Manihara

Manihara Story: Former CBI officer and private investigator Rudrajit Roy (Chiranjeet) is roped in by industrialist Arun Chowdhury (Neel) to probe the mysterious disappearance of his wife Monideepa (Sohini). His investigation reveals an eerie tale of frustration and betrayal.
Cast: Chiranjeet Chakraborty, Sohini Sarkar, Argha Deep Chatterjee, Neel Mukherjee, Biplab Chatterjee, Manasi Sinha, Late Kunal Padhi, Debranjan Nag, Rii
Direction: Subhabrata Chatterjee
Genre: Horror
Duration: 2 hours 9 minutes

Manihara Review: Manihara binds you to your seat for more than two hours straight, giving you goosebumps at times and sucking you into the narrative at others. And if it's a debut directorial, I guess we need more such debutants. From the opening credits to the last jolt, the film flows smooth and easy, shocking only when it's meant to. That makes it a really good watch, though the storyline has its share of holes.
It's technically sound and the editing, especially, is excellent and adds fantastic detail to the narrative. When Monideepa is writing her last letter, the snappy cuts to her jewellery, or the way the shots shift between the floor indicators and Rudrajit when he rides down a lift adds an almost ad-like momentum to the narrative. Some shots, too, are excellent, especially those involving Monideepa. The correct use of light and shadows heightens the tension. But the music, especially the background score, takes the cake. Bob Stevens has done a fantastic job of jolting you from your seats every time the narrative takes a turn towards the supernatural. Even the few songs have been beautifully woven into the storyline. The use of digital effects, too, has been really balanced.

Coming to the performances, every actor has more or justified their character. Chiranjeet looks and acts like the sleuth he is, sans the 'I'm a super sleuth' aura that's so common on the big screen. As for Sohini, she has put up a subdued and subtle performance that goes perfectly with her character. She manages to portray her sensuous femininity, her obsessive lust for jewellery and her thirst for true love quite well. Argha Deep, who plays Moni's ex-boyfriend, has also pulled off a pretty decent act. But the performance that takes the cake is that of Biplab Chatterjee, who plays Argha's landlord. He not only adds a hint of comedy to the narrative but actually goes about it with a natural flair.
When it comes to the storyline itself, it seems the script needed some more work. For one, Rudrajit always carries around Moni's last letter, but its contents are never revealed. Why does it intrigue him? What's so mysterious about it? Second, the story spans two years, but doesn't explain what happens in between. Why do things suddenly take a turn after two years? No logical explanation. Such holes are not expected in a film that is supposed to be an altogether new take on a story told before. But, as I said at the outset, Manihara makes for a great watch. And I'm sure you'll love it like I did.

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Horror,

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Sesh Anka

Raina (Parno), the daughter of business tycoon Ritobrata Roychoudhury (Shankar), is arrested for killing an NRI businessman. What follows is a thrilling ride, as ace lawyer Pronoy Dasgupta (Dipankar De) join hands with ACP Prithwiraj (Samadarshi) and elusive private eye John Braganza (Mir) to prove her innocence.

Cast: Dipankar De, Parno Mittra, Samadarshi Dutta, Mir Afsar Ali, June Malia, Arindam Sil, Shankar Chakraborty, Debolina Dutt, Atanu Barman, Shataf Figar, Debaprasad Halder
Direction: Tathagata Banerjee
Genre: Thriller
Duration: 2 hours 3 minutes

Review: Sesh Anka won't make your knuckles go white gripping the seat handles, but it's surely a web well woven. What's more; it doesn't have that predictable cliched storyline. That, for certain, makes for a great thriller.

The strength of the film lies in something pretty basic — the casting. Almost every actor fits their character like a glove, and they have more or less done justice to their roles. Dipankar De looks and acts perfect as the pot-bellied, retired ace criminal lawyer, Shankar Chakraborty looks pretty much like the self-made business tycoon, whom he plays pretty well, Samadarshi is quite believable as the cynical cop, and Mir...well, better not character-zone him, chameleonic as his role is. But he shines in the many avatars of the elusive private eye, John Braganza. Though his appearances are short and few, he manages to play every character to the hilt and also adds to the mystery to the film. But Debolina looks a tad young for the role of the scheming Minakshi Bhattacharya. If Minakshi had been around since Raina's childhood, pushing the girl's mother — who is also her lover Ritobrata's wife — to suicide, a slightly older look would have suited her better. But she doesn't look that age, though she has played the character really well. June, however, looks perfect as Amrita — the mother of Raina's deceased friend, Payel, though she looks too stoic at times. Arindam Sil, too, looks and acts perfectly as her husband, Alokesh Banerjee, who is also a VP in a private TV news channel and a childhood friend of Ritobrata.

The film hardly has any significant goof-up, except Minakshi and Ritobrata's introductory scene, where the former seems to be smoking an unlit cigarette. Though her face is out of focus when she drags on the fag, there is no tell-tale glow at the burning end. Apart from this, the police investigation feels a bit sketchy, as the narrative leaves out the details. This, no doubt, adds to the mystery, but it also makes the story jump from A to B without the right reasons.

But overall, Sesh Anka is surely a thriller that is worth every paisa you pay to watch it. It manages to keep you glued to your seat with some great camerawork and a fast, racy storyline that refuses to let you guess the climax.

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Kolkata, Thriller,

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Boudi.com

Five brothers, named after the Pandavas of Mahabharata, live in a city of huge houses and almost no population. When the only servant of the house, tired of catering to their myriad needs and wishes makes a mess of things, they realize that the house needs a woman's touch. So each starts trying to get the eldest brother Yudhishthir (Saswata) get married to a girl of their own choice. Pandemonium ensues when their choices clash with Yudhishthir's own.

Cast: Saswata Chatterjee, Rachna Banerjee
Direction: Raaj Mukherjee
Genre: Comedy
Duration: 2 hours 16 minutes

Review: From the opening scene to the climax, the amount of slapstick humour in the film can put a David Dhawan or a Govinda to shame. The director grossly miscalculates the potential of an unfunny script and Saswata and Rachna sleepwalk through their roles.

Some may still want to watch the film because of Saswata Chatterjee, who has a reputation of having the Midas touch or for Rachna Banerjee, who is hugely popular on TV. But 10 minutes into the film, you realize that this Saswata is a far cry from the actor we saw in Kahaani or Meghe Dhaka Tara. Still, he manages to make Yudhisthir's character lovable. Rachna, however, acts and talks exactly like she does when she is conducting a game show on TV — minimum voice modulation, the exact same smile for almost all the scenes. Also, she has absolutely no chemistry with Saswata. And, the lesser said about the other actors the better. Especially Samrat, who, with his beefcake appearance, grates on the senses. However, Parthasarathi as the servant Kanto and Sumit Samaddar and Kanchan Mullick as professional matchmakers are worth the screen time they have been given.

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Comedy, Kolkata,

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Roga Howar Shohoj Upaye

Story: Joy (Parambrata Chatterjee), a five-star hotel's chef, has a foodie wife, Ranjana (Raima Sen). Their blissful life gets disrupted when Ranjana's fear of gaining weight turns into an obsession
Cast: Parambrata Chatterjee, Raima Sen, Riya Sen, Neel Mukherjee, Kamalika Banerjee, Rudranil Ghosh
Direction: Debaloy Bhattacharya
Genre: Comedy
Duration: 2 hours 2 minutes
Show Timings in Your City
Review: Body shaming, our society's tendency to equalize beauty with thinness, obsession with the size-zero figure — Debaloy Bhattacharya's Roga Howar Shohoj Upaye is supposed to be a funny, sarcastic take on all of this. But in order to cater to today's audience, Debaloy ditches black humour for mindless comedy. In that sense, Debaloy has succesfully made a 'comedy' though it elicits no laughter. Not even a chuckle.
Though the director, who is also the script writer, leaves no stone unturned to make us laugh — dialogues full of sexual innuendos, scenes full of animation and graphics, and an overwhelming number of bizarre dream sequences. Debaloy, as the chief chef, also tries to sprinkle some self-deprecating humour (Joy and Ranjana repeatedly say, "Etake comedy banate hobe. Comedy na holey hit hobe na!") and philosophy over the khichuri that he has cooked. But as we all know, too many cooks spoil the broth. That's exactly what has happens with this film. In the total two hours, the first 45 minutes are dedicated to Joy and Ranjana's relationship. It gets monotonous, because it could have been depicted in half the time. But when Joy proposes to Ranjana in an animated eggplant field, or when comic strip character Bantul The Great comes out of the pages to run a seductive finger along the bulging backside of the slimming-centre lady (Kamalika), you realise that there's no 'shohoj upaye' to make people laugh.
Actors, however, have put in their best. Parambrata Chatterjee's Joy has charmed all. So has Raima Sen with her sweetness and vulnerability. Riya Sen, on the other hand, doesn't have much to do apart from looking sultry and she does that with aplomb. Lastly, Neel Mukherjee as Joy's boss and Anindya Bose as Ranjana's drunk boss are the only two characters, whose sequences just about make this film paisa vasool.

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Comedy, Thriller,

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Dakbaksho

Avro (Satrajit), a freelance photographer, enters the life of frustrated documentary maker Srija (Supriti) amidst a scenario filled with mistrust, deceit and mystery.
Cast: Supriti Choudhury, Satrajit Sarkar, Pradip Roy, Pradip Moulik, Subrata Chokroborty and others
Direction: Prosenjit Choudhury & Abhijit Chowdhury
Genre: Thriller
Duration: 1 hour 51 minutes


Review: Dakbaksho is thriller that starts good but goes too soft towards the end. Then there is the rather gripping mystery that falls flat on its face once the plot is unravelled.

The reason for this are many. For one, the actors somehow fail to live up to the momentum, and put in rather damp performances just when the situation demanded more. For one, Satrajit is good as the eccentric photographer, but fails to make a mark once his true identity is revealed. The same goes for Supriti and Pradip Roy, who plays a pipe-smoking important-looking character quite well till the storyline virtually spoils his character. The other actors are average at best, some making it amply clear that they are acting with their unnecessary overacting.

The music is fine, a couple of songs pretty good, but it hardly adds anything to the film. A thriller definitely demands support from the music department, especially the background score. But in this case, it's too flat to add to the mystery.

Visually too, it's an average experience, with no shot to highlight as such. In fact, there's this often promoted shot where Supriti swaps position in a cab in two subsequent shots. While one shot shows her sitting to the right of Avro in the passenger seat, the next shows her resting her chin on the left window and smiling at the view outside. A jarring discontinuinity, if not anything else. Overall, Dakbaksho is a film you can watch, as it's relatively good despite being a launchpad for so many debutants, including the directors and lead actors. But the ultimate choice is yours.

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Kolkata, Thriller,

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Asha Jaoar Majhe (Labour of Love)

The film revolves around a couple, too busy making a living to have time for each other

Cast: Ritwick Chakraborty, Basabdutta Chatterjee and others
Direction: Aditya Vikram Sengupta
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 hour 24 minutes

Review: Labour of Love is a breath of fresh air in a medium that relies heavily on dialogues to make an impact. More importantly, the fact that the film has none of it doesn't really alter its beauty. It shows, rather convincingly at that, how drama and detailing can keep the audience glued to seats even if none of the actors mouth a single word.

Speaking of drama, it's the realness that strikes a chord. Both the characters, played by Ritwick and Basabdutta, go about life in such a mundane, unhurried kind of way that the film seems to be a documentary about a day in the life of a lower middle-class working couple, with the recession as the backdrop. And they are good, really good, in whatever they do in front of the camera within those 84-odd minutes. Their body language and actions tell the story of anyone not born with a silver spoon in the mouth.

But the highlight of the film, without which it wouldn't been half of what it turned out to be, is the attention to detail. It traces the couple's life in minute detail, sketching out their work and personal routines using a sequence of strokes to create the complete picture. From that hook on the wall where both hang the house keys, the towel laid out to dry by the kitchen sink, to the notches on the ceiling fan regulator — everything contributes to creating the circle around which the couple's life revolves. Even the content of their tiffin boxes are the same, and so is lunch and dinner. Each and every dot is connected and accounted for. The depiction of the only black-and-white moment in the couple's life when they meet for a few romantic minutes in the morning is truly touching and well portrayed.
Despite all this, Labour of Love can't be called flawless. And in its case, it's the unnecessary panning and prolonged focus employed in many scenes. For one, there is this almost 360-degree pan in a scene involving Ritwick. The camera pans away from him eating a cake, goes nearly a complete circle, and ends up on a red oxide-painted wall, consuming nearly 2 minutes. Don't expect a classic continuation sequence, because there is none. It is simply followed by a cut, which is a bit jarring. Then again, there's this prolonged focus on the turning wheels of Ritwick's bicycle as he returns from work. It's again followed by an abrupt cut.

But that's just a technical point and doesn't make any difference to the beauty of the film. And it's surely a film you shouldn't miss. It will remind you how actions can speak louder than words.

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Drama, Kolkata,

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Auto 9696

The film is a story of Kelo's journey from being an auto driver to a superstar.

Cast: Arjun Chakrabarty, Amrita Chattopadhyay, Ankita Majumder
Direction: Aritra Mukherjee
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 hour 43 minutes

Review: The movie is a series of filmi cliches that we have been watching and re-watching for god-knows how many years. As all of us are big on listicles nowadays, so let's go through the cliches one by one:

Cliche number one: Auto driver Kelo wants to be a hero and regularly dreams of romancing his favourite heroine. While driving his auto, he interacts with many of the film industry people as his route is through the studio para in Tollygunge. His hero-like outfits remind you of Salman Khan, who is an undisputed god for autowallahs in our country. He relentlessly distributes his pictures in various studios for a big break. Can't you already guess what will happen next? This context gives way to the next cliche.

Cliche number two: Enter the heroine, Chumki (Amrita). Obviously she is his childhood friend, motherless and living with a strict father. She cooks, earns by sewing clothes and most importantly, secretly loves Kelo. Her unrequited love prompts her to lend him money, support his dream and suffer silently knowing that he loves another. Remember Ayesha Jhulka in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar?

Cliche three: Continuing from our first point, when nobody is giving patta to our auto driver hero with a heart of gold, what else do we need? Of course, a makeover. We, the Indian audience, know this from watching numerous 'behenji bani babe' makeovers in films and TV serials. So, Chumki lends Rs 20,000 to Kelo, which he uses to get an acting course and a complete makeover. We're sure, at this point, Arjun Chakrabarty must have given a relieved sigh to get rid of the grey pallor of makeup that the director must have decided an auto driver should have. Come on, how can an auto driver have fair complexion?

Cliche four: The love triangle. When Kelo becomes a famous hero and starts having a relationship with co-actress and dreamgirl Juhi (Ankita), we all know that he will not end up with her. Again predictably, there's a last-minute realization of love, chase sequence and like all the previous film of this genre, a happy ending.

The film is barely watchable because of Arjun and Amrita's performances. They are effortless in portraying the enterprising Kelo and the simple Chumki. But the script is full of over-smart dialogues and unnecessary puns. It's also fixated on bowel movements. The audience may have warmed up to this concept on screen after watching Piku, but not everyone is an Amitabh Bachchan and not every film has a Deepika or Irrfan. So, if you want to watch Auto No 9696, apart from a few performances, the film or the story has nothing much to offer.

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Drama, Kolkata,

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Family Album

Their four-member family looks picture perfect, but is full of lovelorn hearts that seek true love. And it's this quest and its aim that dominates their lives.

Cast: Swastika Mukherjee, Paoli Dam, Ronodeep Bose, Riya Sen, Kaushik Sen and others
Direction: Mainak Bhaumik
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 hour 54 minutes


Review: Family Album is a mature film. That's not because it trains the lens on some sombre aspects of our society and their impact on human emotions and relationships. In fact, that's exactly what it does. But the beauty of the storytelling lies in its mature use of humour.

It's not a laughter riot. Had it been that, the story would've surely suffocated to death. But Mainak has used a simpler approach. He kept the storytelling easy and real. As a result, you don't see anyone act. Every character goes about life, maybe just as they would in real life, fumbling, groping for words, passing witty remarks, laughing, crying.... Well, it's always a treat to watch a film that doesn't feel like one. And that's how real Family Album feels.

Coming to performances, Paoli and Swastika display such crackling chemistry that they could well become the next hit jodi of Tollywood! No kidding! The two actresses seem completely at ease even while smooching. Individually, they have literally become their screen characters - Paoli, the chronically depressed ace photographer with a tomboyish appeal, and Swastika, the fumbling bespectacled bookworm who even buys a book to understand the nuances of lesbian sex after she meets her lady in shining armour! As for team Riya-Ronodeep, the emotions are just there, but for the actress's overuse of English. In fact, every character feels real.

The next best thing about the film is its music, especially the songs. Subtle, yet melodious, the songs surely drive the emotions home. Even the background score blends perfectly with the storyline. But it's the end that leaves a lot to the imagination. A bit too much I'd say. Its abruptness doesn't hurt, but does leave a void that could've been filled up a teeny-weeny bit to save us the after-thought.
In a nutshell, Family Album is surely a film you can watch alone or with adult companions. It will give you some invaluable insight into why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, or maybe how you can avoid judging altogether.

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Drama, Kolkata,

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Jamai 420

Story: Three couples elope to Bangkok to set things right after a series of unfortunate incidents turn their love lives upside down.
Cast: Ankush Hazra, Soham Chakraborty, Hiran, Nusrat Jahan, Mimi Chakraborty, Payel Sarkar, Kharaj Mukherjee and others
Direction: Ravi Kinagi
Genre: Comedy
Duration: 2 hours 18 minutes


Review: Jamai420 is more than two hours of mindless madness. So mindless that it could even give a Sajid Khan film a run for its money! I mean, why? Why would a successful divorce lawyer like Joy (Ankush) leave his roaring career behind and rush off to Bangkok to set his love life right? Just to give the film the right settings for a few song and dance sequences? Even the settings were not good enough. Poolside fountains can be found in abundance in India. Why would a luxury hotel in Bangkok have a reservation desk clerk who is Bengali by birth, looks Caribbean, and behaves like Martin Lawrence as Big Momma? Why would three families.... Wait, make that four. So, why would four families, including the borderline insane avatar of Biswanath Basu and his gun-toting mother, rush off to Bangkok at the drop of a hat? Moreover, Shankar Chakraborty as Mimi's father deserves a mention in the record books for surviving more than 100 strokes and still going strong! And finally, why spend money to make such a film and drop it on unsuspecting people?
Now that we are done with the pleasantries, let's start a little dissection. First, acting. All the actors in the film have managed to take hamming to the next level. Kharaj Mukherjee, Shantilal Chakraborty, Supriyo Dutta, Biswajit Chakraborty and Shankar Chakraborty are right up there, at the top. The only non-hammers were the girls in the cast and Hiran, as Ankush, Soham leave no stone unturned to act as loud as possible. But I guess that's maybe because the director wouldn't settle for less. But the result was a hamfest, with each actor trying to out-overact the others. Music. Well, can't say it's bad; just run-of-the-mill commercial stuff that makes you shake a leg for a week or so before fading into oblivion.
And now, the most pertinent part. Comedy. Slapstick; heavy on slaps, but nothing that sticks. In fact, one wonders how can Biswanath Basu getting slapped every third minute be considered even remotely close to being funny?
The bottomline? Jamai 420 has three good looking girls, three relatively handsome guys, a helluva lot of angry parents and tonnes of nonsense. If you're ready to go through hell to see the girls dancing in wet hot pants or think you can tolerate constant catcalls from the general audience to watch the hero of your dreams, go ahead and watch the film.

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Comedy, Kolkata,

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Room No. 103

Room No. 103 tells the story of a mysterious hotel room and how the lives of those who stay there change — for better or for worse.
Cast: Soumitra Chatterjee, Anjana Basu, Badshah Maitra, Rajesh Sharma, Ankita, Anindyo Bose, Jisshu U Sengupta, Priyanka
Direction: Aniket Chattopadhyay
Genre: Thriller
Duration: 2 hours 1 minute


Review: The film opens with the hotel manager Rudra Chatterjee (Soumitra), who, like a puppeteer, plays with the fates of unsuspecting customers by assigning them to the cursed Room No. 103. He then narrates the stories to the audience without explaining how he gets to know what is going on inside the room at night. Even if you decide to ignore this impossibility, as soon as the first story gets over, you get the drift of the film — it is neither a thriller nor drama. The mixed bag of stories is predictable, some of them mildly interesting because of the performances, but some disappointing — also because of the performances.
Take the first story of the two star-crossed lovers — Dyotona (Anjana Basu) and Imdadul (Badshah). They portray their characters, both as college students and as a middle-aged couple, with equal ease. But the end is so predictable that you lose interest halfway through the story. In the second story involving a contract killer Tirtha Majumder (Rajesh), the director has tried to add many layers to the character. But a weak storyline and repetitive dialogues pull the tale down. Tirtha keeps repeating the line, Aamar ar bhalo lage na, to the point that you want to do something violent to him.
The third story, though very mediocre, gets most of the footage for some unknown reason. It's a story of a jilted lover, Madhabilata (Ankita), whose life is altered after she meets Kanchana in the hotel and stays in Room No. 103. Ankita portrays the role of a vulnerable girl well. Here, the director takes a wrong call by casting Kanchana in the role of Madhabilata's saviour. The actress, playing a loud-mouthed and crass girl with a heart of gold, goes so OTT that you cringe every time she opens her mouth. However, the director saves the best for the last. Jisshu and Priyanka's story is dark and disturbing. This story of an ageing and womanizing filmmaker and a struggling actress ticks all the right boxes in terms of content, form and picturisation. Kudos to Jisshu and Priyanka for superb performances. They are a principal reason why the audience may feel that two hours in the theatre haven't gone completely to waste.

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Kolkata, Thriller,

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Kadambari

Kadambari Devi enters the Tagore household as philanderer Jyotindranath's wife at the age of nine, only to find herself lonely and sidelined. This lays the foundations for her bond with young Rabindranath — a relationship that grows with them till others start noticing their closeness.

Direction: Suman Ghosh
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes


Review: Kadambari is a pure entertainer. No, not the least mindless or illogical, but a rather intelligently made film that keeps you glued to the screen throughout its 90-minute-long life. But in showing the bonding and the inevitable romance between Rabindranath (Parambrata) and his sister-in-law, it does miss out on a distinct storyline. It kind of begins and ends with Kadambari Devi (Konkona), though it isn't really a biopic. I'm saying that because anyone trying to draw historical parallels with the series of incidents depicted in the film might be a mite disappointed. But yes, it's a wholly watchable film because every actor has lived his/her part; though Parambrata is a bit of a disappointment. Somehow, he sticks to his typical expressions and mannerisms — never really becoming the poet he is playing. But the same can't be said for Konkona, who is subtle, yet expressive. Kaushik Sen, too, look the part of a suave gentlemen with a colourful life. The show-stealer is, however, Titas Bhowmik, who breathes life into the character of Gyanodanandini. She manages to depict her subtle romance with Jyotindranath and her own ego clash with Kadambari with elan.
The biggest high in the film, however, is the music. Every sound, every song is mesmerizing, if not more. Hats off to Bikram Ghosh for such good work. Even the background score is soothing. But it's really jarring on the nerves when Parambrata sings in his own voice hardly a few minutes after lip-syncing to a playback by Ustad Rashid Khan! I'm not saying the actor doesn't sing well; but the contrast is too sharp to go unnoticed.
The cinematography, too, is great, creating just the right ambience for the period. The shots are tight and balanced — never revealing too much of the backdrop, especially in the mansion scenes. But the boat scene, especially the close-ups, seem a bit off-kilter, as nothing seems to move — not even the boat. It's a full moon night out in the middle of a river, and no breeze seems to blow and the boat refuses to rock! A bit odd...
Over all, Kadambari is a film you shouldn't miss. Yes, it has its minor flaws, but as I mentioned at the outset, when it comes to being an entertainer, it gets full marks. Watch it as you would any other romantic drama. You are bound to enjoy it.

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Drama, Kolkata,

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Nirbaak

Story: It's a medley of four tales of silent love, involving one woman (Sushmita), three men (Anjan, Jisshu and Ritwick), a tree and a dog.

Cast: Susmita Sen, Anjan Dutt, Jisshu U Sengupta, Ritwick Chakraborty
Direction: Srijit Mukherjee
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 hour 49 minutes

Review: Nirbaak is a numbing experience. It kind of stuns you into silence. How can someone brew up such a heady concoction of unbridled imagination and unbelievable tales and dish it out to an unsuspecting audience? Not fair.

That's not to say it is bad cinema. It boasts of some excellent camerawork, crisp editing, good background score, fine samples of acting, two decent stories and a truly beautiful sutradhaar (Sushmita). But that's about it. The rest of it just hovers a few feet above the average head-line in the theatre, bounces off the nirbaak walls and fades into silence.

The film starts on a rather good note, with Anjan Dutt playing a hyper-narcissistic loner to perfection. But, somehow, he fails to become the character. His Bow Barracks-black-shades-suede-shoes-summer-coat identity hangs heavily in the air all through his act. Result: we just see Anjan Dutt French kissing his mirror image, emptying a whole can of deo on himself and even masturbating on bed, fantasizing about... yes, Anjan Dutt. A little tweaking with his done-to-death signature wardrobe would have made a big difference.

Then comes the shocking story of a tree in love — a tree that fantasizes about Sushmita dancing and seems to have an orgasm watching her sleep on a bench under it. Really? The other two stories are much gentler on your gastric juices, but the abrupt ends to all four tales kind of grate on one's nerves, especially the constant strain on different body systems. Why put a rather normal woman among a set of rather unnerving characters, each tottering on the verge of insanity? For instance, Ritwick whiles away minutes gazing lovingly at a frozen corpse and even brushing its hair. The only two normal characters in the scheme of things — Sushmita and Jisshu — are, again, on a short leash when it comes to displaying their acting prowess. Except for a short burst of passion and a snappy display of anger, Jisshu hardly gets any scope to act to his potential. Same goes for his onscreen ladylove, Sushmita.

Nirbaak has some great camerawork and the background score, too, doesn't meddle with the visuals. Yes, there are a few goof-ups, like the shot after a storm that ravages the 'tree in love'. It's apparent that the broken branches have been sourced from somewhere else. After all, a storm can break branches, but it cannot strip off every leaf. Nor can it turn the branches dry. A dog can push down the handle of a car door to open it. But modern luxury sedans don't have push handles. Can a dog really pull a small semi-concealed latch to open the car door? But the pertinent question is, can a tree have an orgasm? A scene seemed to suggest just that. And all this is a tribute to Salvador Dali! Don't believe it? Go, watch the film.

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Drama, Kolkata,

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Belaseshe

Biswanath Mazumdar (Soumitra Chatterjee) shocks his son and daughter-in-law (Shankar and Indrani), three daughters (Rituparna, Aparajita and Monami) and their husbands (Sujoy, Kharaj and Anindya) by announcing to his decision to divorce his wife, Aarti, (Swatilekha Sengupta) after 49 years of marriage. What follows is an emotional re-discovery of the institution of marriage.

Direction: Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee
Genre: Drama
Duration: 2 hours 21 minutes


Review: Belaseshe is one film that refuses to end. In fact, it has been more than 24 hours since I walked out of the theatre, but the sounds and images created by a septuagenarian couple's tryst with the myopia that plagues modern-day marriages linger on. Each minute that has ticked by since has been pregnant with some form of realization — about life, relationships and, most of all, about marriage. And every passing minute has added to my conviction that cinema can change things — for better, or worse. Maybe Belaseshe can even mend marriages on the verge of falling apart. That, my friend, is powerful cinema.

Also Read: What does a touch mean in a relationship? — Celeb Speak

Its power doesn't lie in the good cinematography, the great direction, the powerful and engaging performances by all the actors, or the good music. It lies in the surprising simplicity of the storyline. And the deep emotional reaction it elicits from every member of the audience. Why, most in the audience wept and laughed with the characters for well over 2 hours. And it would be an injustice to say I didn't. It's a story that touched some hidden chord deep inside.

And that's because it asks questions through its characters that make you sit up and look inward. When have I done that last? That keeps happening in my life too! Could that be the reason why my wife/girlfriend/husband/boyfriend is offended? These are some of the questions anyone watching the film might ask themselves, of course, when they are not busy laughing or wiping tears. As for the technical aspects of the film, there's nothing exceptional. It's a good production with good camerawork, good music and good direction. The songs, too, are well-placed and the background score complements the visuals and their moods. Acting-wise, Soumitra Chatterjee and Swatilekha Sengupta are, as usual, at their seasoned best, though Kharaj and Aparajita take the cake with their energy and fantastic comic timing. The others, including the child actors, have done absolute justice to their roles. Not one misplaced shot, no goof-up, no jerk.

But even such perfection would have come a naught had it not been for the gem of a concept and the brilliant script. And that's exactly why you should watch Belaseshe with that very person who you started out loving, but of late, have begun to view more as a boring habit. You'll not only walk out of the theatre with a smile, but a 'habit' you wouldn't want to change.

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Drama, Kolkata,

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Jhumura

Story: Rwik (Samadarshi) and Sahana (Sohini), two young journalists from Kolkata, visit Purulia to dig up interesting information on the dying folk art form, jhumur. There, they meet an elderly couple (Kuchil Mukherjee and Gopa Sengupta), who tell them the musical love story of Kanchan and Kusum and of Jhumura, a tribal village.

Cast:Sohini Sarkar, Samadarshi Dutta, Sabitri Chatterjee, Kuchil Mukherjee, Gopa Sengupta, Sourav Chakrabarty, Tania Kar
Direction: Anindya Chatterjee
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 hour 54 minutes

Review: Jhumura is poetry in motion. And the credit for that largely goes to the slow (a bit too slow at times) yet smooth storyline penned by the director himself and the excellent cinematography by Mrinmoy Nandi. From connecting the dots using a mute mask-seller to portraying the haplessness of Kanchan's first wife (Tania) with a dry leaf pushed around by a breeze, the film surely stands out for the simple magnificence of each frame and the thoughts that went into creating such a visual tapestry.

Add to this visual flow the fluidity of music — rustic and mellow — and Jhumura becomes a journey for the senses. You rise and fall with the hills and streams, the dawns and dusks, of Purulia, and feel your heart soar or sink with the soulful jhumur tunes. Moreover, the battle of the art form with modern entertainment alternatives over the decades has been portrayed with clarity.

But everyone seems so busy creating technical magic that no one seems to notice the flaws in the storyline. Yes, the flow is smooth, free of jumps or hiccups, but it leaves out vital pieces that precipitate confusing thoughts once you walk out of the theatre. Inside, you are too overwhelmed by the visual treat to think, but no such bindings exist outside. For one, the relationship between Sahana and Rwik is a confusing afterthought. The film fails to establish their growing fondness for each other. It hits you suddenly at one scene or two. Moreover, the story loses track of the demands of journalistic research. After all, no hard story can be written based on a love story of lore; journalists need facts and photographs. The two young journalists seem to lose track of that basic requirement as the film progresses.

Then again, it's the confusing timeframes. If the tale of Kanchan and Kusum is part of history (as made apparent by the barren hill on which once stood Kusum's village, Jhumura), then why hasn't the mask-seller aged? Even if we assume him to be a symbolic yet mute sutradhar, how can a thriving village disappear in just a few decades and why? We are basing these questions on the last chronological reference point in the Kusum-Kanchan tale — the screening of the Hindi film Amar Akbar Anthony. Assuming that the film reached the remote village, say, six months after its release, we can peg the timeframe around mid or late 1977. So, in the intervening 38 years, Jhumura is wiped out from the face of the earth, but the mask-seller refuses to age?

Moreover, the fate of Kusum and Kanchan is never revealed. If they are still alive, they would be in their sixties or seventies. So, do the storytellers (Kuchil and Gopa) relive their own tale of love? That, Mr Director, is too complex a riddle. You shouldn't have left it to the audience to figure out such a vital bit of the storyline. Jhumura is not exactly a Byomkesh tale, is it? So, despite creating such an audio-visual treat, we can't afford even a star more than two and a half. A little more attention to detail would have surely earned you at least a star more.

Now, coming to the acting department, we must say that the technical excellence of the film does create an additional burden on the actors to keep their performances on a par. Sohini is quite convincing, both as city girl Sahana and village beauty Kusum, and Samardashi nails it as photojournalist Rwik and village lad Kanchan. But, somehow, the two should have worked a bit more on their on-screen chemistry. Their constant arguments towards the beginning of the film seem almost forced at times. And though all other actors have done complete justice to their roles, just one star for acting.

Over all, Jhumura is an emotional film, a bit on the slow side, but still engaging. So, for a change, go and watch something that is miles away from mindless violence and item numbers and indulge your finer senses. You won't regret it.

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Drama, Kolkata,

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89

Purba ( Raima Sen), a psychiatrist by profession, witnesses a bomb blast in her city. The trauma unearths some dark secrets from her past. With the help of ATS officer Anup ( Shataf Figar) and a hypnotist ( Barun Chanda), she comes face to face with a serial killer who changed her life.
Cast: Saswata Chatterjee, Raima Sen, Shataf Figar, Barun Chanda
Direction: Manoj Michigan
Genre: Thriller
Duration: 1 hour 50 minutes

Review: What defines a well-made psychological thriller? Is it the intricacy of plot? An element of surprise? Excellent performances? Or the unexpected twist in the end? It's a bit of all and though Tollywood doesn't produce too many of those films, Manoj Michgan's 89 is an honest attempt with a gripping storyline, a good script and smart making.

The non-linear storyline works well here, as we get a glimpse into Purba's troubled past and how her uncertain present is affected by a cold-blooded killer, Sabyasachi. As the mystery unravels, Sabyasachi's character is revealed gradually — from a smooth-talking man to a moody and calculative fiend. The director keeps the audience guessing about his intentions. The best part is, there are no unnecessary songs or tear-jerking melodrama to dilute the tension that holds good through the movie.

With its lonely corridors, creepy alleys, dark cells and more, 89 is somewhat reminiscent of moody psychological thrillers from Hollywood and Asian cinema. The second half flags a bit though and you can second-guess the killer's intentions — not a great advertisement for the film's genre allegiance. However, there isn't a single loose string in the plot that the director forgets to tie up at the end. The performances — Raima with her big eyes and an air of vulnerability, Shataf with his street smartness and suave demeanour and most importantly, Saswata with his subtle but bone-chilling cruelty — also make this film worth a watch.

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Kolkata, Thriller,

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Amanush 2

It’s a story of Raghu (Soham), a shy youth, who turns to violence after surviving a traumatic experience. After serving a term at a juvenile correction centre, he takes up a different identity. One lie leads another and ‘Mr Hyde’ in him surfaces… What happens next forms the crux of the story.

Cast: Soham, Paayel, Anindya Chatterjee, Surajit, Rajesh Sharma
Direction: Rajib Kumar
Genre: Drama
Duration: 2 hours 25 minutes

Review: There are two reasons why you can spend one evening watching Amanush 2 and not regret later — Soham's impressive return after last year's Golpo Holeo Sotti and a gripping storyline that keeps you glued to your seats till the end. Thankfully, like most commercial Bengali films, Amanush 2 steers clear of the typical song and dance routine, an arm-candy heroine or a ruthless villain with a country's supply of weapons at his disposal. And if these don't excite you enough, the film has a brilliant Anindya Chatterjee (as Raghu's friend Ashok), who leaves a lasting impression once again after Chotushkone.

It's not easy to make a psychological thriller that is entertaining enough to connect to the masses. Script and the screenplay writer Anindya Bose excels in that department. He sticks to the reality and never goes overboard. Though Soham has a meaty role with substantial dialogues, and shoulders the entire film, Anindya steals the thunder quite often. Performance-wise, Soham emotes every mood — shyness, craziness, timidity or insanity —in a brilliant manner. So much so that even when it is revealed that he is a crazy killer, he gets audience sympathy. Rajesh Sharma, in a short role as a bright cop, complements Soham's character perfectly.

However, this film too has its share of flaws. It is predictable to a great extent, which takes away the charm of a thriller. Paayel Sarkar, as Ashok's girlfriend Riya, looks worn out. Even her heavy make-up, trendy clothes couldn't camouflage her disinterested performance. Otherwise, it is a good one-time watch.

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Drama, Kolkata,

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Bitnoon

Corporate employee Rahul (Ritwick) and Moushumi (Gargi) are happily married. But they hardly have a moment of togetherness, thanks to their six-year-old son, who believe that they cannot be trusted alone! A sexually frustrated Rahul bumps into dancer Rusha (Saayoni) leading to a romantic relationship and funny consequences.

Cast: Ritwik Chakraborty, Gargi Roychoudhury, Saayoni Ghosh
Direction: Abhijit Guha & Sudeshna Roy
Genre: Comedy
Duration: 1 hour 49 minutes

Bitnoon Review: Bitnoon, as the name suggests, is a joyride through the world of extra-marital relationships with a tinge of spice and loads of laughs. And when we say joyride, we literally mean that, because the trio of Ritwick, Gargi and Saayoni make sure that every scene tickles, every dialogue elicits a guffaw. In short, watching the film is fun.

But hey, no one this side has forgotten the role of a critic; this review has just begun. So first, let's dissect Rahul, or Ritwick. And the first word that comes to mind is flawless. He gets into the ticklish groove right at the outset, his body language, his expressions screaming, "I love my wife, but don't get to make love to her!" Tch, tch, the audience goes, while slapping their knees. The actor is even better when he gets into a heated argument with his future lover Rusha in a cab, or when he spots his wife at the same resort where he goes to spend the weekend with his lover. As usual, Ritwick simply melts into character and goes about the task of a man torn between his family and lover with elan.

As for Gargi, well, she should have added more punch to her character. There was enough room. We're not saying she doesn't do justice to her role. She does, and pretty well at that. We're simply saying she could've done better, added more layers to her role of a homemaker. She is, however, perfect at showing her frustration with the domestic help, who is almost always calling in to inform she can't come to work because someone is ill in the family.

Coming to Saayoni, she's good as the persistent seductress, Rusha. But, somehow, her tomboyish appeal and her girl-next-door looks doesn't gel well with the character. But that's a casting error, and we cannot blame that on the actress. She has, in fact, done pretty well as a girl who meets Rahul purely by accident, and then goes on to fall in love with him, knowing fully well that he's married and has a kid.

But despite the good performances and the laugh-a-minute storyline, the film fails to firmly establish its characters. As a result, while we are laughing and enjoying the scenes, the background remains hazy. The focus is so much on the three central characters that it seems to be a story without a beginning or an end. The characters are shallow — the depth a backgrounder adds is missing. Rusha, especially, is a character who just pops into the storyline. She is a dancer who often performs in shows, but seems to have no family or friends, except an uncle in Switzerland who sends her chocolates. At times, her character seems to have OCD, at others, she's just a girl next door. Confusing...

Anyway, confusions apart, Bitnoon is certainly a film you can enjoy, without your kids. So, go ahead. Heal yourself with a dose of the best medicine.

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Comedy, Kolkata,

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Ajana Batas

Deepa (Paoli) — a small-town girl who works as a copywriter in a Kolkata-based ad agency — starts having problems communicating with those around her. Whenever she wants to say something crucial, a mysterious breeze blows her words away. She sinks deeper into a shell as time passes, struggling to make her 'lost' thoughts clear to others. The film revolves around this struggle and how Deepa overcomes it.

Cast: Paoli, Vikram Chatterjee, Koushik Sen, Shankar Chakraborty and others
Direction: Late Anjan Das
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 hour 41 minutes

Ajana Batas Review: Ajana Batas is a poetic film; in fact, a bit too poetic. But sadly, the narrative flow lacks rhythm. It can at best be compared to a child's attempt at rhyming disjointed words: The reason is missing. That's the exact question on your mind for most part of the film — why? And there's no answer. It's either fantasy with a touch of reality or reality too far-fetched to be believable. After all, Deepa's mysterious forest and its whispering breeze are only possible in a poem or a fairy-tale. If we associate it with the real world, her character seems schizophrenic.

But then, reality is an integral part of the film. Deepa is a small-town girl who lives alone in Kolkata and works in an ad agency. She travels home every weekend to be with her family and her 'different' uncle, who believes in the same whispering breeze and is considered mentally unstable by family and society. She has a love life, lives in a house too upmarket for her professional standing, eats out at expensive eateries and shows absolutely no chemistry whatsoever with any other character in the film. Then why is her character so hazy, so borderline schizophrenic

That's also where we come to the actors. Paoli for one. Push away all the other characters, and her acting seems excellent. But put her into the frame with the others, and she still seems to be acting alone! Her family doesn't feel like a family, her office is dull and lacks vibrancy, her love life is cold and unexciting. Why? In fact, the same lack of chemistry is visible among all the characters. Even Shankar Chakraborty seems very restrained while portraying Deepa's depressed mejo kaku. The only character that seems real is that of a famous poet (Kaushik Sen), who befriends Deepa with seduction in mind. His is one character that goes about life with the right emotions. The rest is a muddle.

But perhaps the most disconcerting aspect of the film is its lack of energy. Everyone goes about life without any urgency, emotions are hard to come by and hardly anyone smiles. The protagonist oscillates between reality and fantasy, and the other characters seem like well-oiled machines busy weaving a life around her dreamy existence. But no one seems connected at any level.

Ajana Batas is a slow, lifeless film that fails to get its rhythm right, a story that fails to connect with the audience, a poem that fails to evoke emotions. It's an experiment. The question is, do you want to be the guinea pig?

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Drama, Thriller,

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Sajarur Kanta

Based on Saradindu Bandopadhyay's Byomkesh Bakshi novel Sajarur Kanta, the story revolves around a killer whose murder weapon is a porcupine quill.

Cast: Dhritiman Chatterjee, Konkona Sen Sharma, Indraneil Sengupta, Kaushik Sen, Dwijen Bandopadhyay, Biswajit Chakraborty
Direction: Saibal Mitra
Genre: Thriller
Duration: 2 hours 58 minutes

Review: Rajit Kapur, Uttam Kumar, Abir Chatterjee, Sujoy Ghosh, Sushant Singh Rajput and now Dhritiman Chatterjee with Jisshu U Sengupta in the line - when Saradindu Bandopadhyay created the sleuth Byomkesh Bakshi, he would never have imagined that so many actors would be eager to play the character over the years. Though the audience has been welcoming enough, the last five Byomkesh Bakshis have appeared on screen in the last five years. You could call it a Byomkesh glut — a young Byomkesh solved Benimadhab's murder on screen just a few days ago, and a younger avatar speaking in Hindi will hit the screens in a few days. So how does Dhritiman's superannuated incarnation match up?
Sajarur Kanta, the original story, is a readers' favourite and Saradindu, being a scriptwriter himself, handled the story like a film's plotline. Here, though, Saibal Mitra has given his imagination a free run in the name of turning the plot into a contemporary story. As a result, the motive, characters, denouement and circumstances are all changed. What we are served with is a three-hour yawn fest.
Konkona as Deepa and Indraneil as Debasish have done a decent job. Their chemistry is crackling but the script doesn't allow the romance to bloom. Moreover, Dhritiman's Byomkesh is quite far removed from the character we know, speaking English with a British accent and effecting theatrical expressions and dramatic entrances. Kaushik Sen's Prabal is intense but falls victim to a poor script. The film is touted as a thriller, but thanks to the poor editing there is little of that thrill left by the time the end credits roll.

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Kolkata, Thriller,

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Bheetu

The rape and murder of two Kolkata girls send cops into a tizzy, while the perpetrators carry on with their perverted activities. One of them, Rony (Ritwick), stalks Sohini (Parno), who is in a relationship with Andy (Shaheb) — an hotelier’s son. Sohini and her elder sister Rohini (Sudiptaa), who are already traumatized by a childhood molestation incident, are forced to retaliate when Rony gets violent.
Cast: Parno Mitra, Sudiptaa Chakraborty, Ritwick Chakraborty, Shaheb Bhattacharya, Kamaleshwar Mukherjee, Anindya Chatterjee
Direction: Utsav Mukherjee
Genre: Drama
Duration: 2 hours 7 minutes
 Bheetu is a racy, thrilling ride through the dark world of fearless, perverted minds and the grey abyss of fear. It's a story well told, with good sound effects and music. But what kind of grates on the nerves is its over-emphasis on all things sexual. And in that lies its failure. After all, from all angles, it's a film made to highlight the plight of women in today's porn and sex-obsessed society. Its aim, apparently, is to drive home the message that women are taken advantage of because of the fear that often paralyzes them just when they need to act. Its message: retaliate; kill if need be.

But, somewhere on the way towards this lofty aim, the film loses its way among the very things it wants the audience to abhor.

For one, Parno oozes oodles of sex appeal in hot pants and off-shoulder cleavage-showing tees in most of the film. She even has a couple of intimate scenes with boyfriend Andy (Shaheb). We have no problem with that. But the problem arises when her character happens to be that of a girl, Sohini, who is so traumatized by a childhood molestation incident that she refuses to forgive her elder sister Rohini for not rescuing her when she was being sexually exploited by their uncle. Such is her trauma that she has nightmares about the incident almost every night. This background, somehow, doesn't gel with the character we see throughout the film. Her hatred, the anger seems justified, but almost carefree personality doesn't fit into the mold her character demands.

Then there is Rony (Ritwick) — a perverted sex-obsessed youngster who thinks nothing of rape and murder. He collects women's undergarments and video-tapes almost every girl he sets his eyes on. The fact that he murders a girl at the very beginning of the film and keeps passing lewd comments about Sohini and other women well establishes the fact that he is perverted and borderline psycho. So, two scenes of him masturbating while watching videos of Sohini on his mobile phone are anything but necessary. These just add to the overly sexual tone of the film instead of adding anything to Rony's character.

Another character that's kind of contradictory is that Rohini (Sudiptaa), a wheelchair-bound 30-something woman whose husband leaves her because of her depression and psychological state. He states that her fears have driven a wedge between them. But her character seems nothing out of the ordinary. True, she is depressed after a crippling fall from a horse in Darjeeling, she has severe respiratory distress, but in no way does she seem to be in the grip of any fear.

But these critical flaws apart, the film flows quite smoothly. The storytelling is crisp, the music engaging and all the actors, including Kamaleshwar Mukherjee, who plays senior police officer, K Dasgupta, are good. Dasgupta is the officer in charge of the rape and double murder case. Sudiptaa, especially, is flawless as the crippled woman, who is torn between her own marital problems and her sister's hatred for her. Ritwick, too, manages to be as revolting as his character demands. But somehow, his role refuses to stand out, as he seems to be playing the same character over and over again for the last several films. The same north Kolkata mannerism and the same kind of dialogues. 'Stereotyped' seems stamped all over his character. As for the rest of the cast, be it Parno, Shaheb, they have done justice to their roles.

Over all, Bheetu is a watchable film, especially for those who want to take a few lessons in perversion. As for women, well, it's better avoided.

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Drama, Kolkata,

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Kanchenjunga Express

Ranjana (Jaya Seal Ghosh) and Surya (Sabyasachi Chakraborty) meet while travelling to Siliguri in the Kanchenjunga Express. As they start to know each other, Surya discovers that there is more to Ranjana than meets the eye.
Cast: Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Jaya Seal Ghosh, Mumtaz Sircar, Rajatava Dutta
Direction: Arnab Ghosh
Genre: Thriller
Duration: 2 hours 8 minutes

Review: Kanchenjunga Express can be summarized in just one line — it's a thriller that fails to thrill! Director Arnab Ghosh chooses a really ambitious plot for his debut film — a woman (Mumtaz as Nandini) accused of killing her two husbands and a lover, and a cop in her pursuit. What could have been a really gripping tale of love, despair, revenge and woman empowerment (phrase-credit goes to a certain RG), turns to be a dud with a predictable storyline, boring script and poor performances.

The director's decision to cast Sabyasachi Chakraborty as the cop and Rajatava Dutta as Nandini's abusive husband might have worked in favour of the film. Rajatava as usual steals every scene he is in. His short role is the only thing that is marginally watchable in this film. Sabyasachi generally plays cop-cum-sleuth roles very well. Here too he tries his best, but the romantic overtone of his character takes the necessary edge off. However, casting Jaya Seal Ghosh as one of the protagonists is a bad decision on the director's part. Someone who can't speak Bengali in a proper way can't make the audience watch and appreciate her acting. You will be distracted by her inaccurate pronunciations too often to concentrate on her performance.

Mumtaz Sorcar has done a decent enough job, in the sense that she doesn't look awkward as a schoolgirl and carries off the role of a corporate woman with the same ease. But, someone must have said that her smile is winsome, so she tries to insert a smiling face in almost every scene, whether needed or not. That is a bit disturbing. Soumitra Chatterjee has a cameo, in which he belts out a huge monologue that effective put the audience to sleep. And the less is said about the actors who play Raj and Vikram the better. All in all, instead of being the jack of all trades, the director should have hired someone to write the story and the script. We sincerely hope he remembers that before he makes another film.

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Kolkata, Thriller,

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Glamour

Glamour is a story of love, betrayal, revenge and murder which reminds you that truth is stranger than fiction

Cast: Parambrata Chatterjee, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Parno Mitra
Direction: Mahua Chakraborty
Genre: Thriller
Duration: 2 hours 14 minutes

It's raining sleuths in Tollywood! And they are coming in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes he is Feluda, Arjun or Kakababu for teenagers; at other times he is Byomkesh or Shabor for the adult audience. Riding on this wind, director Mahua Chakraborty introduces another sleuth in the mix — an ageing advocate-cum-detective named Pinakesh Majumder ( Sabyasachi Chakraborty), who solves a complicated mystery involving love, betrayal and murder. Coming from a first-time director, it's a smart and fresh effort, but as a whodunnit, it has too many layers to be decipherable.

The film delves into the dark and murky world of fashion and cinema as it shows the inner workings of a fashion magazine called Glamour. Aryan (Parambrata), one of the owners of the magazine, falls victim to a conspiracy that lands him in jail. His fiancee Mona (Parno) leaves him, his best friend doesn't believe him and he also loses the magazine. Only Riya, a TV journalist and Mona's identical twin, has faith in him and hunts down his old professor Pinakesh to save Aryan. As Pinakesh roams around the city solving an extremely complicated mystery with apparent ease, we suffer from an acute sense of deja vu. Why? It's because Sabyasachi as Pinakesh doesn't do anything that he didn't do as Feluda. But that was a Satyajit Ray story, and this isn't — and the difference shows. Even in the case of Parambrata, his decent performance as Aryan is overshadowed by the confusing plot. Parno stands out as the sassy but plain Riya, but doesn't have the swag to be the sexy Mona.

We won't give you any clues, but there's one you can't miss. A particular eyewear brand has invested a lot in the film, which shows in the in-film branding. So, everyone from the lead characters to the smaller ones wears super-fashionable specs (Param wears them in jail too!). That's one mystery you can solve easily as you watch the film.

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Kolkata, Thriller,

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Bodhon

A couple's (Joy and Arpita) world is turned upside down when their nine-year-old son (Samriddha) blacks out on Mahalaya morning and is subsequently diagnosed with a rare congenital heart defect. As it is, the couple was going through a rough patch because of their adopted three-year-old daughter (Ahana) ahead of this development.

Cast: Arpita Pal, Joy Sengupta, Gouri Ghosh, Mamata Shankar, Partho Ghosh, Prabir Das, Ahana Karmakar, Samriddha Pal, Dolly Basu, Sayani Ghosh, Debshankar Haldar, Soumitra Chatterjee, Koneenica Banerjee
Direction: Ayananshu Banerjee
Genre: Drama
Duration: 2 hours

Bodhon is the emotional journey of a woman torn between self-pity and the desire to be a good mother. And the foundation is laid the day she decides to adopt a girl child and give her a better life. Soon her daughter starts showing early signs of autism, triggering an emotional backlash from her mother that sets the whole family off balance. Despite her husband's attempts to put her at ease, she finds it extremely difficult to come to terms with the fact that she has to mother an autistic girl for the rest of her life, and that too, when that girl is not even her offspring. And over all, the director has handled the delicate subject of a mother's awakening (bodhon) with kid gloves, doing a really good job in the process. The way subjects like adoption, autism and congenital diseases has been handled is truly praise-worthy. Not once does the film seem preachy or melodramatic; the approach is as natural and balanced as cinematically possible. And in that lies the strength of the film.

Coming to acting, every actor has done their bit with perfection. Yes, at times the chemistry between Joy and Arpita did seem a bit forced, but still, both of them have moved along their individual orbits with elan. Arpita, especially, has managed to portray her inner turmoil quite clearly.

Moreover, the way the film's title has been justified surely deserves praise. And the constant connect to Ma Durga — be it through a shloka playing in the background or through a half-made Puja pandal — throughout the film is surely the masterstroke. It keeps the essence of the film alive for the two screen hours.

Over all, Bodhon is a film every parent should watch. Not because they need to learn how to be a good parent, but to witness something close to their hearts. To witness life, love and kinship and that cohesive entity called a family. But most importantly, in these times when reel relationships are often made convoluted, complex and even unrealistic to add that touch of drama, Bodhon is a drop of clarity that focuses not on problems, but on the solution. And every relationship is just about that — facing problems and finding solutions together, though sometimes, individual battles need to fought.

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Drama, Kolkata,

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Herogiri

Subho’s (Dev) father Dibakar (Mithun) desperately wants to see his son married. So when he meets Maria (Koel), he feels she will be the perfect wife for Subho. But everything is not what it seems. Maria’s ex-fiance and his uncle take a vow to not allow the marriage happen and reveals some facts of Subho and Dibakar’s past that stun everyone.
Cast: Mithun Chakraborty, Dev, Koel, Sayantika, Kharaj Mukherjee
Direction: Ravi Kinagi
Genre: Drama
Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes

As the title suggests, Ravi Kinagi's Herogiri is a testosterone-laden melodrama with the usual mix of action, high-strung emotions, some slapstick humour and songs shot in exotic foreign locations. So, what makes this film different from the other run-off-the-mill commercial Tolly releases? It's the presence of two superstars in one frame. Dev, with his droolworthy presence may make many young girls go dhak dhak, but Mithun Chakraborty still overshadows everyone with his screen presence. His chemistry with the hero half his age is something that makes the film watchable. Another factor is Kharaj Mukherjee and his enviable comic timing. Though sometimes it's borderline slapstick but because of Kharaj, your funnybone is tickled in the right way.

Still, the film will not stay with you after you leave the theatre, mainly because the other factors - the rest of the cast, the storyline, the songs or the fight sequences - feel cliched. The villains, the sidekicks and even the locations will give you a strong sense of deja vu.

Then there is Koel Mullick. Despite sharing screen space with biggies like Mithun and Dev, this film could've easily been hers, given the screen time she gets. But she fails to cash in on that most of the time. Her performance, whether she's making a fool of young boys, romancing Dev or playing the damsel in distress, is so high-strung that it can make you jittery. On the contrary, Sayantika, as the soft-spoken doctor Nandini, looks pretty and plays her part well.

Herogiri would have been a good film if it had a touch of reality. When Bengali cinema is celebrating many unusual storylines and making their protagonists more approachable and down-to-earth, one hero fighting a hundred goons with his bare hands is not something we need to see any more.

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Drama, Kolkata,

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Chotoder Chobi

Circus clown Shibu is bed-ridden after a trapeze act goes horribly wrong, leaving his wife and daughter, Soma (Deblina) in the lurch. The circus management sends a petty compensation to him through his subordinate Khoka (Dulal), who feels that Shibu has been cheated. He starts helping the family and falls in love with Soma in the process.

Cast: Dulal Sarkar, Deblina Roy
Direction: Kaushik Ganguly
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 hour 49 minutes

Review: Chotoder Chobi is one film that brims with potential, which, sadly, is never really harnessed to the optimal level. All the actors, especially Dulal and Debolina, have done a terrific job in their debut project, the camera work and editing are spot on, even the music adds substance to the narrative, but a film's performance always boils down to its script. And somehow, the script seems to skim the surface of a turbulent ocean — the strong undercurrent of social ostracism and the resultant mental trauma are hardly visible.
Now, you must be wondering where social ostracism comes into the picture. That's exactly the catch. The story has the potential to explore the rampant inequality that midgets face and the despair that follows, but the narrative, as it unfolds, becomes quite generic. Anyone can fit into the roles of Shibu, Soma, Khoka or the other characters. Any employer can mete out such unjust treatment to any employee, and not necessarily a midget. So, nowhere is the social disparity or the ridicule that's so common when it comes to midgets visible in the film, except one stray incident in a bus. In other words, Chotoder Chobi could be anyone's chobi. This, in a way, makes the film lose out on a lot of untapped potential.
On the brighter side, the film does away with the common notion that midgets are physically and mentally challenged and can only do well as circus jokers or as comic characters in movies or TV shows. It looks into the private world of these individuals, who often end up shunning social contact, fearing ostracism. It certainly makes one feel more at ease with the fact that midgets, who are just victims of a birth defect called dwarfism, are just shorter human beings. They are just like us on all counts, except their height.
Moreover, the film is really good from a technical point of view. Be it the camera work that aptly highlights the small stature of the actors, to the precise editing — everything keeps the film, which is a bit slow by commercial standards, moving at an interesting pace. The music by Indraadip Das Gupta, especially the engaging background score, also adds to the drama. Over all, Chotoder Chobi is a film made beautiful by its two 'choto' protagonists Dulal and Deblina, and it certainly deserves a watch. It's a simple story of two young people who fall in love and in doing that, manage to clear our minds about midgets and their small world.

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Drama, Kolkata,

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Romeo Vs Juliet

It's a story of Panihaati boy Romeo (Ankush) and London girl Juliet and how this unusual pair finds love.
Cast: Ankush, Mahi, Kharaj Mukherjee, Tulika Basu
Direction: Ashok Pati
Genre: Drama
Duration: 2 hours 29 minutes

How do you rate a film where each and every actor performs like they are part of an open-air jatra performance? What do you call a film which has a ridiculous plot that shows a village boy lusting after London's richest girl on Facebook? And when his family and neighbours try to get him married to the village headman's fat and ugly niece, he snubs them citing his intention to marry the said London girl. Thereafter, he travels to London (money? passport? visa? go figure) to woo the girl and girl, instead of lodging harassment charges against a creepy stalker, readily falls in love with him! Lastly, how do you rate a film whose hero (Ankush) and heroine ( Mahi)'s performances make you worship Uday Chopra and Nargis Fakri? That's filmmaker Ashok Pati's latest over-the-top venture, Romeo Vs Juliet for you. Did we just hear Shakespeare sighing in his grave?

No, it doesn't help that half of the film is shot in London's beautiful locales; it also doesn't help that Kharaj Mukherjee, the brilliant actor that he is, makes good of a bad situation and gives the bored-to-tears audience a few laughs. Finally, it also doesn't help at all, when disco lights hanging from the roof of the theatre starts flashing as soon as a song sequence starts! After getting tortured for the never-ending two and a half hours, watching Ankush, who makes a fool of himself on screen and a Bangladeshi heroine, whose name has more screen presence (in the form of the song Tui aamar Mahiya Mahi), than her actual self, this poor reviewer has one piece of advice for the director — do not put in an imitation of the iconic 'suicide' scene of Sholay in a film that's made with a lot of money and zero logic. It might give the frustrated audience wrong ideas.

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Drama, Kolkata,

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Open Tee Bioscope

Fowara (Riddhi Sen) returns to his north Kolkata home after being expelled from his school hostel for rowdy behaviour, only to make new friends and have the time of his life. But life turns on its head after a series of incidents, only to get back into groove towards the end.
 
Cast: Kaushik Sen, Paran Bandopadhyay, Rajatava Dutta, Aparajita Auddy, Sudipta Chakraborty, Riddhi Sen, Dhee Majumder, Rwitobroto Mukherjee, Rajarshi Nag, Surangana Bandyopadhyay, Sohini Sarkar, Biswanath Basu, Aparajita Auddy, Ritwick Chakrabarty, Ambarish Bhattacharya and others
Direction: Anindya Chatterjee
Genre: Drama
Duration: 2 hours 17 minutes

Review: If you grew up in the 90s, Open Tee Bioscope is your story. And in that lies the beauty of this emotional yet fun tale of a teenager, Fowara, who makes new friends, falls in love, discovers his past and shows his mettle on the playground — all after he is forced to return to his para in north Kolkata after being expelled from the school hostel for hitting the warden. Yes, Fowara is a rebel, but one without an answer to question that inevitably pops up every time he tells his name — "Jol pore?" And that question is just one instance where the Anindya Chatterjee brand of humour shines through. In fact, the film is brimming with that, right from Herombo's (Ambarish) naive compliment to Iraboti (Sohini) about her deep knowledge of the human body, to Fowara's hilarious attempt to impress his ladylove Titir (Surangana) by displaying his 'singing' prowess. Moreover, Fowara's street-smart friend Kochua (Rwitobroto) is a constant source of entertainment with his rib-tickling comments.

Introductions over, let's get to the finer aspects of the film. Technically speaking, neither does the storyline demand too much nor does the film dwell too much on great technique. But yes, there are scenes — a night-time terrace scene between Fowara and his mentor Gopeswar (Rajatava) for one — which really take the cake. When it comes to the night sky, even the '90s didn't have such clear skies because pollution and smog had already started, but the ribbed TV antenna and the ambient sounds make for a fantastic watch. And the fact that the scene is a turning point in the storyline heightens the impact. But the songs are truly great — be it the title track, the band number Pagla khabi ki or Anupam's closing track Bondhu Chol. Upal Sengupta has done a really good job. Even the background score goes perfectly with the youthful mood of the whole film.

Coming to the strongest department, acting, it has to be said that Open Tee Bioscope is a delight to watch just because every character is fantastic. Each actor — be it Fowara's mother Baisakhi (Sudipta), the quick-witted Noton dadu ( Paran Bandopadhyay), the frustrated football coach-turned Fowara's mentor Gopeswar or his fun-filled wife Sarama (Aparajita), their chubby and naive neighbour Herombo, the sincere NGO worker and social activist Iraboti, the para goon, policeman ( Biswanath Basu) or the para party bigwig Mohim Haldar (Kaushik) is a revelation. Ritwick, however, has too short a role as the grown-up Fowara. Each character is so natural that the audience is sent back into Kolkata of the '90s when emotions were strong and relationships, stronger. The language, the references and even the content shown on television sends us on a nostalgia trip.

But the best part about the film is the kid brigade — Fowara's street-smart friends Kochua, Charan (Dhee), Gopa (Rajarshi) and his ladylove Titir. The film hinges on their antics and acting and they deliver with all guns firing! Watching these five kids, as they switch between adolescence and innocence, makes Open Tee Bioscope the treat it really is.

A must-watch for all those who love clinging on to their school-time memories. But the question is, who doesn't? So, go and enjoy this nostalgic joyride. You can only walk out of the hall smiling.

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Drama, Kolkata,

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Lorai

Sebastian Ryan (Prosenjit), an alcoholic ex-football star, is assigned the task of training the youths of a remote violence-torn village in Purulia district. Though he is very sceptical about the task at the outset, circumstances force him to change his perception.

Sebastian Ryan (Prosenjit), an alcoholic ex-football star, is assigned the task of training the youths of a remote violence-torn village in Purulia district. Though he is very sceptical about the task at the outset, circumstances force him to change his perception.

Cast: Prosenjit Chatterjee, Indrasish, Paayel Sarkar, Kharaj Mukherjee, Gargee Roy Chowdhury, Kanchan Mullick, Parambrata Chatterjee
Direction: Parambrata Chatterjee
Genre: Drama
Duration: 2 hours 37 minutes


Review: Lorai is a good-hearted film that gives us a fair share of drama, humour and, of course, football. And despite our inclination to draw parallels with hits that have similar storylines — like Chak De! India — Lorai still manages to make a good impression.
hat doesn't mean it's perfect; it has its share of flaws. For one, it starts very slow, focusing too much on Ryan, his life and his past. The tempo picks up in the second half, but never reaches the crescendo a sports film demands. The biggest flaw, however, is the very pillar on which the film stands — Ryan's football team. To begin with, he virtually makes a team out of thin air, because, as his host and assistant Mokhar Alam ( Kharaj Mukherjee) points out, most of the village boys had never seen a football, let alone play it. And though the timeframe is not very clear, we can infer that his team locks horns with the Kolkata team around six-seven months after he first lands in the village — and wins! The question isn't how can 13-14 boys learn football in six months; they can. But how can they become skilled enough to beat a seasoned team from Kolkata in that timeframe? Cinematic liberty can go only that far. In a film that hinges on reality, this win, however emotionally charged it may be, sends realism for a toss.
Prosenjit is good as the caustic-tongued, asthmatic, alcoholic ex-footballer, though his frequent use of English despite being eloquent in Bangla, especially while communicating with the village lads and Mokhar, seems unnecessary at times. Kharaj is really good as the large-hearted villager who liaisons between the government and Ryan. His diction too is spot on. Gargee shines as Mokhar's silent sister who goes about the household chores without uttering a word. And when she does speak, she makes quite an impression. Indrasish, as Dip Narayan Choudhury, is good both on the field and off it, as he juggles dormant emotions and the ball with equal elan. But somehow, his character seems a bit too mellow for a man boiling with anger and inner turmoil. Maybe a little more venting would have given it the perfect edge. Paayel, too, stays in character throughout the film, though her relationship with Ryan is pretty obvious from the moment she is seen. So, there seems to be no need really to stretch the 'revelation' till the end. Kanchan as the chicken thief, Doa, is one of the best things about the film. His body language, diction and expressions are spot on. And, of course, the humour he adds to the narrative is always welcome. Parambrata, who plays the elusive leader of an extremist outfit, doesn't really make a lasting impression. It seems he hasn't really put much effort into playing an extremist and ends up acting like any other guy. The other actors who play the various footballers are surprisingly good with their expressions and are truly in character.
As for the music, Indraadip Das Gupta has done a good job, with the songs adding to the mood and the background score complementing the adrenaline rush towards the end.

Over all, Lorai is a film you shouldn't give a miss. After all, despite its flaws, it has a good storyline, a smart concept and smooth flow. A little tweaking here and there, and it could have certainly made it big. So, go ahead, have your share of smiles, tears, football and popcorn. You certainly won't feel cheated.
: Prosenjit Chatterjee, Indrasish, Paayel Sarkar, Kharaj Mukherjee, Gargee Roy Chowdhury, Kanchan Mullick, Parambrata Chatterjee
Direction: Parambrata Chatterjee
Genre: Drama
Duration: 2 hours 37 minutes


Review: Lorai is a good-hearted film that gives us a fair share of drama, humour and, of course, football. And despite our inclination to draw parallels with hits that have similar storylines — like Chak De! India — Lorai still manages to make a good impression.
hat doesn't mean it's perfect; it has its share of flaws. For one, it starts very slow, focusing too much on Ryan, his life and his past. The tempo picks up in the second half, but never reaches the crescendo a sports film demands. The biggest flaw, however, is the very pillar on which the film stands — Ryan's football team. To begin with, he virtually makes a team out of thin air, because, as his host and assistant Mokhar Alam ( Kharaj Mukherjee) points out, most of the village boys had never seen a football, let alone play it. And though the timeframe is not very clear, we can infer that his team locks horns with the Kolkata team around six-seven months after he first lands in the village — and wins! The question isn't how can 13-14 boys learn football in six months; they can. But how can they become skilled enough to beat a seasoned team from Kolkata in that timeframe? Cinematic liberty can go only that far. In a film that hinges on reality, this win, however emotionally charged it may be, sends realism for a toss.
Prosenjit is good as the caustic-tongued, asthmatic, alcoholic ex-footballer, though his frequent use of English despite being eloquent in Bangla, especially while communicating with the village lads and Mokhar, seems unnecessary at times. Kharaj is really good as the large-hearted villager who liaisons between the government and Ryan. His diction too is spot on. Gargee shines as Mokhar's silent sister who goes about the household chores without uttering a word. And when she does speak, she makes quite an impression. Indrasish, as Dip Narayan Choudhury, is good both on the field and off it, as he juggles dormant emotions and the ball with equal elan. But somehow, his character seems a bit too mellow for a man boiling with anger and inner turmoil. Maybe a little more venting would have given it the perfect edge. Paayel, too, stays in character throughout the film, though her relationship with Ryan is pretty obvious from the moment she is seen. So, there seems to be no need really to stretch the 'revelation' till the end. Kanchan as the chicken thief, Doa, is one of the best things about the film. His body language, diction and expressions are spot on. And, of course, the humour he adds to the narrative is always welcome. Parambrata, who plays the elusive leader of an extremist outfit, doesn't really make a lasting impression. It seems he hasn't really put much effort into playing an extremist and ends up acting like any other guy. The other actors who play the various footballers are surprisingly good with their expressions and are truly in character.
As for the music, Indraadip Das Gupta has done a good job, with the songs adding to the mood and the background score complementing the adrenaline rush towards the end.

Over all, Lorai is a film you shouldn't give a miss. After all, despite its flaws, it has a good storyline, a smart concept and smooth flow. A little tweaking here and there, and it could have certainly made it big. So, go ahead, have your share of smiles, tears, football and popcorn. You certainly won't feel cheated.

Read more »

Drama, Kolkata,

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