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.
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