Rita Banerjee will introduce and lead the discussion for Srijit Mukherji’s 2012 film, Hemlock Society, on Friday June 17 from 6-8:30 pm for the Institute for Indology and Tibetology at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, (Ludwigstr. 31, Seminarraum 427). The screening is part of the course Genre and Modern South Asian Literatures at LMU. Anyone interested in genre, Modern South Asian literature, or art house film is welcomed to join the screening.
Hemlock Society depicts the wear and tear of the city life and how mechanical we are becoming. Meghna (Koel Mallick) is down and out after she finds her boyfriend cheating. Her relationship of many years crumbles within a few minutes. The matter is made further worse with her loosing her job and he bitter relationship with her father who has married someone else after her mother’s death. Desperate and disgruntled Meghna contemplates suicide. As she is about to gulp some sleeping pills, she is intruded upon by a strange man who calls himself Ananda Kar (Parambrata Chatterjee). Ananda tells her that she has every right to commit suicide but warns her that a failed suicide is much worse than death in itself. She offers to train her on how to commit suicide professionally at his school, which he calls “The Hemlock Society.” Shaken and confused, Meghna agrees and sets off on a journey with this strange man not knowing that the journey she embarks upon will lead her to self discovery, happiness, and above all, love. ~ Aambar.
Rita Banerjee 