Review of Bengali Film Praktan

In last one decade Shiboprasad Mujherjee and Nandita Roy have became a big name as directors. They make a totally different genre of movies which are neither made for festivals nor for rural single screen theatres; they make movies solely to give entertainment with a story with which people can connect. With #Praktan they have continued their legacy by making yet another tale of human relations and emotions with which one can easily relate.

The story has been developed from a one line idea from Rabindanath Tagore's poem "Hathat Dekha", what will happen if someone has to face his or her ex in the same train compartment during a journey. The concept is interesting but to develop a full length film around this concept is challenging and Shiboprasad and Nandita duo has successfully completed this challenge.

The story starts with two women sharing the same compartment in a train journey from Mumbai to Kolkata. One woman is Sudipa (Rituparna Sengupta) another one is Malini

(Aparajita Addhya). These two ladies are completely different from each other,Sudipa is a career centric self dependant woman on the other hand Malini is a housewife, her whole world revolves around her family and home only. Sudipa is very reserve while Malini is very talkative and friendly. Malini is accompanied with her 8 year old daughter Putul and because of Putul and also the friendly nature of Malini, Sudipa has to start conversation with Malini. During their conversation Sudipa discovers that these two ladies are connected with one common person that is Ujaan Mujherjee (Prasenjit Chatterjee), Malini's husband and coincidentally Sudipa's ex-husband.  As Sudipa recalls her memories about Ujaan audience come to know about their past how they were introduced during a Kolkata tour and then fell in love, got married and finally got separated. It's tough for Sudipa to share same coach with Malini after knowing her identity, still she managed but it becomes more difficult when Ujaan too join these ladies in middle of their journey. From that point begins the journey of two ex-lovers that too in presence of their present. The climax is quite predictable and realistic but it has a feel good factor and a wonderful message. Every relationship requires some adjustments and if one did some compromises to be in a relationship that does not mean losing to someone rather it can be seen as winning a relationship. 

The screenplay is very interesting, the way the flashback sequences have been inserted are quite interesting. Two parallel stories progress together, one is the back story of Ujaan and Sudipa and another one is the present day story in the train journey between Ujaan, Sudipa

and Malini. Both the stories progress in such a way that people will remain engaged with both the tacks. Although it can be said the back story of Ujaan and Sudipa is a bit cliché, we have seen the egoistic battle of a working couple where the Man has problem with his wife's professional life. Also there could have been a better reason for the final clash between the two which forced them to get separated. Anyways these little shortcomings can be overlooked with the additional separate tacks of the co-passengers in the train. There is a newly married couple played by Bishwanatg Basu and Manali Dey, they have provided enough comical relief. Then there is an elderly couple played by Soumitra Chatterjee and Sabitri Chatterjee, with their track the director duo has tried to focus on the loneliness of the elderly couples who are not taken care by their children. Then there is a musical group consisting Anindya and Upal of Chandrabindoo along with Surojit of Bhumi fame and Anupam Roy. This musical group has given enough support with their wonderful songs in every situation. There are two interesting point in the screenplay one just before the interval when Ujaan and Sudipa comes face to face for first time after 10 years and another one is the surprise element in the last scene. The screenplay is thoroughly enjoyable with drama, emotion, humour and of course romance.

As directors Shiboprasad Mujherjee and Nandita Roy has done a fabulous job. They are true magicians who know to connect with their audience. The best thing about their story presentation is their simplicity. Their narrative style is just like the character of Malini, who can connect with you with the simplicity and can teach you big lessons without making it sound like lectures.

All the actors are in tremendous form. Prsenjit Chatterjee has done superb job while Rituparna Sengupta is absolutely wonderful. Both Prasenjit and Rituparna have to play their

characters in two different moods. One in the flashback part where they have played young immature couple who loves each other but also fights with each because of their ego and another one is in the portion where they meet after 10 years during the train journey when they are more mature with life experiences, in both the parts Prasenjit and Rituparna are excellent. Together their chemistry is awesome. For long 15 years we have missed this couple now we will definitely look forward to see them together again. 
Apart from the lead couple Aparijita Addhya has surprised with her acting. Very often she gets a meaty role and when she has got it, she has just given her cent percent to it. She will make you laugh out loud with her comic act. She has a supporting role and she has much lesser screen compared to the lead pair but by the end of the film she will win your heart. 
Among the others Bishwanath Basu has given solid performance with his perfect comic timing, Manali Dey has ably supported him. Soumitra Chatterjee and Sabitri Chatterjee are good. The musical team is perfect in their own department, that is music but in acting too they are not bad.

When the story grips you, one hardly cares about the technical details. But one must say editing is fantastic, the way the past and present has been joined it's quite impressive. Cinematographer has also done a good job. Thanks to him we have seen our so familiar Kolkata in a complete new look.

Music by Anupam Roy and Chandrabindoo is nice and very apt for the different situations. All the songs including an Antakshari sequence are nice to ears but the song that will remain with you for longer time is "Tumi Anno Karo Sange Bandho Ghar".

On a whole #Praktan is wonderful film with one gripping story, some wonderful performances and soulful music. It will give you some valuable tips about maintaining relationships too. It is train journey which you will remember for long time. Go and watch the film, don't miss it.