Sharmila Tagore Confronts Fading Memories in ‘The Ancient’

Indian cinema icon Sharmila Tagore embraces a challenging role in Suman Ghosh‘s “The Ancient” (Puratawn), which has its India premiere at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. The veteran actor portrays a woman grappling with memory loss in director Suman Ghosh’s Bengali-language drama.

In “The Ancient,” Ritika (Rituparna Sengupta) and her husband Rajeev (Indraneil Sengupta) return to her ancestral home in West Bengal to celebrate her mother’s (Tagore) 80th birthday. Upon arrival, Ritika discovers her mother’s cognitive decline, forcing her to confront a new reality. As Ritika grapples with this revelation, she embarks on a journey of acceptance, coming to terms with her mother’s irreversible condition.

Ghosh is a festival veteran with 2011’s “Nobel Thief,” 2012’s “Uncle Shyamal Turns off the Lights,” 2015’s “Peace Haven,” 2016’s “Mi Amor,” 2019’s “Aadhaar” and 2023’s “Scavenger of Dreams” all premiering at Busan and 2024 documentary “Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen” at Rotterdam. He scored a major commercial hit with “Kabuliwala,” which released in India during Christmas 2023.

“I liked the script, and I liked the narration,” Tagore told Variety, explaining her decision to take on the role. “I’ve also seen his ‘Kadambari’ and ‘Kabuliwala.’ I liked the director’s dedication to the kind of film he makes and also the script. I liked my role, and I hadn’t done this kind of film before.”

The actor found Ghosh’s approach refreshing. “He didn’t over-instruct,” Tagore said, describing her preparation for the role. While Ghosh provided her with some books for research, Tagore opted for a more intuitive approach. “I just sort of imagined the character. I felt that this is how she’ll walk, this is how she will speak.”

Tagore’s character in “The Ancient” grapples with memory loss, though the specific condition remains unnamed in the…