It’s heartening that Bengali filmmakers have shown a zeal towards making celebral detective films / thrillers and this has always remained as a strong current in that industry in contrast to Bollywood that only occasionally comes up with a fine film on that genre. The reason can be adduced to the fact that most of the renowned writers of Bengal, be it Samaresh Basu, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Premandra Mitra, Suchitra Bhattacharyya, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Sasthipada Chattopadhyay or Niharranjan Gupta, besides the ever-enduring Sharadindu Bandopadhyay and Satyajit Ray and many others have regularly penned detective works that tease your intelligence and keep you glued to the pages to unravel the mystery. No wonder the filmmakers are inspired by such writers and their creation.
The 2020 made ‘Antardhan’ directed by Arindam Bhattacharyya is a reasonably engaging thriller that keeps you engaged till the end of the storyline of a missing girl from a hill station, Kasauli, in North India. The film has an interesting twist at the end, something that the viewer would be unable to detect until the mystery gets unraveled even though the clues are infused at intermittent intervals during the progression of the story. Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Tanusree Chakraborty, Rajatava Dutta, Mamata Shankar, Harsh Chaya, Neel Mukherjee are the principal cast. Rating: 3.8 out of 5
Midway in the film there’s a scene in KHANCHA (Bengali for Cage) where Rituparno Sengupta looks out of her window from her apartment in a multistoried building. She discovers that her stalker and womanizer boss (Arijit Dutta) is calling out to her from his stately car from the ground below. This particular sequence and moment in the film draws a parallel between her life, an urban corporate woman, and the subaltern woman (Parno Mitra) whom she has been sheltering in her house from a trio of rogues who are part of a gang of woman traffickers. This moment in the 2013 made film is a telling commentary about the true plight of women in our modern society irrespective of the rural and urban divide. In 2023 we are now discussing and ensuring passage of the Women Reservation Bill in our parliament, an attestation that the fairer sex have remained behind in a patriarchal society.
Interestingly, I find that some Bengali filmmakers are making films of a kind of genre that may be loosely categorized as ‘social thrillers.’ They are made in a thriller format, but they aren’t so. They are more of an exploration of societal issues and a commentary on them. Think of Mrinal Sen’s Ek Din Pratidin & Ek Din Achanak, and this film by Raja Sen, and you would probably agree with such a labelling about these films.
Very subtly through the character of the corporate working woman, the director has brilliantly captured the struggles and biases the modern woman has to face and live up with on a daily basis. She may break down often looking for help and comfort when confronted with fear inducing incidents as shown in the film. What many may not notice is the brilliant contrast shown in an unstated way – that the woman who has been wronged by society which has snatched away her daughter from her and cast aspersions on her morals has the courage to come to the rescue of a distressed woman who is a stranger to her. In a world where fellow feeling is generally on the ebb, how far should an individual go for their moral duty for a perfect stranger when it involves a threat towards their life? Wouldn’t it be easier and safer to turn a blind eye towards the evil that breeds in our society?
I was pleasantly surprised by this film. When I looked up the web for reviews on this film, I found that the critic of TOI has given it a poor rating of 2.5/5. Yes, the film based on a story by Prafulla Roy is not without its weaknesses. For instance, who provided the three rogues with a police uniform when they stormed the house of the corporate lady? . There’s also a romantic subtext in this film on women trafficking and molestation. Ritwik Chakrabarty as a reporter lending support to Rituparna is brilliant as usual. Overall, an absorbing and meaningful film that deserves a watch.
Having watched ‘Nirbaak’ (Speechless) recently, a 2015 Bengali film directed by Srijit Mukherjee, I am in a bit of dilemma. Should I rate it as a good film, or a bad one? The initial thought that crossed my mind after the viewing of the film, which the director has dedicated to the master of surrealism- Salvador Dali, was that the film didn’t make much sense to me. All the beautiful imagery and novel techniques employed in the depiction of Kolkata hitherto unseen could not force me to develop a liking for the film. Maybe the question you would pour forth is “why?”. Well, for the kind of implausibility of the storyline – a women courted by three men, and hold your breath, a tree!!! Well, you can’t really blame the tree for developing those amorous feelings when the lady is Susmita Sen, eh?
I have always had a soft corner for experimental films that break the conventional style, and Srijit masterfully breaks all cinematic idioms in this work and came up with a film that stretches your power of imagination and takes you on a journey rather unfamiliar on the Indian cinemascape. The film deserves a watch for the bold attempt to tell a different kind of romantic story using some brilliant cinematic moments. Anjan Dutt, Jishu Sengupta, and Ritwik Chakrabarty are the three male leads in the film, in which a dog too features in a prominent role.
The hallmark of a great director is his ability to capture societal trends and imbue his works with his personal thoughts. That Indians are crazy for jewelry especially gold is known to all. At least in two of his films viz., ‘Paras Pathar’ & ‘Monihara’, Satyajit Ray uses this obsession as a leitmotif and used it to tell a story rich in societal commentary, the first one aided by a ‘fantasy’ narrative and the latter using the “horror” route based on a story by Rabindranath Tagore.
A number of remarkable films have been made in Bengal using the elements of ‘fantasy.’ One can recall Mrinal Sen’s ‘Ichchapuran’ based on a Tagore story, Anik Dutta’s ‘Aschorjo Prodip’ & ‘Asiete Asiona’ among others. These films clubbed with ‘Paras Pathar’ and ‘Thana Theke Aschei’ have pushed the envelope for Bengali cinema in their depiction of the unreal becoming the central device to communicate a social message/commentary.
‘Paras Pathar’ (1958) was the third film made by Ray after two serious films in his career – ‘Pather Panchali’ & ‘Aparajito.’ It’s a film unlike any that Ray has directed ever before or since. Billed as a comedy, it’s Chaplinesque in its treatment of pathos. It also brilliantly captures the aspirations lurking beneath the mundane existence of the middle-class office going Bengali and also issues a pearl of cautionary wisdom along the lines of the Gandhian philosophy of wealth accruing out of a lack of labor having disastrous consequences. Tulsi Chakraborty, the main protagonist is brilliant in a role of a lifetime.
Some of the initial sequences of the film exquisitely capture the milieu of the 50s and its life in the ‘office para.’ (business area) Watch the sequence where Tulsi C reveals the formula to the greedy jeweler out to make money and observe how humor can be cerebral and needn’t always be loud or conveyed using funny mannerisms.
The influence of De Sica’s ‘Bicycle Thieves’ on Ray and on the making of his debut film ‘Pather Panchali’ is well-documented. There’s also a likelihood that De Sica’s fantasy-laden ‘Miracle in Milan’ (1951) could have inspired Ray to make his film ‘Paras Pathar’. ‘Paras Pathar’ was based on a story by the scientist Rajsekhar Basu who wrote under the pseudonym Parashuram.
I wanted to discover the cinema of our neighboring country for quite a while now, and decided to start off with Bangladesh, because of the affinity for the language. In the last few months, I have watched three films from that country- BHUVAN MAJHI which featured our own Parambrata Chattopadhyay, SUTOPAR THIKANA which featured the actress from Bangladesh- Aparna Ghosh, and MONPURA which has the well-known actor Chanchal Chowdhury in it. These three films have piqued my interest in cinema of that country. SUTOPAR THIKANA was a fine exposition of the trivials of being a woman and it’s a modern tale of life in Bangladesh and bears a thematic similarity with Ritwik Ghatak’s MEGHE DHAKA TARA. MONPURA was a 2009 film that has been remade in Indian Bengali language as ACHIN PAKHI by Anjan Das.
The film MONPURA has been directed by Giasuddin Selim. It follows a simple narrative style and has an undeniable charm about it. There’s romance and murder, loyalty and betrayal, hope and doom amidst the pleasing backdrop of a river island. There’s an endearing quality in the character of Sonai (played by Chanchal Chowdhury) and his romance with Pori (Farhana Mili) tug at the heartstrings. I was keen to see a film featuring Chanchal ever since I heard of him being chosen for the role of Mrinal Sen in a biopic on the legend by Srijit Mukherjee. I am impressed by the performance of Chanchal in this film and wish him the best for his forthcoming biopic role.
As a parting shot, though I have enjoyed MONPURA immensely, I would have liked it to end on a different note.
The film ‘Nobel Chor’ has an interesting fictionalized take on contemporary social issues based on a real life incident. The incident is the theft of the medal awarded to India’s sole Nobel Prize winner for literature, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. While unquestionably the basic premise of the film is weak, it nonetheless becomes an effective vehicle for a strong societal commentary. In retrospect, one feels that a surreal treatment of the film could have worked better, much like the Bhanu Bandopadhyay film of yesteryear ‘Asite Asiona’.
The probability of an innocent country bumpkin like Bhanu (played by Mithun with brilliance) finding a stolen Nobel medal in his field is as likely as finding God in our mortal existence. The prevalent rural urban values have been etched beautifully through a motley of character and the manner in which they hold in reverance Bengal’s biggest icon, Rabindranath Tagore. Soumitro Chattopadhyay, Rupa Ganguly, Saswato Chattopadhyay, Arindam Sil, Harsh Chaya and Sudipta Chakrabarty perform credibly in their cameos.The 2011 film was directed by Suman Ghosh.
Having an illustrious father can often mar the real appreciation one deserves. Probably people are always comparing the person with the icon. This can explain the fact that Sandip Ray, a director in his own right, never really got his due in terms of critical appreciation. I am not too sure but I think his Feluda films did good business at the box-office. But there is more to this director, and his films like Uttoran, Nishijapon and Monchora is a testament to that. And his subjects, besides the detective genre, too have been varied, from science fiction to romantic drama, ghost stories, humanistic tales (Phatikchand) to incisive social commentary (Uttoran) on the prevalent situation.
‘Monchora’ (Heart Burglar) is a 2016 film based on a story by Saradindu Bandopadhyay. It is a sweet romantic drama laced with mystery with an underlying message not to be judgemental about people, because an individual is a product of his circumstances and his resultant conduct bears a correlation to it. Bengali cinema regularly gives us gems like ‘Monchora’ keeping our faith alive that cinema from Bengal is still vibrant. The actors act superbly, and Abir Chaterjee as a petty thief who has a change of heart as the film progresses, excels in his role. Raima Sen is immensely likeable, and Paran Bandopadhyay and Saswato Chattopadhyay are brilliant as usual. June Maliah in a negative role is competent.
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
Bhalo Theko is a 2003 film featuring Vidya Balan. The film evokes contrasting imagery to present a rather sordid societal picture. Anandi (Vidya Balan) encourages her boyfriend (Joy Sengupta) to go abroad for higher studies who gets married while in foreign shores. Anandi is rooted in the ethos of the family and village life, while her ambitious sister ditches her lover, the simplistic neighborhood boy (Parambrata Chatterjee) for an uppity city slicker guy. Her idealistic big brother goes missing never to return. Family tragedy ensues. Her parents passes away. Life gradually begins to fall apart for her. The debut film of the director Gautam Halder with a background in Theatre is surprisingly lyrical in tone. The political quality of the treatment gives it a refreshing touch in the tale of a pure village soul who faces the adversities unfolding in her life with a quiet grace. Her support system includes her jhetu (uncle played by Soumitro Chatterjee), few of her sympathetic neighbors and the surrounding nature and trees🌲🌳🌴 in her house. Vidya Balan evocatively essays her role in a film that, like Meghe Dhaka Tara and Ek Din Pratidin, showcases the exploitation that women often have to suffer quietly in our society. The film is reportedly shot in the house of Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose in Falta. Rating: 4.1 out of 5
Bengali cinema keep offering works with novel themes with amazing regularity. PEACE HAVEN (2015) by Suman Ghosh is a welcome addition to that growing list of notable films. The spectre of death and associated rituals haunt all of us, more so the elderly. Earlier in the Raja Sen directed ATWIYOSAJAN a few years back we saw an elderly man taking initiatives to perform his shraddo(last rites) even while he is still alive. In PEACE HAVEN, an eighty minutes film, made in a style the director describes as ‘hallucinatory realism’, a blend of the realistic with the surreal, a group of three elderly gentleman hits upon a plan to make preparation for preservation of their bodies after their death for a few days to enable their foreign settled son to return to India and perform the last rites. The trio witnessed the passing away of their friend and the inability of the US settled son of the deceased to reach India on time for the final rituals. According to Hindus, the last rites of a deceased should be performed by the son (else it is considered inauspicious)
One can detect echo of Buddhadeb Dasgupta works on this film. The film is also a sad commentary on a generation that lived a principled life and in their old age have to lead an existence sans their children and their grand-children.
Talking about cinema 