Meghnad Badh Rahasya (Bengali, 2017)

It is after several months that yesterday I saw a Bengali film -Meghnad Badh Rahasya directed by Anik Dutta on Netflix. This is a 2017 film by Anik and the third film of his that I watched after Bhooter Bobhisyot and Ascharjo Pradip. The film is billed as a thriller, though in essence the core of the film lies elsewhere. The inspiration besides the central text of Naxalgia and the suffering that it entailed and it’s gradual obsolescence in modern times could also have been one of the missing trilogy films of Mrinal Sen like Ek Din Achanak.

From the films of AD that I have watched I feel that he holds a lot of promise. The deft handling of characters and relationships in different formats(humor laden in BB and AP, and realistic in MBR) with an often political backdrop lends credence to his craft. Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Gargi Roy Choudhary and Abir Chaterjee feature in the cast of this film about a sci-fi writer and his second wife and how their past walks into the present of the two protagonists (combo of politics and romance) and a gradual progression on the lines of a thriller. However, for those that like their curiosity quenched, they are likely to have a feeling of deja vu if they have watched films like Antonioni’s La Avventura or Mrinal Sen’s Ek Din Achanak. The title of the film is an allusion to the betrayal similar to a kind poet Micheal Madhusudhan Dutt showcased in his epic poem Meghnad Badh Kavya, a retelling of the Ramayana

Rating: 4 out of 5

Bhooter Bhobisot (2012)

Incredulous and quirky, yet a rather entertaining movie – this is debutant director Anik Dutta at his hilarious best. A satirical tale woven around spooks, who are gradually finding themselves without proper shelter in the increasingly concrete jungle that Kolkata has become in modern times owing to the onslaught of unscrupulous builders. A budding filmmaker (Parambrata Chatterjee) comes to shoot an eerie film in a huge feudal mansion, and be-friends one of the residents (Sabyasachi Chakraborty) who narrates a film script he had written weaving the history of the mansion and its inmates.

In terms of influences, Bhooter Bhobisat bears several influences. The use of limmericks (rhyming as in Ray’s HIRAK RAJAR DESHE), references to use of handheld camera (Mrinal Sen’s CALCUTTA 71), the unadulterated comedy as seen in the films of Bhanu, Johar, Robi Ghosh & Chinmoy Roy films. The film camouflages several topical issues: the consequences of urbanization, and even pokes fun at our Anglicization – our obsession with things from the west thorugh the character of George Baker, the young musician.

The film was shot in the Sreerampur Rajbari. Besides the mentioned actors, the cast also includes Paran Bandopadhyay, George Baker, Swastika Mukherjee, Meer and others.

Rating: 4 out of 5