Times change… A remnant of the colonial age, Miss Stoneham (Jennifer Kendal) lives in Calcutta in a modest two-room flat. She leads a lonely routine life, inhibited by her spinsterhood. This sensitive melodrama centres on the comfort she finds in the new friendship she forges with her former student, Nandita, and her boyfriend Samaresh. The two lovebirds use her flat to flirt while she is out teaching literature in a girls high school. An unpredictable and sensitive story of adoption, 36 Chowinghree Lane, is buoyed by a skillful and subtle script. Produced by Sashi Kapoor, the film was initially to have been directed by Shyam Benegal, but a bold choice was made to bring in debutant director Aparna Sen. JB
World Premiere of the restored print
