My take on "Rossogolla" the movie
The much awaited biopic on Nobin Chandra Das, the inventor of the "Rossogolla" hit the screens yesterday. The timing of the movie is rather significant as it comes in the backdrop of the "bitter sweet" tussle for the GI tag for Bengali Rossogolla and also coincides with the 150 years of the epic invention.
To set the expectations right, it needs to be said right at the onset that Rossogolla is a commercial feature and not a strict biopic. The script has therefore leveraged the creative license available to a storyteller to play facts with a healthy dose of imagination, to weave the intended impact.
The film has debutants Ujaan Ganguly (son of extremely talented and well read Kaushik and Churni Ganguly) and Abantika in the lead and they make a lively pair. Both of them had a formidable task at hand. Ujaan plays the legendary confectioner Nobin Chandra Das, a simple 20 something from the mid 19th century with meagre means but a steely resolve. Abantika plays Khirod
- first a 16 year livewire with a temper to match and later the loving and spirited wife of Nobin. As newcomers Ujaan and Abantika come out with flying colors. Abantika gets into the character as if she is an incarnation of Khirode...playing it with an amazing ease...you hardly feel she is "acting". As audience, you fall in love with her within the first few minutes and its to her immense credit that we start pining for her presence repeatedly. Ujaan has a wider canvas of character to sketch and his effort does look a bit labored at times - but to be fair to him, does a remarkable job of seizing the critical moments. His spontaneous jig every time there is a moment to celebrate, looks innocently cute.
Most in the important support casts are relative heavyweights and do adequate justice to their characterization(s). Rajatava Dutta plays Kalidas Indra to near perfection. Bidipta as Nobin Das' doting yet strong willed mother looks most natural. Kharaj Mukherjee, as a Hindi speaking confectionery worker Mahesh looks effortlessly convincing - as he so often does. Shantilal plays a short yet stunning role as Baikuntha. Kaushik Sen, with a total screentime of barely 3 mins makes his mark.
Music plays an important part in the overall narrative...and the impact of the Late Kalikaprasad is overarching. All of us who have been witness to transformation of Zee Bangla Sa Re Ga Ma Pa into a rich and eclectic musical panorama under the amazing scholarly, yet immensely creative tutelage of Late "Kalika da" are bound to find their eyes swell with timeless memories, as you see his magic unfolding in Rossogolla. His extremely detailed work on architecting a soundscape so integral to the storyline needs to be saluted. The opening Fakiri song "Khodar Banda" rendered by Arko is breathtaking and so is Tapur Tupur. Tapur tupur also needs to be lauded for its "lyrics from the heart" and its warm visuals.
Director Pavel has done a good job and has done an even better job as the co-scriptwriter along with Smaranjit. There are moments which are a little too melodramatic and overbearing but probably will have takers in the gallery - as was evident by the spontaneous claps by a section of the gathering at the premiere. The "sets" is an area that remains somewhat under-leveraged. Mid 19th century Kolkata was a great opportunity to create a "period" magic to augment the impact; in contrast the setting at times look a little "put on" and the backdrops created to extend the ambience are not adequately seamless at times.
Windows films should be credited for encouraging a young promising director and blooding a debutant lead pair in a film that by virtue of the subject alone, will find a place in the annals of Bengali cinema. A sharper editing could have probably glued us more, but, keeping the finer points aside, the film is immensely successful in creating an indelible impact with the story of blood and sweat that went in to create "Rossogolla" - arguably the national sweet of India. The magnanimity of Nobin Chandra Das to have consciously stayed away from commercializing the invention for benefitting the masses at large has a strong message and has been done beautifully. I hope the English subtitles takes the story beyond the Bengali speaking populace. Apart from making you feel part a of a rare culinary heritage, Rossogolla, is also a must watch for its overall warmth and the poetic justice.
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