Shabdo (Bengali, 2013)

I have watched Kaushik Ganguly’s SHABDO umpteen numbers of times. I rank this film very highly and feel this is as ground-breaking a work as Ray’s PATHER PANCHALI & Mrinal Sen’s BHUVAN SHOME. The two main protagonists in the film are a dedicated foley artist and a lady doctor, who is trying to diagnose the debilitating condition of the foley artist, where the foley man seems to be lost in his own acoustic world, unable to appreciate and communicate in real world situations. The doctor too is extremely dedicated and the deteriorating situation of her patient affects her tremendously.

The film gives an insight into technicalities and contribution of sound engineers in filmmaking. Ritwik Chakraborty and Churni Ganguly enact the protagonist. The supporting cast includes Victor Bannerjee, Raima Sen, Srijit Mukherjee and others.

Rating: 4 out of 5

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KAGAZER NOUKA (2013)

KAGAZER NOUKA is a topical film that portrays the contemporary reality of a corruption ridden society. Through the character of a freedom fighter (Victor Bannerjee), a Gandhian with strong idealistic values the film mirrors the decadence and frustration facing the elderly who had sacrificed everything to liberate the Nation. In that respect, the film echoes Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s TAHADER KATHA. Otherwise, it is a very different film from TK and revolves around the nefarious chit-fund business that rocked West Bengal and brought about its disrepute.

The versatile Soumitro Chattopadhyay in the role of an evil businessman controlling the chit-fund empire & a childhood buddy of the protagonist freedom fighter is competent as usual. The others in the cast includes Bidita Bag, Anusya Mazumdar, Rajesh Sharma and others. Victor B reprises the role of an Angry old man again after LATHI and act with aplomb. The film is directed by Partha Pratim Joardar.

The film was severely criticized by some critics, but somehow I liked the subject matter and the unfolding of events and don’t attest the critics viewpoint who gave it a rating of 1, or 1.5 out of 5 to this film.

Rating; 3.5 out of 5