ROYAL BENGAL ROWHOSHYO Web Series: Seven episodes of this web series are playing on Hoichoi. I do not know what is the big deal of recreating the same story after fourteen years with a different set of actors. This web series is a copy-paste job without an iota of originality or creativity. The original music by Satyajit Ray which is used in Feluda movies is usually a character by itself. The music here is too feeble to make an impact. The theme song is taken from Srijit Mukherji’s Darjeeling Jawmjawmat and it retains the energy and liveliness of the original. Dialogues and scenes are duplicated frame by frame. It is plain tiring to watch the cloned audio and images without any freshness. Navigation is a nightmare-on clicking Royal Bengal Rowhoshyo on Hoichoi, it points to Darjeeling Jawmjawmat; On clicking “Next Episode” it points to the first episode. Do yourself a favor and watch the original big-screen version which is also streaming on Hotstar.

MITIN EKTI KHUNIR SHONDHANE (Mitin In Search of a Killer): A tightly woven who-dunnit directed by Arindam Sil. Mitin Mashi was created by Suchitra Bhattacharya for young adults and the character is brought to life on-screen deftly by Koel Mallick. At times it may seem that the character of Koel is over-glorified (well being wife of the producer helps). Not only youngsters but adults will enjoy the layered story, peeling like an onion, with the right dose of glam and oomph. But the music however disappoints. Watch this movie if you are a fan of Koel’s muted acting and understated charm and if you are a sucker for sleuth stories.

THE EKEN:BENARAS E BIBHISHIKA: A compelling sleuth story by Sujan Dasgupta, with breathtaking cinematography capturing the vibrant backdrop of Benaras, brilliant comic relief, captivating music and excellent performance of the ensemble cast, elevate this movie into an enjoyable experience. Eken Babu’s irreverent faux pas are so very endearing. A far cry from the simplistic storytelling by Sonada (portrayed by Abir Chatterjee), this screenplay is layered with twists and turns, action and intrigue but still cannot a hold a candle to Ray’s classics like “Joy Baba Felunath” and “Sonar Kella”. The climax is abrupt and slightly put-on. But the movie is entertaining and is suited for family audiences. There is a hint of the next installment-hope it is bigger and better.

EMERGENCY: One would expect that this movie would dissect the events leading to the infamous Emergency in 1975 which is the darkest chapter in Indian democracy and its repercussions on the Indian diaspora but it turns out to be a cradle-to-grave biopic of the late Indian Prime Minister. The screenplay is pathetic and does not engage the audience. The acting of Kangana Ranaut and the ensemble cast comprising of Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Mahima Chaudhry, Satish Kaushik and Milind Soman is very average and it feels like they are merely going through the motions. The background score and the songs are atrocious and they fail to uplift the mood of the film. The movie is not a hagiography and depicts the character of Mrs G in a shade of grey. Sanjay Gandhi’s life is shown in great details and it might seem like it’s his biography. Kangana goes overboard in portraying the mannerisms of Mrs G with the quivering lips and the twitching of the chin. The audience needs to know a bit about Indian history in order to follow the proceedings. A bad directorial effort, this movie is utterly miss-able.

THE SABARMATI REPORT: Gripping, incisive tale of the Godhra incident in 2002 the movie scores because of an efficient screenplay and excellent performances of Vikrant Massey, Ms Khanna and Ms Dogre. Massey with his medium build and lanky figure represents the common man and his beyond-compare acting finesse carries the movie single-handedly from Ground Zero to an elevated experience. The movie depicts the horrifying incident of a train travelling from Ayodhya to Ahmedabad carrying mostly Carsevaks set on fire by the “other” community. The second half is a little sluggish and the climax is predictable. The movie is a dramatization of the Nanavati-Mehta report on the Godhra incident but as you walk away from the end credits you cannot shy away from the realization that this movie is majorly a propaganda vehicle of the current establishment.

JAMALAYE JIBONTO BHANU: A promising story put up on a grandiose setup and exciting premise, the movie cannot save its face thanks to an illogical script and lackluster comedy (supposed to be the USP of the movie). Humor-mongering is an art and only a talented few can create humor masterfully and effortlessly (God bless my friend Anuradha Mukherjee whose sense of humor I have always found killing!) Despite mastering the mannerisms and portraying the distinctive looks of “Dhakar Pola Bhanu” (thanks to prosthetic makeup), Saswata Chatterjee fails flat on his face to deliver thanks to a shoddy screenplay. The scene that resonates the most is the recreation of the iconic scene from “Shaare Chuattar” depicting the legendary exchanges between Suchitra Sen and Bhanu Bandopadhyay over his obsession for “Malpua” (essaying the 50’s Bengali man’s bonding tactics with the female gender). The movie lacks to elicit any laughter (not even a stifled chuckle) and the audience is relegated to tedium and unforeseen misery. 

THE WILD ROBOT: A soul stirring movie, it would appeal to kids and the kids-at-heart alike. A wonderful screenplay, brilliant voice-overs and a superlative display of visualizations, animation and technological mastery put this heartwarming movie as the festive season’s bestest movie to watch with family and friends. The movie tells a humane, touching tale that can pull audiences to the theatre many times over. Simply unmissable.

BINNY AND FAMILY: A coming of age narrative of a London bred teenager who spurned by her crush in high school finds comfort in her grandfather’s company who is a widower and a retired professor in Bihar and quite unaccustomed to the ways of the Gen-Z NRI generation. This role is played by Pankaj Kapur to the hilt and he bridges the generation gap that young adults have with their parents. The movie is predictable and tries your senses in parts but provides wholesome entertainment and even tears you up at times. This movie is not a comedy commenting on the vagaries of NRI life in the West. For that I recommend Bend It Like Beckham which got released a couple of decades back. Binny and her mother are major eye-candy and are terrific finds by Ekta Kapoor. This movie is good as a one-time watch.

PADATIK(THE FOOT SOLDIER): This biopic based on the life of Mrinal Sen, the proponent of art cinema in Bengal chooses Anik Dutta’s “Aparajito” as a canvas and weaves together different experiences of Sen, part in black and white, part in color, and traverses through the different historical events in Bengal from the 1940’s to 2003.The first scene that touches a chord with the audience is that of the funeral procession of Rabindranath Tagore in 1941 who protested against division of Bengal in 1905 and was the first Indian to bring Calcutta in the world map by winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913.Sen was much moved by the poverty of the people in Bengal and the Bengal Famine in 1942 became the topic of his movie “Akaler Sh andhane”. The movie depicts the healthy competition between Mrinal Sen and Satyajit Ray. There are glimpses of Sen attending the meets of the Film Society founded by Ray after Independence to enable the culturally inclined populace of Kolkata to view critically acclaimed World Cinema and be inspired by them. Sen was impressed by Uttam Kumar and directed “Raat Bhor” with him. He just like Ray shied away from casting Suchitra Sen because of her overpowering personality and glamour that was a misfit for his grounded, realistic movies. Sen often cast insignificant actors so that his storytelling reigned supreme and there was no predefined notion in the audience about the star cast. The new wave of cinema with dripping neorealism in Bengal was in sharp contrast to the song-and-dance routines being delivered from Bombay. Although Sen was a Marxist, his communist ideals are not prominent in this movie. Sen’s body of work was recognized by Pandit Nehru and later by Indira Gandhi who helped Sen obtain sponsorship from NFDC. Barun Chanda shines as Nehru. Most of the Bengalis in those times spoke English with a clipped accent which was neither British nor Indian. Monami Ghosh ably supports as the petite and frail better half of Sen. Prevalent with the times, she sports a non-made up face and long hair ala Jaya Bhaduri in the seventies and her character is in keeping with the Bengali women of the 40’s who were undernourished and sacrificed their meals in order to feed the joint families and were attracted by a man’s intellect rather than wealth. The movie makes flitting references to Amitabh Bachchan and Ritwick Ghatak. The movie depicts the golden era of art cinema where Berlin,Venice and Cannes festivals supported human stories from the whole wide world made in regional languages, and were not fashion parades as they are now. Just like Ray, Sen made a trilogy with Interview, Calcutta 71 and Padatik(The Guerilla Fighters). While Ray was polished and came from a rich Brahmo family and was a multifaceted genius blessed with excellent painting, music, writing and dramatization skills, Sen was more close to reality and painted monochromatic frames dipped in actuality. The bare bottom scene was unnecessary and could have been more subtle-it is possible to have a soliloquy while fully dressed. It was nice to see Debraj Roy, yesteryear’s newsreader as Sen’s foreign bred son. The scene where Sen is shown as protecting his new-born son from an earthquake in Calcutta is very touching. The overall mood of the movie is grim and dark with no comic relief and this can put off part of the audience. After Ray’s demise in 1992, Sen was elevated to a higher plane by the audience and critics all over the world and that’s how the movie ends. If you have ever liked the iconoclast that Mrinal Sen was, you will surely love this movie.

IT ENDS WITH US: The movie starts with beautiful glimpses of the Cancamagus Highway in Maine in Fall where the female protagonist is seen visiting her parental home after her abusive father’s demise. It does not affect her much and at the eulogy GTG she fails to come up with even one good comment about her father. Unable to soak in the dull and drub home environment, she settles in Boston and becomes a florist. Since her name is Lily Bloom matching her profession she quickly gains friends and dates. She hops and skips from one relationship to another and settles in holy matrimony with a John Abraham lookalike who is as abusive as her father. It is good to see good old Charles river with its famous duck tour amphibian vehicles and the Harvard bridge connecting Boston and Cambridge. It’s surprising to see that Lily gets dates so easily when half of Boston single women are attending Mathew Hussey’s tutorial to get their acts right. The movie is dialogue heavy and the random adult scenes might make one think its a load of soft porn and quite unsettling for the conservative non voyeurs. Until the final reel of the movie you do not get the plot and which bloke she will choose at the “end”. Mr. Deep Gaze wants to bed her and she declares that her focus is on her newborn child and that is the only relationship she cares for. Like a true Hollywood movie, it doesn’t end like a Greek tragedy and the up-tempo climax strikes a chord with the millions of single mothers worldwide who choose the company of their children more than a man coz blood is thicker than any circumstance. Good for a one time watch for adults exclusively. 

DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE: Even if you are not big a fan of comic book heroes and uninitiated to the Marvel installments, you would laugh till your sides ache coz the humor supersedes the mind-numbing action bolstered by SFX. The 3D effects are superlative and if you watch it at IMAX you would get the total feel. Too bad that the dialogues are raunchy and keep the children away from a super enjoyable movie. The screenplay is taut and dripping with wit, sarcasm, irreverence and self deprecating humor. Every line of dialogue is a gem and you can’t even blink to miss the sidesplitting scenes. Coming to performances, Ryan Reynolds is a riot and scores above Hugh
Jackman coz its really hard to display emotions while wearing a mask. Female presence is limited except for a Sinead O’Connor lookalike who is a villainiya. This is a recommended watch and please wait till the end credits stop bcoz there is a hilarious reel that would make you burst at the seams.