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.