Charulata - Exploration of the Old and New.

Satyajit Ray's film Charulata involves a highly dramatic and multi-layered plot. However, the visual shots are kept simple and Ray is able to create an effective balance. Ray adeptly uses Charulata to illustrate the emergence of the "modern woman". In the film, there is a reference to a popular Bengali author, Bankim. In Bankim's text "Woman: Old and New", he reveals that the new woman should be modern in a traditional way. Charulata equally embodies …

…over the house. However, it is apparent that Charulata's interests go beyond that of the traditional woman. She spends a lot of her time reading and the audience learns that she is also a writer, which is not typical of a female in Indian culture at that period of time. Although she has the time to read freely, she is still like the caged bird in her home; lonely and isolated from the outside world