Darbaan: The Ultimate Tragedy Behind Little Master’s Disappearance Explained!

There could not have been a better year for the release of Bipin Nadkarni’s Darbaan. This year when hardships, pain, and uncertainty stared directly at us, Rabindranath Tagore’s beautiful stories are among the few things that kept us sane. Darbaan is an on-screen adaptation of Tagore’s short story and is a heartwarming yet sadistic tale of human relationships and selfless love.

The film is an emotional journey of characters giving out some important life lessons. There’s a lot to learn from this 90-minute soulful drama. With equally matching performances by the cast, Darbaan has stood out to be one of the finest movies of this year. 

Besides acknowledging its beautiful tale, there were some mysteries that were less discussed – the most important being the little master’s disappearance/death which turned out to be a driving force of the plot. To answer the same query, we went through the original short story and have finally found the right one. 

Decoding Visuals

It was under Raicharan’s care that Anuku’s son Siddhu disappears. However, we never get to know how the kid disappears. But going back to Tagore’s short story, we understood that one crucial detail which we missed in the film. 

In the film, the little master’s death is conveyed through visuals. When Raichu follows the flowing river, we see a child’s shoe flowing with the water which ultimately suggests the little master’s death. While visuals do the job for film, Tagore has described the scene as a part of natural calamity in his original work.

Connecting With Reality

Rabindranath Tagore’s stories are all emotional with a personal touch to it. In here too, the child’s death and the consequent guilt, sacrifice, and pain that follow come from Tagore’s personal experiences. He was the man whose life was stuck with grief for a very long time. After his wife and daughter’s death, Tagore lost his 11-year-old son Shamindranath to the cholera epidemic. And his son’s death shook him to the core. Hence in every Tagore story or poem, grief and guilt have an important role to play. And the same is reflected in Darbaan.

Darbaan is now streaming on Zee5.