Rajkahini (2015) Poster

(2015)

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6/10
Rajkahini – No Man's Land!
alekhyadas16 October 2015
Rajkahini – No Man's Land! by http://fb.com/iamAlekhyaDas

The film demos how a group of women can stand up in a man's realm.

The plot rotates around a brothel which falls among the international boundaries during the partition of Bengal of 1947. How different people's life is built with this bordello and how everyone's life changes after the news of the partition is what Rajkahini is all about.

Rajkahini references the pitiless instances happening over the state due to the partition. People's lives are becoming a muddle and they are made to detriment. In the interim, a group of prostitutes from that very brothel stand against the entire barrier and held their heads high with superiority.

The brothel was established by Begum Jaan played by Rituparna Sengupta who is the most intrepid lady you'll ever see. She aids all the other dwellers of the household to be resilient like her and helps them to stand against the world and menfolk. She doesn't want a single support from a man and she'll perish without taking a single's man help if she has to. She has completely made the flick what it is. She is the toughest feature of the entire whorehouse and the movie.

[ I won't be sharing too much because it will be a spoiler.]

Everyone has acted their finest. Rituparna Sengupta, Zoya Ahsan, Rudranil Ghosh, Parno Mittra and Jisshu U Sengupta were the best of the best.

Cinematography and Composition were exceptionally marvelous. The bumpy and proportioned close up shots and the prompt cam action scenes were well shot.

Director Srijit Mukherji deserves a respect to put up such a picture, which illustrations that a woman can do more than a man can do. He indicates that a woman can triumph a man's world and make it her domain.

Every film has its pros and cons. This movie has them too. The opening sequence Ridhima Ghosh will give you shivers down your spines. The love sequence between Rudranil and Zoya will make you smile and 'awww'. Rudranil's valiant ransom will also make you have admiration for him. The climax scene featuring Bucchki shows how a woman can slay a man within 'flashes' without actually slaughtering them.

Rajkahini also displays how an exceptional movie can get off course with a single, final scene. The climax fight sequence could have been so much enhanced. It was ridiculous and everyone seating around the theaters were really dissatisfied by the part before the final credits. It was supposed to have a burning, destructive effect on you, but it was too icy and almost wrecked the entire pinnacle.

Overall, ‪‎Rajkahini‬ is a must watch movie for every woman and is dedicated to expatriates and the fighters of the partition.

'Jaye Hai' to the 'Never giving up' spirit!

3.75/5
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7/10
A hard hitting take on partition with the story of "nobodies"
rupak_speaking22 October 2015
The first half was not quite up to the mark but it picked up steam in the second and the climax pretty well made up for it. Rituparna's acting did not look quite natural to begin with (she seemed to try too hard to get into that role), but came into her own as the movie progressed. The discourse between the two protagonists from the two principal political parties of both sides, namely Saswata and Koushik, looked over-dramatized at the beginning but their chemistry as well as the whole story started to get a foothold on to the audience mind as things progressed. Another minor glitch was the scene involving Radcliffe, which though a short but a major one in terms of backdrop of the movie. The acting looked amateurish there, a foreign proper actor could have been used in that role. Jishu stood out for me with his never seen before image but the grandma's portrayal seemed flawed again as she looked more like a normal household grandma than one in a brothel. The lesser known facts on partition were touched upon in adequate measure and the image of the society and its attitude towards these women who seemed like having no role or place in it other than being a few bodily commodities were portrayed uninhibitedly. The use of the unused part of the Tagore song in our national anthem was excellent to end with though. Apart from these few issues, the movie was truly hard hitting and a thought provoking one. It gets a 6/10 for the first half and 8/10 for the second from me, overall a 7/10!
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6/10
Mediocre- Fails to live up to the hype and ratings
soumik-kumar21 October 2015
At the outset the director must be commended for taking on such a bold subject. But it seems he bit more than he could chew. The movie is excellent in patches and absolutely mediocre in the rest.

Apart from the gaping holes in the story and its portrayal, the acting is okay. The movie tries to steamroll its flaws by using a Galaxy of movie stars. Most of the characters are under developed and do not have a backside story. Some characters have no logical explanation about why they do what they do. Ex- Master. Also it is strange to assume that India was filled with rapists through and through.

The movie also generalizes the society of the time and even then fails to capture the essence of it.

The movie as a whole fails to do justice to the subject and you only leave the hall with some scenes, not the entire movie on your mind.
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10/10
A brave movie
Ring_of_Sun18 October 2019
A brave movie based on indro-pak border petition time . One of best movie Srijit Mukherji..... 11 actress & others actor best & brave acting bloom this movie very nicely..... One Brothel has 11 lady , their lifestyle, country divition , that time socialism condition everything bloom this movie very nicely ..... Song combination perfectly , background music , directing just mind blowing
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Brave, thought provoking and disturbing
oh_stranger_oh24 October 2015
Warning: Spoilers
First of all, I am proud that Bengal film industry is still the boldest and bravest regional film industry of this country and no doubt another feather in the crown of director Srijit Mukherji. There is an amount of hue and cry among the so called intellectual movie critics who think this movie did not live upto its expectation, I humbly disagree with all of them. To my knowledge there is no other director has his way of choosing the plots and themes.

The plot is all about a brothel house with handful of sex workers and their mistress Begum Jaan brilliantly played by Rituparna Sengupta. Their world came crashing down as they come to know their house will be demolished as the border of India and East Pakistan falls right on that and there will be check posts built in that area. Begum Jaan tried to get help from local Nawab who is one of her renowned client and reason to keep law and police at bay, but he too gives in saying he can't help her against the recently Independent Indian government. Fuming Begum took the matter in her own hands and from there two influential member of Congress and Muslim league who are also happened to be childhood friends and witnessed the horror of partition, started having the violent tussle, Which ends horrifyingly.

Rituparna is like old wine, she is only getting better with her age. Sudipta Chakraborty, Joya Ahsan, Sayani Ghosh, Sohini Sarkar, Priyanka Sarkar, Ridhima Ghosh, Lily Chakravarty, Ena Saha are all fantastic in their roles. Parno Mitra as Golaap played a gullible prostitute. Abir Chatterjee is a break out villain, Jisshu Sengupta as Kabir was a true scary one. Rudraneel Ghosh played a short and pivotal role and his sad end will surely make your heart twitch. Ditipriya Roy also played another small but very important role of the teen daughter of a prostitute as she innocently asked if there's any difference killing a Hindu and a Muslim during a conversation. Her last appearance in the climax will nudge your very soul. Koushik Sen as Mohommad Ilias and Saswata Chatterjee as Prafulla Sen played the member of Muslim league and congress party as as usual intense and best. Nigel Akara as Saleem Mirza also played his role beautifully.

Rajkahini is a must watch movie for all the true movie lovers, people who don't know Bengali, I urge them to go and watch it with subtitles. It sure deserves 4.5 out of 5 in my mind.
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6/10
One line story stretched to make a 3 hour movie
nibeditamoitra13 November 2015
Warning: Spoilers
First 1 hr is interesting. Opening scene sets the expectation high. The main characters and the political backdrop is introduced nicely. Then somehow the movie loses the flow and the rest 2 hours is just repetition of the issues already shown in the first 1 hour. The monotonous storyline is interlaced with loud music ,several explicit scenes and dialogs which don't blend together at all.

It is like a student writing a 20 marks answer in history exam where he is supposed to discuss 10-12 main points. Unfortunately he is unprepared and somehow hall collected 1 or 2 topics from his friends. He then stretches and stretches those few points to write his 20 marks answer.

This is a multi-starer and most of the actors except Rituparna Sengupta have acted well. I do not know why a veteran and versatile actor like Rituparna did such OTT acting in this movie. The one actor who really steals the show is Jishu Sengupta.
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10/10
Nigel Akkara - Silent but impactful
sujaydas-0698515 June 2022
I have a question why Nigel Akkara is not acting in many films. He is always taking a break between movies. Nigel Akkara we all want to see you more, whatever characters are done by Nigel Akkara always leave a huge impact on the audience.
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6/10
OK movie good in few parts
rishi_is_here-126 April 2016
Here are my two cents,

1. Not Director's (Srijit Mukherjee) best attempt; I think he does well in crime suspense genre than period genre. His direction shows parts brilliance as a very short simple story line stretches over 2 hours which could have well been within 1.5 hr. There are unnecessary attempt to develop characters of some who are not important for the main story-line. Nonetheless , the primary storyline is a touching one during the country's partition with mixture of fear, anguish, corruption, helplessness, courage and feminism.

2. Camera work great in some long and short shots, boring when continuously showed one half of faces of the two officers (Ilias and Prophullo) over different situations.

3. Acting mostly ordinary, Rituparna(Begam Jaan) tried hard to convince her character especially when she showed her anger on others, sometimes touching the border of melodrama. Rest are average with exception of Saswata(Prophullo), Kaushik(Ilias) and Jishu (Kabir). Why the actors casted for Lord Mountbatten so lackluster, and a British character Radcliff is played by an Indian face acted by an Indian!!!
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10/10
Nigel Akkara's Unique Character
ranjanadas-7096418 June 2022
Actions speak louder than words. Nigel Akkara proved this phrase right through this film. I loved the performance of Nigel Akkara. He has played several characters in many films. Each character was unique in it's own way even this is another best performance of Nigel .
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10/10
Nigel- The silent hero
sohinikundu-6716118 June 2022
A story or content is the lead character in films nowadays A weak content will not uplift a film however good actors perform. The most toughest character for an actor is that of a silent one. Through expressions nd actions one has to push such character above all. Yes, this justice was possible just because of Nigel Akkara. Nigel Akkara is a true hero.
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9/10
Anything for honour
bosssurya19 July 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I rarely do watch bengali movies but, this one took me by surprise .A true story ,and the gory tale of partition followed by its devastating effects. which has prostitutes as the key elements,who defended their 'home' with their life.They decided to go down fighting than to accept the fate as did million others .Sirjit Mukherji did a commendable job by bringing them to us.The marvellous acting by Rituparna and others made it even more riveting. They protagonists let the world know that valour,integrity,honour and courage are not only limited for soldiers but anyone who has the guts to rise against all odds,even when death gives a deadly stare.Honestly,it deserves a standing ovation.
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9/10
Its a Masterpiece
ajijrahaman-0843726 February 2022
The movie released in 2015 but unfortunately i couldn't have any chance to watch this. Today i just finished this movie and i am writing this review with tears in my eyes. Its a film about the post partition environment in India and Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The movie contains many emotional scenes where you can't stop yourself to cry. Very very thanks to the very talented director Mr. Srijit Mukherjee for making this kind of masterpiece. After so many years of partition we can feel the pain and the tortures of that time through this movie. Again Great Direction 🖤 and mind blowing performances from the actors also. If you are a true classic movie lover, you should watch this. Really this movie is going to be a gem of The Bengali Film Industry.
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10/10
Nigel Akkara- Impactful
rajupandey-3493625 June 2022
I just loved the film, even though some moments were little dragging but over all it is a must watch film. The actors have also done their act well. A special mention is deserved by Nigel Akkara. Silent but an impactful character. Well done 👍
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10/10
Original Begum Jaan!
Raja7929 June 2022
This is the original Begum Jaan Movie, and and it is MUCH MUCH better than the Hindi Version.

This Original Bengali Version of the Movie, named Rajkahini, has much better acting, much better depth and much better pacing.

It may be a too long in duration but the awesome quality of the movie makes it entertaining nevertheless, for the entire 3 hours!
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