Review of “Jawker Dhan”

When we read an adventure novel then we create all the atmosphere with our own imagination and we can feel the thrill along with the characters, but when the same story is adapted in form of a film then how much thrilling it will be that depends on the visualization of the director, how he will create the atmosphere with his imagination. So adopting an adventure thriller for big screen and keeping the thrill intact is definitely a tough job. Debutant director Sayantan Ghoshal has tried his hands on this tough task, and for his team it has been more challenging to set the story in today’s time which is actually based on a novel written by Hemendra Kumar Roy, which was written many decades ago.

Now the question is how successful they have been to adopt the story and make a thrilling film out of this and the answer is it is thrilling and have some wonderful visualisation of the journey but the thrill is not consistent. There are ups and downs in the story telling.

The story begins with Kumar (Rahul Banerjee) who gets a black skull from his grandfather’s belongings. There are some puzzles etched on the skull. To solve it he takes help from his friend Bimal (Parambrata Chatterjee) who is also a professor of Anthropometry. Together they decodes it and discovers that it is actually a clue for the directions of a hidden ancient Tibetan treasure which is hidden somewhere in the jungles of Neora Valley. This treasure is guarded by some secret forces named as Jawk that’s why it is termed as “Jawker Dhan”. When Bimal and Kumar are involved with the skull mystery, at the same time Bimal’s cousin brother Hiranmoy (Kaushik Sen) who is an archaeologist and specialist with ancient languages, also gets an assignment to decipher an ancient Tibetan message. He is given this task by a businessman Karali (Sabyasachi Chakraborty). But some people don’t want these codes to be decoded so they kidnap Hiranmoy. Bimal and Kumar has doubt that the Tibetan puzzle written on the skull has some link with the piece of code on which Hiranmoy was working and his kidnap is also somehow related with the treasure. So to solve the mysteries, to rescue Hiranmoy and to search the treasure, they start their journey to Neora Valley. There they found Hiranmoy but also get some unwanted opposition from some criminals who are also in search of the treasure. How they will rich to it and how they will save the treasure from going to the wrong hands forms the climax. There is no prize for guessing the climax as it is very much predictable from the beginning but what is more important is the journey towards the climax.

The first half where the characters and background of the treasure have been introduced is interesting, the way Bimal and Kumar solves the puzzle is also engaging. The story keeps dropping in second half when they actually start the journey. There are some twists which are almost predictable so it does not give the required shock. Also there is a sub plot about a secret society who is assigned to secure ancient Tibetan treasures but the authorities of this group looks irrelevant in today’s time; they could have been more empowered. The villain is too cliché to add anything more to the story. There are two fight sequences which looks very unrealistic as two normal guys fighting with goons having weapons can work in commercial mainstream movies but not in this type of film. But thankfully the thrill comes back at the climax where the final sequence has been shot wonderfully in the cave. Also the film has not been stretched too much, running time is only around 105 minutes which works very well for the film.

As a director Sayantan Ghoshal has make a confident debut with a tough subject. His visual representation of the novel is quite praise worthy. Only he could have worked more on the characters to make them more engaging especially when the whole story relies on just five lead characters, then it is important that those characters have the power to keep us engaged without getting monotonous.

Parambrata Chatterjee has done a fabulous job as the modern day sleuth. He is serious when required but is able to make us laugh too in some other moments. Unfortunately same can’t be said about Rahul Banerjee. His lack of interest towards the character is showing. You will never feel invested for this character as the actor playing it, himself is not totally invested in it. Recently he has done some good work in supporting roles but this one will not be counted in those. Kaushik Sen is in fine form; his comic timing reminds us of Jatayu from Feluda trio. Priyanka Sarkar has comparatively lesser screen time. She appears in second half, but her opening scene is wonderful. She comes like a fresh air with the much required comic relief but sadly after two scenes her character became just as a silent player in background. She deserves more important roles to play. Sabyasachi Chakraborty has been wasted in a cliché negative character; he is too good to play such a character. Samidh Mukherjee and Arindol Bagchi has been cast just because they are bald they have nothing much to do.

Among the technical team cinematographer Sudipta Majumdar has done a fine job, he has captured the scenic beauty of Neora Valley jungles wonderfully. Also the climax sequence in the cave has been shot smartly with minimum light arrangements. Although we wish the computer graphics team would have given him enough support in the final chaos sequence. Meemo’s songs are mostly in background and works quite well with the narrative.

Overall it has some weak moments but still it is an engaging adventure thriller for most of the part. If you like adventure movies then it is a must watch for you.