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.

Review of Posto

In last few years the director duo Shiboprasad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy has became a brand associated with superhit Bengali films. They know the pulse of audience; they know how to make audience feel connected with a subject. These back to back hits have given them credibility and at the same time it keeps increasing expectations with every new release. Now the question is can "Posto" fit into all those expectations or not? The answer is it can but partially. Subject wise once again Shiboprasad and Nandita has chosen one topic with which many people can relate too, but the way they have handled the subject that is not up to the mark.

The story is about the universal concern of grandparents who doubts their children are not mature enough to take care of their grandchildren. This problem has raised more in today's modern society where working parents can't give proper time to their kids and mostly they have to depend on caretakers or grandparents. This is a story of one such kid Posto (Arghya Basu Roy), his parents Arnab (Jisshu Sengupta) and Sushmita (Mimi Chakraborty) are working in different jobs and they had the kid at very early stage of their life when they were not settled enough. As a solution they leave the kid with his grandparents Dinen Lahiri (Soumitra Chatterjee) and Gauri Lahiri (Lily Chakraborty) at Bolepur. Though both Arnab and Sushmita kept visiting their child at regular intervals but the kid is more affectionate towards his grandparents. Everything was going fine in spite of having some minor clash between the two set of parents about the way of bringing up a kid. But the main problem arises when Arnab and Sushmita decide to settle in US to do some start-up business and they decide to take Posto to abroad with them. Dinen Lahiri has doubt on his son Arnab's abilities to be a responsible father as he is an alcoholic and keeps changing jobs very frequently. So he denies leaving Posto and when it does not work, he goes a step further and takes legal action to take Posto's legal custody. The second half follows the court case where justification are provided for both side of parents and their parenting style and finally it leads to a predictable melodramatic climax.

The story is about a sensitive issue with which every working parent and such grandparents can relate too but there is some weakness in the screenplay. It never shows both side of parenting in unbiased way rather from the beginning it seems biased towards the grandparents. It seems the character of Arnab Lahiri has been shown as an alcoholic just to use it as an excuse to prove him irresponsible father. In the battle of two different section of parents the focus has been given only on the grandfather and father, sadly the women members who are also an important half of parenting has been overlooked, apart from one scene of Sushmita there is no scope for the two ladies to express their opinion on this topic other than just following their husbands. The ending also may not appeal to a section of audience.  Moreover the screenplay play is unnecessarily lengthy there are some scenes like a friendly cricket match which serves no purpose. Then there is one elaborate sequence between Arnab and Posto discussing about fireflies which include a song too which helps in no way other than adding length to its runtime. 

As directors the duo has not delivered their best, in past they have raised the bar too high with their unique style but this time it looks like they are repeating themselves.

Among the actors Soumitra Chatterjee is in top most form. He has looked convincing as an old man suffering from his old memories and trying hard to save his future generation. Jisshu Sengupta is okay but in some points he acts too dramatic and inconsistent but in most of the time it's not his fault as an actor rather the character itself is not well written. Mimi Chakraborty has tried to take a jump from mainstream commercial cinema to content based urban cinema but she has very little to do here. In fact she has played meatier roles in her so called remake movies. But in her limited scope she has acted quite well and she looks completely natural. Lily Chakraborty's character has no scope at all and it's mostly one dimensional. Paran Bandopadhyay has done a superb job as Dinen Lahiri's friend and lawyer. He has acted really well in the second half during the court processing. Unfortunately the same can't be said for the defence lawyer played by Sohini Sengupta. This mostly dependable actress has portrayed her character with too much melodrama and over acting that she can give tough competition to daily soap actresses. The little kid Arghya Basu Roy has played the character of Posto convincingly, he looks adorable and acts well.

Music is by Anupam Roy and Anindyo Chatterjee and they have not been able to recreate the magic of "Prakran", their last collaboration with Shibu-Nandita. The only song that looks and sounds good is the title track. Rest of the songs do not impress.

Overall it's an emotional family drama with not so gripping screenplay. It's not a perfect successor to "Belashshe" and "Prakton". There is no freshness and it's high time for Shiboprasad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy to remodel their storytelling.

Review of Durga Sohay

So far director Arindam Sil has became a big name among the successful directors with his super hit thrillers but with "Durga Sohay", Mr.Sil has tried to walk in a different path by choosing a family drama.

In the beginning of "Durga Sohay" the makers have paid tribute to Late Ritupano Ghosh and his film "Utsav". But the only similarity between "Utsav" and "Durga Sohay" is both the films have Durga Puja in the backdrop, otherwise "Utsav" was more about the relationship between the family members and in "Durga Sohay" the main focus is on an outsider girl and her equation with the family members.

The story starts with Basak family, an aristocrat family from north Kolkata, who are in jewellery business for many generations. The head of the family is Shomshankar Basak (Sumanta Mukherjee), a widower man who lives with his two sons (Kaushik Sen & Indrashish Roy), two daughter-in-laws (Debjani Chatterjee & Tanushree Chakraborty) and one grandson Bhrigu (Rwitobroto Mukherjee). Every year, they perform Durga Puja at their home, following their family tradition.

The film begins with Ma Durga's arrival in the Basak house few days before Mahalaya , at the same time another lady enters the house who has came from an Ayah Centre to take care of Senior Basak. Co-incidentally her name is also Durga (Sohini Sarkar). Not everyone is too impressed with her work but the younger daughter- in-law Manashi (Tanushree) develops special bonding with Durga, as she reminds her, about her daughter who died at a young age. Apart from Manashi, Bhrigu too develops a brother sister bond with Durga. But soon Durga creates such a situation that all the family members want to throw her out of the house, in such a situation Manashi stands by her, fighting with her own family members and gives her a second chance. Will Durga be able to keep Manashi's trust or not that is disclosed in the climax.

The story is very simple and predictable and sometime it can give you a feel of watching family drama in TV soap. There is a little secret element about the past of Durga which is disclosed separately in last few minutes but it would have been better if it would have been told just after the interval. Apart from this there is a completely separate track of the teenagers, Bhrigu and his friends to show how the teenagers celebrate Durga Puja which has nothing to do with the main story. And between all these you will get to see every ritual of Durga Puja in detail showing every significant rituals, Mahalaya, Kalabou Snan, Anjali, Dhunuchi Naach, Sindur Khela and Bijaya. Sometimes it looks like a documentary on Durga Puja, but in spite of this authentic representation of Durga Puja, there is hardly any chance to get nostalgic watching these rituals, in this hot summer. Overall the screenplay is too week.

Not only the screenplay even some of the characters are not well written, like the elder Daughter-in-law and the daughter of the house, they are too cliché and dramatic, looks like they have came straight out of the daily soaps. The elder son Dibyendu’s character graph is not convincing enough, he has a sudden change of heart from a pervert to a loving husband which looks too hurried. The youngest member Bhrigu has been shown as a college going teenager but his character is too immature and childish.

But it’s not like that there is nothing good about the movie. The best part of this film is superb performance by the two leading ladies. Sohini Sarkar is brilliant as small town girl Durga with a secret in her past. Her diction, body language is perfect as a poor village girl. Tanushree too shines as the sensible mature housewife Manashi. She looks very beautiful and acts really well. Rwitobroto has his moments as Bhrigu, though looks over enthusiastic sometime but he is impressive. There is Anirban Bhattacharya too in a special appearance, in his screen time of just around 10 minutes he has proved his calibre as a brilliant actor.

Among the technical team special mention is deserved for DOP Gairik Sarkar, he has captured the essence of North Kolkata and Durga Puja very well. Also the costume and jewelleries of the ladies of Basak family will surely draw attention of the female audiences.

Bickram Ghosh has performed well with both the songs and background score. There are two songs in the film and both are well composed, especially the agamoni song will be with you even after the curtains fall. The background score too works well with the beat of dhaak, which gives the feel of Durga puja.

Overall the film has a week script and has an unwanted resemblance with daily soaps, but still you can watch it for the wonderful performances of the leading ladies. Also you can go and watch it to get a feel of Durga Puja.