Review of the movie "Shob Bhooturey"

No matter we believe in the existence of ghosts or not but horror stories excites most of us. Many of us have some childhood memories about listening to ghosts stories from the elders in our family. Birsa Dasgupta's "Shob Bhooturey" takes us to those childhood days, as it tells a horror story in a simple way but still makes one scared at some points, exactly the way our grandparents use to tell a horror story.

The story is about a haunted school in a village which is about to be closed because of some paranormal activities going on in the school campus. In an attempt to save the school, the Head master approaches a team who investigates paranormal activities and write those stories in their magazine "Shob Bhooturey".

The current owner of the magazine is Aniket (Abir Chatterjee) who doesn't believe in supernatural elements and wants to stop publishing the magazine. His late father was a paranormal investigator and he used to visit haunted places to do research on it, but Aniket is no more interested to continue that practice. In spite of that he agrees to investigate the haunted activities in the school just to save that school from being shut down. In this visit he is accompanied by the editor of the magazine (Supriyo Dutta) and a mysterious girl Nandini (Sohini Sarkar) who claims that she can contact with the ghosts. How together they solve the mystery that forms the rest of the story.

The film is neither a remake of any horror film nor an adaptation of any ghost story; it is completely an original story. The good thing about the story is, it has been told in a very simply way which makes it appealing to all age groups specially the kids. The screenplay written by Kallol Lahiri, does not depend on any visual effects to scare its audience rather it tries to create scary situations. Also unlike many horror movies it does not provide the scariest moments in a dream sequence which reduces the impact of the scene when one realises that it was just a dream sequence. Here there is only one such dream scene which is acceptable. Moreover the story does not want to scare you only rather it tries to tell an emotional story too involving some innocent kids and that part will definitely touch your heart.

But that does not mean that there are absolutely no faults in the script. In fact there are flaws .The weakest part of the film is its story itself which is not convincing enough. From the beginning it tries to make us believe that the school is haunted but apart from one unfortunate incident in the opening scene it never tells us any other such story about the school. Aniket and his team go to investigate the ghostly events but what is there approach to investigate is never clear, we can only see one member in the team holding a magnifying glass as if he can see ghosts through it.

Trailer of the movie "Shob Bhooturey" 

But in spite of the short comings in the script, the film is not a bad watch because of the presentation. A ghost story becomes more appealing depending on how it has been narrated more than the content. Birsa Dasgupta and his young talented technical team should be given full marks for narrating the story by creating a perfect atmosphere which covers the loop holes of the story wonderfully. Gairik Sarkar's cinematography is the best thing about the film. He has wonderfully created the ghostly ambience with his camera. Another two major elements are background score and sound design which should be done perfectly to create scary situations and the good news is in this movie, both these departments have done fine job. Also the two songs in the opening and end credit composed by Shubho Pramanik are very nice with haunting melody.

Abir Chatterjee has underplayed his character beautifully. He has once again proved that he can make his presence felt without shouting for attention. Sohini Sarkar is a wonderful actress but for most of the part her talent has been wasted by asking her do over acting continuously. In an attempt to make her character mysterious the character has not been written with proper explanation which has affected her performance. It has been never explained why her character always behaves and talks in a strange way. Also it has been shown she is able to see ghosts since her childhood still whenever she sees a dead person she surprises as if she is experiencing something paranormal for the first time. Supriyo Dutta is doing the same thing what he does in most of the films, a failed attempt to do comedy. His character has been added to bring some light moments. Unfortunately neither his character nor his acting succeeds to generate laughter. Ida Dasgupta has made a brilliant debut at a small age. She has acting in her genes as she is the daughter of director Birsa Dasgupta and actress Bidipta Chakraborty. She has no dialogues but her big expressive eyes are effective enough to scare us. One can see a glimpse of her mother Bidipta Chakraborty in her acting and expressions.

It feels nice to see a bunch of new faces in the supporting cast and all of them are okay though none of them stands out as something extraordinary.

On a whole it is a ghost story targeted for kids with their families. It succeeds to scare to some extent especially because of the wonderful technical team. If you like Bengali horror stories then you should watch it.

Review of the movie “Chhaya O Chhobi”

Kaushik Ganguly’s “Chhaya O Chhobi” is sweet simple story about the changing equations of personal and professional relationships in the backdrop of an outdoor shooting of a film. It is a crossover between reel and real life where both the reel and real story goes on side by side.

The story is very simple and one liner but what makes it special is the layered screenplay and the realistic characters with a mix of both positive and negative elements. Maya (Churni Ganguly) is a famous documentary filmmaker who is well settled in abroad. But her grandmother and father want her to direct a Bengali film so she comes to West Bengal to make her debut Bengali feature film “Sada Kalor Galpo”.  The story revolves around the outdoor schedule of her feature film in Darjeeling. Maya went to Darjeeling with her crew and her lead cast which includes a super star actor Arindom (Abir Chatterjee), a super successful heroine Rai Chatterjee (Koel Mallick) and an upcoming actress Mou (Priyanka Sarkar). Arindom and Rai are a real life couple too and they are about to get married soon. A film shooting within a film is an interesting concept but hardly any Bengali film maker take it to detailed level except for movies like “Bariwali”, but here Kaushik Ganguly has tried to give us an inside view of what chaos goes on at shooting sets . You can see the Assistant directors juggling between actors and director to make everything on same page, you can see makeup artists helping actors with fake blood to shoot a gun firing scene, you can see the concern of Sound recording guy over overlapping dialogues also you can see how crew members giving away juicy gossip to media persons. Not only that, there are the problems that producer and production manager have to face to handle the tantrums of stars and financial issues because of demonetization. But the movie is not just about the technical details of making a film it is about the changing equation of basic human relationship between the crew members and also a very important relationship between a star and a fan. Here the fan is Jeetu (Ritwick Chakraborty) a local car driver who is a huge fan of Rai Chatterjee and fortunately is on her duty during the outdoor schedule.  There are mainly five characters but the main focus is on Rai Chatterjee, how her professional and personal relationships takes a complete turn by the time she wraps up the outdoor schedule.

The screenplay has been written wonderfully, there is no hurry to make any point or give the story any twist, and it takes its own comfortable time to establish the characters and situation. But the good thing is the screenplay never gives any dull moment. It takes a serious turn towards the climax only and ends on a very sweet romantic note which gives you a satisfied feeling while leaving the theater. There is only few points in the screenplay which needs more clarity like the money minded decision Rai takes does not go well with her character, also there is some shocking revelation about one character towards the end but why the character does that there is no proper explanation, was it an intentional decision or just a mistake that remains unanswered. But in spite of the short comings it works for most of the part because of the well developed characters and for the chance to take a peek at the actions going on behind the camera during shooting of a movie.

Trailer of the movie "Chhaya O Chhobi"

There is nothing more left to say about the brilliance of Kaushik Ganguly as a director. In this film he has showed us how a director has to have the whole view of the situation going around on a film set and it is not an easy thing to do. We must say he is continuously managing this tough job film after film.

Koel Mallick has chosen the best possible character to make her comeback. At one point in the film her character Rai Chatterjee says, she is tired of playing the “Dushtu Mishti Nayika” in the hero centric films and now she wants to do meaningful cinema where she will get a strong character to play. Most probably the same message Koel wants to give in her real life too. She looks beautiful and her acting is good. We are looking forward to see her more in such well written characters in future.

 Abir Chatterjee is working for third time with Kaushiik Ganguly after “Bastushaap” and “Bishorjon” and it can be said it is comparatively simpler character for him compared to the last two. Here the character don’t have any physical disability or different linguistic rather the character he is playing is quite similar with his real life persona, a successful actor of Bengali cinema who is friendly, have good sense of humour and very caring boyfriend.  Most probably Abir did not have to do too much preparation for this character but again it needs to be said he looks very natural on screen and performed really well. Also performing a simple task simply is not that simple as it looks.

Apart from that both Abir and Koel have to play two other characters Ranjan and Madira which are their on screen characters in the film they are shooting at Darjeeling. And both of them have made those characters really perfect even though it was for three scenes only.

About Ritwick Chakraborty the director himself says when there is a really challenging role then only he goes to Ritwick that says a lot about his acting calibre. There is nothing more to tell about how perfectly he moulds himself to each and every character. Here he looks perfect as Jeetu. Watch him in the scene where his idol Rai Chatterjee suspects him as a thief, his eyes emotes the pain which will make you feel sympathy for him.

Priyanka Sarakar is a good actress, she has limited scope but she has done a fine job. In the film her character is an upcoming actress who is trying hard to make her own place among the two big stars but in real Priyanka has managed to make her presence felt in spite of having the big stars and seasoned actors within the same frame.

Churni Ganguly is a wonderful actress but sadly we get to see her on screen very rarely. She is perfect in her character but one thing need to be said that she is getting typecast as a mature single woman who is struggling with her not so good past but managed to keep herself emotionally strong. Her character background was quite similar in movies like “Bastushaap” and “Shabdo”. Now we want to see some variety from the talented actress.

Music of the film has been given by Indradip Dasgupta and the songs “Drwaing Khata” and “Eh Kancha” sounds good in the film, rest of the songs are just okay. Camerawork by Gopi Bhagat is good especially in the scenes inside the forest of Darjeeling.

Overall it is a satisfactory watch with some solid performances from the lead cast. It has some emotional moments which will touch you. Watch it to experience how real life is more melodramatic that cinema.

Review of the movie “Machher Jhol”

If asked what is your favourite food? many of us can name lots of cuisine from all over the world but honestly all of us has at least one favourite food which is homemade, cooked by our mother, not because it is the tastiest food on the earth or the person who made it is a great cook but because it has the love and affection of our mother and also it has lots of memories attached with it. All our favourite foods have some memories attached with us and Pratim D. Gupta’s latest film “Machher Jhol” is a tribute to all such memories to our favourite dishes.

First thing first this is really the first Bengali film about food, and food plays a big role here. After watching this film one will really fall in love with some food items once again. Not only that even the film can inspire you to give a try to your own culinary skills to prepare one of your own recipes. But that does not mean it is not only about food there is an emotional story too about the bonding between a son and mother. The story is about Master Chef Dev D aka Devdutta Sen (Ritwick Chakraborty). Dev D is world famous Michelin Star Chef, owner of many famous restaurant chains in Paris and New York. He is well settled in Paris with his live in partner Simon (Kaya Blocksage).  Almost 13 years ago he had left his home in Kolkata to peruse his dreams leaving behind his secured job, his parents and his wife Sreela (Paoli Dam). He had no connection with his past except his mother Minu (Mamata Shankar) with her he is in constant touch through phone calls. His mother is his only emotional attachment with his past, his pillar of strength from his childhood; in one word his superhero in a saree.  So when his mother is hospitalized because of a brain tumour, he has to come back to his roots, to Kolkata, to see his mother. After returning home he has to face his past, his father, his ex-wife and also a new challenge as his mother demands him to make the same fish curry which he had made at the age of 13 or 14 when his mother was bed ridden as she was ill. Considering it as his ailing mother’s wish he takes the challenge and tries to make the same fish curry which was his first cooking experience some 25 years ago. In this task he takes help of a junior chef at a local luxury hotel, Maggie (Sauraseni Maitra). Will he able to recreate the same fish curry or not that you will get to know in the climax, also you will come to know what happened to his mother and how far he could settle his equation with his past.

The story written by director Pratim D. Gupta is oven fresh and will always be remembered as the first Bengali food film. The screenplay is also smartly written and mostly one directional never lose its focus in unnecessary sub plots. It never wastes time to spoon feed every single detail to the audience rather it considers the audience smart enough to understand. Even there are not too much flashback sequences of Devdutta’s past; there are only few sequences which are least required. The good thing about the screenplay is, it is easy going and never takes it too seriously or dramatic. The script never tries to sound preachy but silently it gives some strong messages like follow your passion, do not kill it because of social pressure; always try to evolve yourself and try something new rather than trying to repeat same old things this is the only way to rediscover your talents. Although not too prominent like “Saheb Bibi Golaam” but once again Pratim D. Gupta has set an example of strong woman characters who can take their own decision rather than being controlled by the men in their life. But with all these good qualities the story and screenplay has some weak points which are not easy to digest, like Dev D’s interaction with journalist Palash (Arjun Chakraborty), the way he narrated his personal life to an unknown journalist that is not convincing. This interview between a journalist and the celebrity has been used to fit the flashback sequences in the script but it could have been inserted in a better way not in the excuse of an interview.

As a director Pratim D. Gupta is evolving and getting better with his every new film and just like his last film once again he has dared to touch a fresh subject rather than playing safe. It was quite tempting for him to repeat his success with yet another thriller with even bigger budget but he choose to tell a completely different story with a huge risk, it can be either a trendsetter or can be rejected but just like his leading man Dev D, the director also has followed his dreams to make a food based Bengali film giving tribute to his own childhood memories of his favourite fish curry.

Trailer of the movie "Machher Jhol"

Casting has been done superbly for each and every character, even for minor roles and the best role is reserved for Ritwick Chakraborty. It is a wonderful character written for Ritwick Chakraborty to give him a break from his stereotype image of being the representative of lower middle class man. Here he is rich, famous, stylish can talk in English and French and surprisingly he has moulded himself so wonderfully to play like the renowned Chef that you can’t believe he is the same man who use to look so perfect as the poor mechanic or driver in other films. His hard work and dedication shows the way he has delivered his French dialogues. Besides that he has some portion in the flashback scenes where he is exactly opposite to today’s confident, smart Dev D and Ritwick has played that under confident, confused Devudtta Sen wonderfully with his perfect body language. Mamata Shankar is excellent in the character of a mother. Once again she proved she is one very talented yet underutilised actress of Bengali cinema. In the climax scene she will bring tears in your eyes. Paoli Dam has very little to do but she has managed to left impression with her mature acting. Watch out her in the scene where she is supposed to pose for a post wedding picture with her husband, her expressions are wonderful in the scene without any dialogue. French actress Kaya Blocksage is good in her limited screen time. Sumanta Mukhopadhyay acts perfect as the typical father from a middle class Bengali family who wants his son to obey his rules and choose a safe and settled life. Sauraseni Maitra has a charming screen presence and she acts well too, looking forward to see her more in movies in future. Arjun Chakraborty has been wasted in a not so significant character he deserves a better opportunity.

Not just the whole cast but the technical team behind the scene is also in excellent form. Subhajit Sinhga’s crisp editing has restricted the length of the film to a comfortable 108 minutes only and it will never bore you. Cinematographer Subhankar Bhar’s camerawork is a visual treat, the way he has shot the outdoor locations of both Paris and Kolkata is awesome. Not only that the cooking scenes has been shot in such a way that it is mouth watering. Anupam Ray’s music sounds good especially the song “Dawttok” has good lyrics which express the feelings of returning to roots. There are only two songs in the film and one in the end credits and the good thing is none of the songs put a break in the narrative. But more than the songs, the background score by Abhijit Kundu has created magic in every scene. Also one must praise the team behind the styling and costumes department for giving a makeover to Ritwick Chakraborty as the cool and stylish super star Chef.

Finally it can be said if you are a foodie then it is a must watch for you but if you are not that much foodie still there is enough for you a smart fresh story, brilliant performances by the cast and crew. So you should taste this “Machher Jhol”.

P.S.- Do not miss the end credits, there is a big surprise waiting for you. 

Review of the movie "Dhananjoy"

In 2004 Dhananjoy Chatterjee was a popular name mostly for wrong reasons as he was given capital punishment for the charges of rape and murder of an 18 year old girl. Media did a dramatic coverage of the story, mostly common men were happy that a criminal has given appropriate punishment. Then gradually the incident faded away from our memory as new crime stories and scandals make space in our mind thanks to the media around us. Today’s truth is we are actually blind folded with media’s illusion, we believe what they say and assumes it as a complete truth, obviously we don’t have enough time and scope to go in detail and look for other side of the story. But sadly in Dhananjay’s case not only the common people rather law and order was also blind folded by media. They also not bother to cross check all the aspects of the incident and as a result a poor man got an extreme punishment for a crime which most probably he had not done at all.

We should always be thankful to director Arindam Sil and his team for trying to show us the other side of the story too. It is true after so long time , it is not possible for them to bring the whole truth and some theories there are just an assumption but after watching the film one cannot deny there was an inconsistency in the evidences which were used to prove Dhananjoy guilty. All the statements of witnesses and the circumstantial evidences were manipulated several times which clearly indicates that Dhananjoy Chatterjee was framed to be the culprit to cover up some other dark truth. One can think why we need to bother about all this as it is past now and the answer will be no matter if it is a past, no matter if nothing can be undone now but if the man was innocent then he has the right to get justice even after his death as “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.

The film is a wonderful mix of fact and fiction. It begins with a lawyer Kavya Sinha (Mimi Chakraborty) who co-incidentally meets Chandra (Arjaa Banerjee), widow of Dhananjoy Chatterjee, during a NGO activity. Chandra is mentally unstable but deep in her mind somewhere she has strong belief that her husband was innocent which convinces Kavya to take interest in this case. Doing further investigation she founds lots of weak links in the evidences and statements of witnesses which were strong enough to give a benefit of doubt to Dhananjoy. She discusses all these with her senior lawyer Shivraj Chaudhury (Kaushik Sen) and together they decide to reopen the case to give justice to Dhananjoy even after his death. The first half tells the story from 1990 to 2004 and it exactly narrates the story what most of us already know. In Kolkata’s Bhowanipore are an 18 year old school girl Hema (name changed here) (Anusuya Vishwananthan) was raped and murdered when she was all alone at her flat. She was found dead by her mother Surabhi Parekh (Sudipta Chakraborty).There were some witness in the housing who had seen Dhanajoy  Chatterjee (Anirban Bhattacharya) , the security guard of that housing complex, going to that flat in that time so he was the only suspect.  He tried to hide for some months but later got arrested from his house in his village in Bankura district. A long court hearing goes on for almost 14 years at different level of courts from Sessions Court to High Court of Kolkata to Supreme Court. Throughout the court hearing Dhananjoy kept saying he is innocent but failed to prove it and finally he was sentenced to be hanged till death based on the circumstantial evidences against him. Even his family’s attempt to plea to the President of India was rejected as it was found to be a rarest of rare case. Finally he was hanged on 14^th August 2004. The second half shows the main story for which the audiences are actually looking for the court processing to re-open the case where Kavya and Shivraj presents their arguments to prove Dhananjoy innocent and they also gives hint of what might have actually happened with the girl.

Here one must say it is one risky and brave concept as it is challenging the verdict of three courts so the team should be prepared with solid evidences and the good news is that the team is really well prepared to prove their point. The way the arguments have been placed it shows the extensive research work done by the team. One must give credit to Arindam Sil and Padmanabha Dasgupta for such a wonderful screenplay. In spite of documenting few facts only, it never looks like a boring documentary ever. The first half is just a recap of some facts already known to us but the way it has been presented in flashbacks going back and forth in past and present makes it interesting to watch. The second half is bold, brave and full of energy which will keep you glued to your seats and of course the climax is thought provoking. It raises some hard hitting questions which will compel l us to think. Does the media really lost their sensibility to remain ahead in completion? Don’t the poor men have right for justice? Do we come to any conclusion just seeing one side of a story?

Trailer of the movie "Dhananjoy"

As a director Arindam Sil is already a successful name in today’s Bengali film industry. He has given back to back five hits, but here he has decided to challenge himself to do something risky and we salute him for making his bravest film so far. In Bengali cinema there is hardly any film maker who attempt to make a film based on true events, all wants to play safe and avoid controversy but Arindam Sil has shown the guts to challenge the verdict of Supreme Court that too with strong evidences. Yes he has changed the names of individuals and places but that is just to avoid legal controversies which can be accepted. He has wonderfully recreated all the incidents keeping the timeframe in mind. Also he is brilliant to show the gap between the two different worlds in our society, one of the rich people who have the authorities and the other one of the poor people who are mostly victimised.

Another thing which makes the film a wonderful watch is the finest performances from the whole cast. Anirban Bhattachrya is just extra ordinary as Dhananjoy. He has given life to the innocence of the character through his marvellous expressions. From the dialect of Bankura to the body language everything is just perfect. Not for a single moment you can think that an actor is playing the character rather it seems we are actually watching Dhananjoy Chatterjee. It is one of the finest performances of Bengali cinema by any actor. Kaushik Sen is always a good actor and he has got a good scope in a well written character of Lawyer Shivraj, he has done full justice with his character. Mimi Chakraborty who is better known for her performances in commercial mainstream cinema has done a superb work here. It seems she was eagerly waiting for a powerful character and when she gets the chance she has given her 100% to it. It is no doubt her career best performance so far. Together Kaushik Sen and Mimi Chakraborty have shown a nice chemistry as mentor and protégée.

Among the supporting cast Sudipta Chakraborty is effective as the victim girl’s mother. Her Gujrati dialect is perfect. She is awesome in a scene where she emotionally outburst to her daughter. Paran Bandopadhyay is excellent as Dhananjoy’s father. Arjaa Banerjee is too good as Dhananjoy’s wife Chandra. Her haunting eyes say a lot without much dialogue. Mir and Kanchan Mallik both known as comic actors, have done superb job as serious lawyers. It is refreshing to see them doing something different.

Apart from them each and every actor who is there for even 2 min has given good performances, whether it is the investigating officers or the witnesses.

Technical team is also in solid form. The production designer and costumes designer have worked hard to create two exactly opposite world of the rich and poor people in our society.  Sujay Dutta Roy is effective with his editing. Soumik Halder has proved his genius with his camera one more time. Bickram Ghosh’s background score has given every frame the required emotional high.

Finally it can be said no matter if the case can be reopened in real or not, no matter if anything can be proved now or not, but some stories need to be told and it is one such story. Some movies deserve to be watched, it is one such movie. Do not miss it.

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. 

Review of Meghnadbodh Rohossyo

At one point in the movie “Meghnadbodh Rohossyo”, one character tells a Bengali filmmaker that Bengali filmmakers will never be done with Naxalgia which is nostalgia about Naxalite movement. The same can be said about director Anik Dutta who has reintroduced Naxalgia in a smartly told mystery thriller set in December 2016 but it’s roots are deeply involved with Naxalite movements in 1970’s. If you remember Anik’s debut film “Bhooter Bhabishyat” too had a small hint of Naxal activities of 1970’s in Bengal.

The story starts with renowned sci-fi thriller writer Asimavo Ghosh (Sabyasachi Chakraborty) who is well settled in abroad, has came to India to attend the book launch of one of his own book’s Bengali adaptation by journalist Elina (Saayoni Ghosh). Asimavo was a student leader in his college days and was associated with Naxalite movements but later he left all these and went to abroad. Asimavo lives with his second wife Indrani (Gargee Roychowdhury) who was once a National award winning actress of Bengali cinema but currently is attached with some social works. Both Asimavo and Indrani have kids from their first marriage Wrik (Vikram Chatterjee) and Guli(Sauraseni Maitra) respectively. Both the kids have problem to accept their new father and mother but they are quite friendly with each other. Apart from these people there are some other characters like director Kunal Basu (Abir Chatterjee) who is Indrani’s friend; there were some rumors of their affair when both of them were in pick of their careers. Then there is Janaki who works very closely with Indrani to help her with the NGO activities. There is one painter and curator friend of Asimavo, also there is one long distance relative of Asimavo who works as a caretaker of his house in his absence.

All these were going okay but suddenly Asimavo receives a strange thing as gift, a novel “Meghnadbodh Kabyo” written by Michael Madhusudan Dutta, by some anonymous person.He received it not once but twice also he receives some strange message in his social media account. All these makes him very worried and nervous also he starts behaving in a strange way as he is scared of something. Even he has a near to death road accident which makes him believe that someone is trying to kill him. Indrani too gets worried about these incidents. In such a situation one morning Asimavo goes missing. From here the main investigation starts to find out what happened to Asimavo and who the person responsible for that is. If Asimavo’s past has something to do with this incident and how “Meghnadbodh Kabyo” is related with all these. All the answers are given in the emotionally charged climax.

One must say the story is refreshing and intelligent. Only the screenplay lacks the pace required for a thriller. The first half is too slow and takes much enough time to introduce all the characters. There are some secret with all these characters but sadly many of them only adds length and makes it multi-directional as it has nothing to do with the main plot. Also there are some unnecessary songs in the first half and an elaborated birthday celebration sequence which could have been reduced by length. The second half is comparatively faster but again two new characters are introduced in second half as investigation officer who are neither smart nor funny and finally adds no value. But the climax is wonderful where the lines between victim and culprit goes blur, you won’t be able to judge who is right and who is wrong only you can feel sympathy with the people affected by this. But just before the climax the way the mystery gets solved is not convincing enough, all of a sudden people get so much clues so easily, it does not look like just a co-incidence rather it seems forced in the screenplay so that the mystery can be resolved. But one must give credit to Anik Dutta for writing an original mystery not making a remake or novel adaptation. Also the way he has linked the novel by Madhusudan Dutta with the story, that is commendable. Anik Dutta do not make films frequently but whenever he make it, it has a refreshing subject that too with a strong feel of Bangaliyana with references from politics, films , music , literature, folks of Bangla which is a plus point. His first two films were satires and being a comedy those connected quite easily with the audience. But “Meghnadbodh Rohossyo” is different in approach, it lacks lighter moments, there are some smart satire about current political situation of Bengal but it is not for all section of audience. Also this time, Anik Dutta has tried to make it more for intellectual people which will limit its reach to a limited section of people only.

Another good thing about the film is wonderful performance by the whole cast lead by Sabyasachi Chakraborty and Gargee Roychowdhury. Sabyasachi is a fine actor but sadly he don’t get enough chance to play lead roles apart from Feluda movies. Here he has get the chance to play the main lead with an opportunity to play with a range of emotions from confident celebrity to an emotionally unstable person who is haunted by his own past. He has done full justice with his character. Gargee Roychowdhury is also a talented but not so utilized actress of Bengali movies. Mostly she don’t get meatier roles because of her age but here she has been perfectly cast as a mother and yesteryear actress. She has maintained her look really well with the required grace and glamour for an actress who is not a part of show business anymore but still have fan following. Also in the emotional scenes specially in the second half she is very much natural. Abir Chatterjee has nothing much to do and he has not been utilized properly here. He is okay from his side in the limited scope of his character. Here one thing needs to be said just because he plays Byomkesh on screen so it is not mandatory to make him play a detective in every other film.

The young brigade, Vikram Chatterjee, Sauraseni Maitra and Saayoni Ghosh all are okay but have nothing significant to do. Kamaleshwar Mukherjee and Sohag Sen shines in their cameos.

Overall it has its own set of flaws , it is slow and lacks the urgency required for a thriller but still one can watch it for a refreshing original story and some praise worthy performances by the lead cast.

Review of Boss2

When almost all the mainstream commercial Bengali cinemas are getting rejected by the audience, when all the contemporary heroes are trying to switch to strong performance based roles in original story based movies, Jeet chooses to make "Boss2", a sequel to his 2013 hit "Boss". By doing this film Jeet has proved he is not ready to be carried away with the current trend neither he is in a mood to be taken seriously as an actor. He is happy with his stardom and popularity among the masses at the small centers.

So basically "Boss2" is a typically masala entertainer where Hero dominates the whole plot. He has the power to do anything impossible and he will never fail in his motive. The story is a continuation from the first part, Jeet is playing the same character Suriya who is now a big name in Mumbai, Rusha (Subhashree Ganguly) is Suriya's girlfriend and Inspector Binayak's (Chiranjeet Chakraborty) daughter. Suriya who had came to rule Mumbai with his brain and gun is now a changed man, he has promised Rusha that he won't use gun anymore but still he has the leadership qualities and he want to use it in social welfare with the help of his friend and minister Gopinath (Supriyo Dutta). Suriya has a concept of Suriya foundation which will develop school, hospital, housing etc for poor people at low cost and the project will be funded by the common people for whom he is developing the project. Minister Gopinath's foreign return son Bidyut (Indraneil Sengupta) also joins hand with Suriya in this noble cause. But situation becomes worse when someone kills Gopinath and all the investment for Suriya foundation goes missing suddenly. Now it's turn for Suriya to use his brain and muscle power to get back all the money and punish the killers of Gopinath. As expected he goes alone in his mission as he is a one man army. As the film is a joint production from Bangladesh and Jeet is quite popular there so obviously his mission starts from Bangladesh which later proceeds to Bangkok so that some action sequences can be added in high rise buildings. In Bangladesh he is joined by Aisha (Nusrat Faria) who has her own motive which collides with Suriya’s mission. No point for guessing the end of this predictable plot. Although it has been termed as an original story and not an official remake but the story has some similarities with Rajnikant's "Shivaji The Boss". Even if we neglect the similarities still can be said there is no freshness in this screenplay, from start to finish everything is very much routine. Still it can be enjoyed by the people who enjoy the concept of Heroism where Hero mouths heavy dialogues, punches and beats all the goons irrespective of their shape and size. Here one thing should be mentioned the movie is very much honest to its target audiences, it has stylishly designed action sequences, a charismatic leading man to carry the story on his strong shoulders.

As a director Baba Yadav has done okay job, anyways his job becomes much easy when he has a hero like Jeet who fits so well in this genre of movies. 

Jeet is no doubt the main USP of the film; it is his on screen presence and charisma which makes the movie an enjoyable watch for its target audience. Subhashree Ganguly has nothing much to do apart from showing her long legs in her short dresses. Compared to her Nusrat Faria has a smaller but meatier role and she is quite okay.

Among the villains Bangladeshi actor Amit Hasan is too loud, Indraneil Sengupta is good but he is getting typecast in negative roles. Kaushik Sen is a very talented actor but it is tough to understand why he agreed to do such small insignificant role in this movie. Also he too is getting very repetitive in negative characters.

The music is by Jeet Ganguly but sadly the music is not up to the mark compared to the original “Boss” soundtrack. “Urechhe Mon” failed to impress like “Mon Majhire” also the title track is weaker this time. The only song which sounds and looks good is “Yaara Meherbaan”.

Among the technical team the person who deserves special mention is action director Allan Amin. Although there is nothing new in the action sequences, mostly there are bike chase, helicopter stunts and jump from high rise buildings which are among the signature style of Allan Amin, still it looks good on screen and has been executed quite well.

Overall “Boss2” is a true mainstream masala film which worships the concept of heroism. It is strictly for those who do not care about logic or story line rather enjoys the heavyweight dialogues and punches of the Hero.

Update of Bengali movies in Q2 of 2017

The second quarter of 2017 was comparatively better than the first one for Bengali movies, mostly because of big releases during big festive seasons like Poila Boishakh and Eid. Also this quarter once again proved that Bengali movie goers are keener to original stories rather than remakes.

Let's have a quick month wise recap of Q2 2017

April

There were three big releases in this month among these, two were originals and one was a remake.

#Bishorjon

Much before it's release "Bishorjon" had created lots of positive buzz mainly because of two reasons which were director Kaushik Ganguly and National award for best Bengali film. These two strong reasons gave it a good start and after watching the movie people realised that the film really deserves National award. It was a story of human bonding beyond borders and religions.The simple yet powerful story, performances by the whole cast specially by Jaya Ahsan and Kaushik Ganguly, Music by Late Kalika Prasad, all these made the the movie a special treat for audiences. It was a huge success at the box office and continued running with packed houses in theaters for many weeks. So far this one is the most successful film of the year.

#One

This was a official remake from Shree Venkatesh Films directed by Birsa Dasgupta. The main attraction of the film was Prosenjit Chatterjee's comeback to mainstream commercial cinema that too in a negative role. It was a stylish thriller about the mind game between the Hero and Anti-Hero to outdo each other. Though Yash Dasgupta was not confident enough to play the opponent to a big star like Prosenjit Chatterjee but he managed to earn good feedback from his fans. Overall it was not that impressive at box office still good promotion and charisma of Prosenjit Chatterjee gave it an average response.

#DurgaSohay

After giving four back to back successful thrillers director Arindam Sil took a different route with "Durga Sohay". It was a simple story about love, trust and sympathy revolving around an aristocrat family based in North Kolkata and a poor girl who came in the house as a caretaker of an old ailing man. The film was not up to the mark compared to the earlier works of Mr. Sil. His treatment towards a family drama was more like TV soap than a cinema, still there were some good things like the wonderful performances by the two leading ladies Sohini Sarkar and Tanushree, the backdrop of Durga Puja and some good emotional moments about joint family culture. All these clicked really well with audiences and it get lots of positive response from audiences which results into a successful run for more than 50 days at theaters.

May

In the month of May only big successful film was director duo Shiboprasad-Nandita's "Posto".

#Posto

In last few years Shiboprasad-Nandita has delivered back to back hits on every summer, so

each year we have huge expectation from their films. Much before the release there movies creates positive buzz. "Posto" was not an exception, each and everyone was hopeful about this film which was once again about family values and targeted for family audiences. It was about the parenting problems of the young working parents. After watching the film the reaction of the audiences were divided, some people liked the film but a large section of audience were disappointed. It was not up to the mark as expected from the director duo. Their main highlight is the refreshing subject but this time the story was suffering from the hangover of their earlier hits. Also the story was too much melodramatic which gave it a TV soap kind of feel. Although the director duo failed to impress this time but their favorite actors Soumitra Chatterjee and Paran Bandopadhyay were in their best form. The movie was not a huge hit like the recent films of the director duo but still it earned enough to be called successful.

Apart from this there were two remakes with big star cast and good production values which were "Ami Je Ke Tomar " by Venkatesh Films and "Amar Aponjon" with which actor Soham made his debut as a producer but unfortunately people rejected both the movies.

Also there was Buddhadeb Dasgupta directed “Tope” which was well received in festivals but not in theaters.

June

The main highlight of this month was the big face-off between two big superstar of mainstream cinema Jeet and Dev on the occasion of Eid. But before that there was a small film which got a smaller release but get big thumbs up from its limited audience, it was "Khonj" featuring Shataf Figar and Bikram Chatterjee. It was a thriller with a gripping story (for most of the part) and good performance by the lead actor Shataf Figar. Though very few people watched it but whoever watched it, was impressed by it.

Then came, the two biggies "Chaamp" and "Boss2" on Eid weekend.

Chaamp

With "Chaamp" superstar Dev made his debut as a producer so it was very special for him and he gave his 100% effort to make it a good as well as entertaining film. It was a film about a boxer and his struggles within the boxing ring and outside the ring in the battle of life. Although the story was very cliche but one can't ignore the stylish presentation of the boxing matches and an honest attempt from the leading man Dev to prove himself as a better actor. This movie also marks the debut of successful model and Dev's rumored girlfriend Rukmini Maitra. The way director Raj Chakraborty had presented the film that was not that much mass appealing at the single screen theaters but it got better than average response at city plexes. Also it was declared tax free by the state govt which helped the producers to have more profit.

Boss2

With "Boss2", Jeet once again proved, no matter if commercial films are not doing good business, no matter if all his contemporaries are trying to act in more meaningful cinemas to prove themselves as better actors, Jeet will continue doing mainstream commercial cinemas for masses. He is happy with his stardom among the masses and he is not in a mood to be taken seriously as an actor. "Boss2" was a sequel to 2013's superhit "Boss" and it carried forward the story of Suriya Bhai played by Jeet. This time too there was Subhashree from the original cast also there was Bangladeshi beauty Nusrat Faria to add more glamour. There were Kaushik Sen and indraneil Sengupta in the negative roles, they are not the regular baddies for a Jeet film which gave it a fresh look. "Boss2" has all the ingredients of a mainstream masala movie but it lacks freshness in look and feel. In the opening week it received good response from its target audiences at small centres in India and Bangladesh but it has a rare possibility of long run at the box office. 

Overall in the second quarter there were successful films like "Bishorjon" , "Durga Sohay" and "Posto". Now we are gearing up for more original story based interesting films in the next quarter. There is a big line up of good films with big expectations, starting with two thrillers "Meghnad Bodh Rohosya" and "Jawker Dhan" in July which will be followed by four big films in August which are "Dhananjay" , "Machhar Jhol", "Shob Bhooturey" and "Chhaya O Chhobi". Then there will be more than five big films in September on the occasion of Durga Puja. So far the movies which are confirmed to be Puja releases are Srijit Mukherjee's "Yeti Obhijaan", Raj Chakraborty's "Balo Dugga Mai Ki", Anjan Dutta's " Byomkesh O Agnibaan" and Mainak Bhaumik's "Chalachitro Circus".

Best Film of Quarter 2 2017

• Bishorjon

Best Directors of Quarter 2 2017

• Kaushik Ganguly - Bishorjon

 Best Actors of Quarter 2 2017

• Abir Chatterjee - Bishorjon
• Kaushik Ganguly - Bishorjon
• Soumitra Chatterjee - Posto
• Jisshu Sengupta - Posto
• Shataf Figar – Khonj
• Prosenjit Chatterjee - One
• Anirban Bhattacharya - Durga Sohay
• Dev - Chaamp
• Paran Bandopadhyay - Posto

Best Actresses of Quarter 2 2017

• Jaya Ahsan - Bishorjon
• Sohini Sarkar - Durga Sohay
• Tanushree - Durga Sohay
• Mimi Chakraborty - Posto
• Lily Chakraborty - Posto
• Paoli Dam - Tope, Aaroni Takhon
• Priyanka Sarkar - Chaamp

Review of Chaamp

 

#Chaamp is definitely not a remake but at the same time it is not an original story too. There is nothing new which you have not seen earlier, from start to finish it goes by the tried and tested formula and from the very beginning you know where it will end. Still for most of the part you may like it because of the good presentation of the boxing matches and an earnest try by the leading man to perform well on screen.

The story is very routine a small town boy Shivaji (Dev) with talent and interest, dreams to become a boxer, he accidentally meets a dedicated coach Buro Bagchi (Chiranjeet Chakraborty). The coach guides him and leads him to professional boxing , Shivaji gets a quick success, big fame, money , a girlfriend Jaya (Rukmini Maiya) who later becomes his wife.Along with that he achieves lots of arrogance and ego. But life was not that easy for him and a sudden accident takes everything back from him and brings him back to roads from where he had started his journey . But a true champion is always a champion and he makes a successful comeback fighting against all the adversities.

Every plot and characters in the story is cliche and have been seen in many movies earlier only the love triangle plot in the first half is quite new for a sports based film. There are enough loop holes in the screenplay specially in the second half which is not that easy to digest. There are moments which are too much melodramatic and tries hard to make you emotional but it really does not work. If we focus about the boxing matches , then the matches has been shot quite well considering the budget and time given for the shooting. It's true Dev is not some Mr. Perfectionist and you can't expect 100% authentication in the boxing matches but still it's much better.

As a director Raj Chakraborty has done quite good job and has made the movie enjoyable for its target audiences. Specially in the first half he has captured the struggle of Shivaji quite well, he is always more efficient in showing small town environment.

Dev is constantly trying to prove himself a better actor and while watching the film you can identify the journey of Shivaji the boxer with Dev the actor. He too had achieved a quick stardom but then he started loosing ground in mainstream commercial cinema. Later he tried to experiment with his choice of films to prove himself as a better actor and now he has gone a step further to produce movies which can establish him as a better actor. Dev has done good job specially in the emotional portions in the second half. The stable look suits him quite well. Also for playing a boxer, physical transformation is very important part and he has done that wonderfully. It may not be a lifetime best performance but it is an honest attempt towards improvement and it shows.

Rukmini Maitra was a successful model so she knows how to look beautiful and confident in front of camera. Acting wise she has done an okay job. In the first half where she plays the rich girlfriend of Shivaji, her model persona dominates her as an actress, she looks more like a model in her glamorous clothes. In the second half she looks more focused as an actress. She has a good future in Bengali films.

Chiranjeet Chakraborty is okay as the dedicated coach. Although there is not much scope where he will be seen technically as a coach rather his character is more like an inspiring elder brother. He has given a restrained performance and looks convincing.

Priyanka Sarkar has very little to do as the friend and secret lover of Shivaji. In her limited screen time she is very impressive. She has done a fresh look which suits her character very well. She has portrayed her bubbly character with ample energy which is required for the character. 

Laboni Sarkar, Supriya Datta had done very much overacting as expected from them. Kamaleshwar Mukherjee is good as the sports journalist.

Among the technical team Soumik Halder deserves special mention for his superb work with his camera. He has captured the boxing matches wonderfully. Apart from the boxing ring, the narrow lanes of a village in Purulia, or the beauty of big city Kolkata has been captured so well. Another person who deserves a mention is the production designer who had done good job with village setup and also during Shivaji's struggle phase in the first half but it's surprising how they can be so careless about the detailing in the second half. In second half when Shivaji has no money at all, the setting of the house where he lives with his wife during their poverty phase really looks odd and does not go in sync with the financial condition of the characters.

Music is by Jeet Ganguly (with additional music by Anupam Roy and Raftaar for promotional songs). The songs are okay and goes well with the narrative but it's not that popular which is expected from Jeet Ganguly. Only two songs "Moula Re" and "Jaya Tomari" are popular, rest of the songs are just okay.

Overall Chaamp is an earnest attempt to make a good quality sports based film in Bengali. You can watch it to encourage Dev as a producer and as an actor.