Allan, played by Hugh Grant, and another man, Lucien, played by John Hurt, are stationed in India. Alan is an engineer who builds bridges and roads, and is reluctant to assimilate the rich culture in his environ. Hurt's character, however, immerses himself into the unique lively vibrant India.

When Allan falls ill, he moves to recuperate in his employer's house at the invitation of his employer - who is Indian and has a daughter. As you can guess, Allan and the daughter, Gayatri, played by Supriya Pathak,  have a romantic relationship at two vertices of a love triangle, with Lucien at the third. However, India is not mature yet to accept a white man and an Indian woman, and some unexpected complications arise.

The Bengali Night (La nuit bengali) is known for its eroticism - sex is used in the film in a subtle soft way to enhance the story. When originally released, the movie was pathbreaking in the Indian context in terms of not shying away from the primoridal physical aspect of the relationship between man and woman.

La nuit bengali belongs to the collection of every Bengali, Indian, and gloabl citizen interested in beautiful movies.

Cast

    Hugh Grant        ...     Allan
Shabana Azmi        ...     Indira Sen
    Supriya Pathak        ...     Gayatri
    John Hurt        ...     Lucien Metz
Soumitra Chatterjee    ...     Narendra Sen
    Anne Brochet        ...     Guertie
    Pierre-Loup Rajot    ...     Harold
    Elisabeth Perceval    ...     Norinne
    Anjan Dutt        ...     Khokha
    Poornima Pathwardhan    ...     Lilou
    Steve Potts        ...     Steve
Utpal Dutt        ...     The Priest
Srirupa Chatterjee    ...     Supriya

The Movie DVD will be re-released on June 23, 2009. To avoid having to wait to watch the movie, pre-order the film  now from WBRi DVD / Blu-Ray Movie Store: Click Here »

Buy the book (English) The Bengali Night by Mircea Eliade

Buy the book (Bengali) The Bengali Night by Mircea Eliade