you overlook the gloominess of reality. You forget that Swapna and Sucheta didn’t escape, that their love never bloomed in the lanes of Kolkata. That they died in each other’s arms, leaving only a letter behind “Please don’t be angry with me. I could not live without my love.”