Review of Bengali film "Ebar Shabor"

After making an impressive but not so successful (commercially) directorial debut Actor cum director Arindam Sil is back with his second offering as a director ,"Ebar Shabor" which is an interesting crime thriller.
This time he has made it in a more commercial way taking more mainstream actors and a lavish budget to draw the attention of cine goers. But in this commercialization process he has never compromised with the soul of the film. From start to finish it is an engaging story which revolves around a murder mystery but also provides the other elements of good cinema like comedy,romance and emotion.

With this movie a new sleuth has been introduced to Bengali cinema and he is Shabor

Dasgupta unlike our old favorites Feluda or Byomkesh , Shabor is not a private detective rather he works in the detective department of Kolkata police. The story starts when a rich middle aged woman Mitali Ghosh (Swastika Mukherjee) got killed in her own house. Detective Shabor Dasgupta has been assigned with this case along with his assistant Nandalal (Subhrajit). While doing his investigation Shabor comes across with too many characters who are related with Mitali in some way and all of them have some secrets. Anyone of them can be the killer as everyone have more or less motive to kill Mitali, whether it is her ex-husband Mithu Mitra (Abir Chatterjee) whom she had divorced , or her ex-lover Pantu Halder( Ritwick Chakraborty) with whom she had eloped once, or her childhood friend Samiran (Rahul Banerjee) who used to like her from a tender age but she never took interest in him, or her cousin sister Joyeeta(Payel Sarkar) who also loves her ex-husband Mithu. Apart from these there are two females characters too Julekha (June Malya) and Khonika (Debalina Dutta), these two ladies are not directly related to Mitali but both of them have some secrets which plays pivotal role in solving the murder mystery. 

The story is based on the novel "Rwin" by Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay. The screenplay has been written in such a way that it unfolds the story very interestingly by introducing each

character one by one and along with their introduction and their interaction with Shabor the story also proceeds in flashbacks. While first half have more comic moments the second half concentrates more on romance and emotion. No matter the length of each of the character's screen time but every character has something special about him or her which makes you notice them and keeps you engaged with the story. By the time the story ends the audiences are so much engaged with each of the character that they don't mind who is the actual murderer rather they are keen to know what happened after that with each of the characters.Here the character of the investigator Shabor is there as the sutradhhaar but unlike the other detective stories , he never takes the center stage and dominates the other characters rather each character got their fare share opportunity to make an impression.

As a director Arindam Sil should get full marks for choosing an interesting story and presenting it in an engaging way taking good performance from his cast and crew. From the beginning his intentions are clear that he want to make an entertaining commercial film, he never tries to be too serious to give it an art house film feel and  never gives too much masala entertainer treatment with the subject. As a result the story and the characters look convincing with their costumes , body language and dialogues.

Among the acting department it can be said every actor has given wonderful performance in the roles perfectly suited for them. Saswata Chatterjee looks very real as teh detective , his

interaction with the suspects and his assistant is very interesting and provides little dose of humor too.After doing lead roles in his last two releases Abir Chatterjee is back in supporting role again and he manages to keep his presence felt among the ensemble cast.
The other actor who shines very well is Rahul Banerjee , his portrayal of a pervert and under confident Samiran is superb. With his brilliant comic timing he manages to bring smile to everyone's face.  Swastika Mukherjee who is the central character of the film appears mostly in falshback has very nice role to play and she has done full justice with her character. Payel.Payel Sarkar has not much to do but she does her ob good and her chemistry with her on screen partner looks good.June Malya hardly gets a chance to play such an interesting role and she has utilized this rare opportunity very well. Debolina Dutta has very less screen time but she will surely be remembered for her glamorous looks and costumes. Also Dipankar Dey and Subhrajit has provided good support.

But the actor who stands tall among the crowd is Ritwick Chakraborty. He has a very less screen time but the he has proved once again that the length of the role does not matter for a brilliant performer. The way he has played the lower middle class mechanic Pantu Halder he looks too close to reality. His language , dialogue delivery ,his body language , his expressions are just too perfect for the character. Even after coming out of the theater you will remember him.

Among the technical team it must be said that everyone has done a fabulous job but special mention should be given for cinematographer Shirsha Ray. He has captured the locations of Kolkata in a refreshing way as if we are watching the city in a new vision. There are two chase sequences one in the opening credits and another at the climax both have been shot brilliantly. The editing is also very sharp to give it the required pace to be a pacy thriller. The look of the characters and their costume is very urban and refreshing. The costumes, specially worn by Swastika, Abir and Debolina will create buzz for a longer time.

The music by Bickram Ghosh has been used very well in the movie. There are not so many songs rather only two tracks has been used in the movie. But teh background score as well as teh songs are very pacy which suits well with the script.

Over all it is an engaging thriller with some interesting characters played by good performers. It should be watched to encourage a good director to make good Bengali films in future too.