suprabhattacharya Reviews

Shri Swapankumarer Badami Hyenar Kobole (2024)

A successful experiment

[8/10 · 15 January 2024]

The façade of decency and sophistication in bengalees is not unknown, it seems that pseudo-intellectualism is the only thing we now have as a community, we are clinging to the fossils of greatness, resorting to milking them until they dry, and it is drying. Debaloy Bhattacharya's 'Shri Swapankumarer Badami Hyenar Kobole (2024)' may not be an anger-filled ultimatum to the fossilized culture we have, but the intention is clear from the very beginning. The film surely takes a jibe at the decaying heritage of a community that pioneered art, culture, and music back then.

Debaloy Bhattacharya interestingly resorts to channel his take through reestablishing a pulp genre detective who used to roam around readers' hearts and hands way before 'Byomkesh' and 'Feluda' came. But this time, the detective is placed in modern-day Kolkata, where the existence of pulp fiction is a distant memory, where there is no room for something fresh and organic in any forms of art be it cinema or literature.

Deepak Chatterjee(Abir) is a once glorious pulp detective who is now guarding an already rotten library as a night guard, he is weary, he is tired, and he is having conversations with his creator Swapan Kumar(Paran Bandhopadhyay ), cursing him for lack of realism in his characters, logic in his stories and also refusing to be part of any other new stories starring him.

The conversations between them act as a meta-commentary of the drought in the creativity of Bengali films, the façade of sophistication of Bengali audiences. As an actor, Abir has essayed two most beloved sleuths in Bengali literature, and now he has sidelined himself from playing them, so the character of a world-weary detective works both ways, both on the surface and meta-level. It seems like fatigue has come over by playing the same characters over and over again with no room for innovation in them.

Debaloy Bhattacharya is an avid pulp fiction worshipper, where any director could have bastardized the nature of the source material by being edgy, he never lets that lash go out of his hand. Although the film is self-conscious of its pulpy nature, over-the-top dialogues, and cartoonish villains, it never shies away from the essence of pulp that Swapankumar used to serve its readers. But there is a certain limit to those fictions in an ever-changing world, a certain expiry date of cheap thrills found in those fictions.

In the film, the writer and his character tussle in debates about whether changing your art through time is viable or remaining orthodox and rigid in your approach works or not.

The creator and creation are involved in creative differences throughout the film, can a character survive without his creator is surely a metaphor for the importance of writers in a film. The Writers Guild strike and the threat of AI takeover signify that Debaloy is not only criticizing Bengali films but as a whole the phenomenon of demeaning writers everywhere.

As absurdities crawl in the narrative, we can't help but smile but immediately the self-conscious nature of the narrative makes us question how long these convenient tropes prevalent in Bengali cinema will work. It is a spectacular achievement in balancing out those two which Debaloy does with flying colors, maybe sometimes he is too self-indulgent but that's forgivable.

Abir is so well suited for this role, and so is our veteran Paran Bandopadhyay whose chemistry is the USP of this film, maybe this is the most unique character played by Abir in his career.

The supporting cast although good adds nothing extra to the narrative.

If you take out the social commentaries, there is nothing such as a convincing storyline anywhere, maybe because of its pulpy nature, but still it could have created memorable side characters especially when there is a clear indication of a sequel.

Also, the spectacular editing gives us a nostalgic trip to the book jackets back then, with the stunts visually synchronous to browsing comic strips. The spectacular monochromatic lighting, and gorgeous visuals all speak for the technical fluency in the film.

Debaloy Bhattacharya has always tried to experiment with his films, sometimes they are successful, sometimes they are not but still he experiments. This film belongs to the former category, it's a long-awaited subversion of telling a Bengali detective story.

Dasham Avatar (2023)

A consciously average film relying on pujo holiday

[6/10 · 23 October 2023]

The main thing about Dawshom Awbotaar is the all around consciousness of Bengali audience regarding a Srijit Mukherjee film recently that its gonna be either mediocre or bad, there may be a handful of conformist Srijit fans who still believes in him to return to his prime.

Even Srijit is aware of his lost brilliance and his inconsistency, but still Dawsham Awbottar manages to milk the nostalgia and the cult following the film has for being a prequel to his two previous films with the iconic characters.

Srijit doesn't even try to pen a consistent crime thriller; it is a deliberate negligence in the script department i.e he is not even pretentious but downright casual. The film essentially belongs to buddy cop genre and an exercise in making the two leads as iconic as possible, which surprisingly works very well. The relentless razor sharp funny banters between the characters of Anirban and Prasenjit are possibly one of the better written dialogues from Mukherjee in recent years, the power dynamic, and the diversity in the characters all fit in to feed the audience with some cult characters in the near future if there is a sequel.

Jishu Sengupta as antagonist has a certain world weary persona which was surprisingly given very little screen time, as I said already the main focus has been the cop duos, the film would have worked much better if a more detailed character arc was given to him. Jishu tries to embody his character very well, but with the protagonists being so larger than life, the treatment is surprisingly subdued for the antagonist. Though I would say some of the murders are staged well, especially the mythological connections they have.

It's evident there were no budget contrivances for this film, as the color grading fits in many scenes .The stunts were sharply performed, except those exhausting slow motions. There is a car chase with some brilliantly crafted inside the car and outside the car sequences.

The unhealthy obsession of Srjit Mukherjee in forcing gimmicky hand held sequences in filming a quarrel is also present here, and if it's been just passable or tolerable in his other films, here it is down rightly nauseating and redundant. What is repeatedly forcing him to obsess over his inconsistent editing skills, its a mystery.

Rarely Srijit has written a good climax; in here he is trying to replicate "Baishe Shrabon" in various ways which seems so half baked, so much out of place that the film completely falls flat due to the inconsistency in the end.

The Jaya Ahsan subplot doesn't work; neither does her arc in the story but her performance and chemistry with Anirban try to bandage the obvious gaps she had in the character.

Its remarkable though how Prasenjit fits in the role of a foul mouthed police officer even though 12 years have passed since 'Baishe Shravan' , his performance certainly is a prime highlight among the few positive points the film has.

Anirban has much more to do, as his screen time in 'Vinci Da' was much shorter .Here he is one of the leads, he has utilised that chance and with the help of shared chemistry with Prasenjit has given a crackling performance worth remembering for.

At a certain point in the film, the serial killing aspect took a backseat and waited for the protagonists to culp with their personal mismatches, tragedies and soon after everything comes to a truce between them, the killing starts.

The director may have been obsessing over his characters a little too much than it should be which is an evident black spot in how a cop thriller is written. If there is another film from this franchise which eventually is bound to happen, this obsession may worsen the narrative, or literally butcher the franchise from its cult following too.

The introductory scenes of the lead cops were staged like a mass film; where there was no absolutely need for to do so. The headache inducing slow motion totally shifts the expectations of the people who loved the way they are introduced in the first films they appear. It seems that Srijit was unsure of how to introduce his characters, so based on the recent obsession of audience regarding mass films, he chose to do this.

In the first ten minutes of the film, it makes you weary of those forced slow motions; some of them may also perceive a wrong idea of how this film turns out in the long run.

The film is certainly an an entertaining one, much more than his work on the web platforms. I wouldn't mind seeing more films made on the characters, as he focuses more on the buddy cop aspect rather than the central mystery,its entertaining and disappointing at the same time. But when it comes to a Srijit Mukherjee films,we are accustomed to being disappointed since last few years but it is since a long time,he has made an entertaining one so credit where its due.

I would say, during these glorious festivities Srijit Mukherjee's Dawshom Awbotaar is not totally a waste of two and a half hours, atleast from the heat and sweat of the pandel hopping crowd outside, it's a decent time spent inside.

Palan (2023)

Works as a standalone social drama

[7/10 · 24 September 2023]

Kaushik Ganguly's "Palan" is an almost believable social drama structured through human emotions, repentance and sacrifice. The film was promoted as a sequel to Mrinal Sen's Cannes jury prize winner "Kharij". It is very difficult to achieve the kitchen sink realism, Mrinal sen used to adapt in his films. Kaushik Ganguly has tried to channel that realism in "Palan" also. The staging and blocking were particularly effective in every scene and pays a proper homage to Sen's work.

The social commentary in the film is surprisingly unfaithful to its predecessor, in "Kharij" Sen was vocal about the blame of everyone in the servant boy's death be it the employer's (Anjan and Mamata) ignorance to let the kid sleep in the kitchen in a chilly night without ventilation, the incompetence of the landlord in providing ventilation, the society which has forced a boy (whose age is fit to go to school) to work to make his living. The incendiary activist approach in the narrative hit us in the right spot, has questioned our so called perfect society.

But "Palan" has simply taken a backseat in addressing those social issues, it paints the main protagonists as the voice against that oblivious Bourgeois society which they themselves had been a part of, as if they are not answerable for the death. The hapless condition of the almost bedridden Anjan dutt's character here is being compared to palan, which seems so out of the place. Palan was plagued by poverty and literally forced to sleep in the floor, whereas it's the naivety of the old man who although being aware that he can afford to go and stay in better place is making a choice to live in that shabby residential, a choice which Palan didn't have the luxury of .Maybe it is a little harsh, but the film completes misreads the point of its predecessor.

But if you just take this as a standalone film, it's a well made social drama. The director has prominently addressed the frail condition of old structural rentals in dangerous conditions, the ignorance of the authorities to repair those buildings, let alone finding a proper alternative for the residents there, how only an unfortunate event can only trigger changes. The film also portrays the lives of two couples in two phases of their lives in a believable manner, how the dynamics changes as life goes on. Kaushik Ganguly has always been an acute observant in portraying family dramas, and has almost been successful in marginalising melodrama and authentic emotion which actually sets the bar between a good and bad family drama. The understanding between the old couple seems more mature than the young ones, which Kaushik Ganguly so beautifully indicates through subtle nuances in various scenes.

The side characters are very one dimensional, their characters are never fully developed; they seem to there for only the sake of it. There also seem to be few instances, where it seems that director is literally forcing us to feel for the characters, however unrealistic the scene may look.

The camera work is spectacular in many scenes; it beautifully uses staging and blocking to depict the difference in the opinions, principles, age of the characters. The background music by Neel Dutta suitably fits in the film to reflect the flow of emotions throughout the film.

What keep the film so much watchable are the performances, Anjan Dutta performs like a true maverick. The emotions, anger, frustration of a senile old man is being so organically brought to screen, and he literally lived the role. Mamata Shankar has also been absolutely phenomenal reprising her role from "Kharij",a true performer she is. She is never utilised properly post Ray-Sen era, but in here she delivers like a true veteran. The undeniable chemistry Anjan Dutta and Mamata Shankar holds onscreen is another strong point of the film, it makes us unknowingly root for the couple to have what they are seeking for. Jishu Sengupta and Paoli Dam are nice enough in their characters but sometimes their dialogues especially Jishu's feels out of the place for the film.

The portrayal of the relation between son and daughter in law with their parents is devoid of the melodrama Bengali film usually has, which thus solidifies the relevance of the relationship between them.

The ending of the film also pays a tribute to the ending of "Kharij" with brooding silence, but in Kharij the silence feels surreal, in here it seems director indicates a possible verbal duel before cutting to black screen.

As a standalone film, "Palan" is undoubtedly watchable mainly because of the performances, but still the social messaging seems flawed and opposite to what Mrinal Sen has given in "Kharij".

Kalkokkho (2021)

An unique approach to define pandemic tribulations

[6/10 · 10 September 2023]

The national award winner is a tale of doctor who is taken as a hostage in a family of three women during nationwide pandemic where he is stuck in a never ending time loop. The masterful build up of an unnerving atmosphere, where the true nature of his abductors keeps revealing is done well. The dull, dark interiors and the shabby dress worn by the women feels tailor made for the premise the film is build in. A sense of dread, despair creeps into the walls of the room.

But, the film is sometimes an exposition dump and sometimes follows a cautious meta commentary about the human suffering and perspectives during the covid 19 pandemic. Despite the subtlety in the setup and the minor changes in the camera angles in every key scene, the dialogues feel heavy handed when the characters try to rationalize their actions. The idea was nice, the women were supposedly a basis for the metamorphosis the apathetic doctor goes through the film, but despite the technical fluency, the dramatization seems under-cooked. That's why, we couldn't feel any sort of emotional attachment with any of them not even for the hapless doctor who is stuck in a nightmarish time loop.

The prevalent horror tropes of dolls, mysterious chants, a girl reciting rhyme in a freakish monotone all looks perfect for the setup, but the repetition of those sequences seems like overkill. It seems like a desperate attempt for the makers to make the running time cross 2hrs mark. The film could have easily been trimmed down thirty minutes lesser .Sometimes the characters move and perform like in a stage play which is although not a put downer but it feels awkward when it suddenly shifts gear to a stage play like tone.

The social commentaries about the migrant crisis, pandemic misconceptions are addressed in a very on your face approach which again doesn't go with the atmosphere and aesthetics the film is trying to achieve.

What the film successfully does in portraying the monotones, the isolation of that period where each days feels like the replica of the previous one. The paranoia, despair, hopelessness and how different an apocalypse feels like in real life compared to those high octane excitement in movies.

The title of the film is "House of time", it justifies the title quite aptly in the end. The house becomes a synecdoche of what's happening worldwide, stuck in time loop without any window of hope and better things.

The character transformation the doctor goes throughout the film is where the makers are successful in delivering a heartfelt message to us. The film tells us to be kind in difficult times, to care for each other however difficult it may seem like. It tells us the solution for people to get out of those situations is simply humanity, that's it.

As per the performances go, it never hits the mark except Tanistha Biswas and also the makeup seems amateurish and casual, none of the characters are explored well which also maybe is a reason for the performances never being remarkable enough to borrow attention.

The director duo despite being too explicit in the social messaging sometimes has adapted a rarely seen before approach in Bengali cinema, which itself is worth applauding.

Moshari (2022)

A tense 20 minutes

[8/10 · 28 August 2023]

A post apocalyptic short set in Bangladesh where human's only way of survival is mosquito net after sundown, that's a intriguing premise .

Two siblings are what left of a happy family and struggling to exist in this situation .The younger one is naive and the elder one is motherly,an evident contrast in their characters has established their chemistry.

As the night falls,poeple resort to their mosquito nets and hope for dawn to arrive,there is a voicover telling poeple that they can keep religious textbooks with them but that will not protect them if they are outside during night. It signifies the nihlism in the world they live in and what ensures safety is believing in others not in some higher power .

There may be different conclusions regarding this film,like how it mocks women safety through different dialogues here and there but the film really scores in establishing the love and bonding of the two sisters.

Owing to the budget Bangladesh has for experimental films,this is a gargantuan achievement,the lighting,music,camera work all contributes to make this film a tense watch.

But the dialogues and accent don't seem rooted at all which feels very distant and artificial.

Niharika (In the Mist) (2022)

A meditative tale of suppressed emotions,unfulfilled love

[8/10 · 6 August 2023]

A meditative tale of suppressed emotions,unfulfilled love ,"Niharika" paints a life of an woman paralyzed by tragedies in various phases of life. The geography in which the story is set in provides a serene presence to the woman who is apparently calm and seemingly coping up with her tragedies. But the internal restlessness,confused desires are draining her peaceful existence in there. Since childhood,every person she has been trying to be close with has either left her or denied their intimacy. It is also a tale of womanhood,it shows how society dictates a woman always to have a dependent presence in their life,someone to serve always with not expecting something in return. But the film doesn't explicitly blames men for this ,rather it places them also as a victim of dogmatism in our society.

Indrasis Acharya's protagonist Deepa almost throughout the entire runtime is seeking for affection,love which she hardly experienced in her childhood home where a drunkard father,abusive uncle had made her life a nightmare. The affection she seeks is also somewhat twisted,unorthodox. She indicates somewhat blasphemous signs of intimacies which is a taboo in our society when she shifts to his maternal uncle's house. The characters of her maternal aunt and uncle are the two most affectionate presence in her life. Her aunt lives in a subtle solitude,her eyes speak volumes but her mouth remain shut. What seems like a happy marriage is indeed a tale of two souls drifting farther apart day by day although sharing the same bed and roof. Our protagonist contemplates this complex state of relationship and fears of similar future in her life too.

The film mainly works due to its restrain in showing delicate emotions by bits and pieces,the gentle cuts between different timelines. The rough terrains of Bihar and Jharkhand acts like a proper allegory to the characters in the film.

Shantanu De beautifully shot the wide terrains and the occasional intimate frames,the dimly lit interiors which resonates with the film's meditative brilliance. Joy Sarkar 's instrumental compositions also fits the film like water.

Anuradha's performance as Deepa is supposedly her best till now,she plays such a complex character with astounding expertise. The main factor being that she understands her role very well. Shilajit Majumdar plays his equally complex role of her uncle with natural brilliance. Mallika Majumdar's role although being shorter makes the most impact,her eyes and forced pretense of living a happy life is brought skillfully into screen by effortless Mallika Majumdar.

Anindya Sengupta also impresses in his role,his character is poles apart from other ones,being a city boy there is always a sharp contrast between perspectives among them.

The film although ends in a satisfactory note it would be far fetched to be hailed as a happy ending. Our protagonist learns to live with herself and her search for a perfect soulmate ends with finding herself in an isolated abode in a serene hamlet.

Niharika sure have its share of flaws,like with the excessive inclination to blank framings which works few times but sometimes they are too much ambiguous. Some characters apart from the leads have very negligent presence,although their importance was needed. The performances are also very one note from them.

Still Acharya again proves to be a mature storyteller in his fourth film .Adapted from Sanjeeb Chattopadhay's "Bhoy",it's such a multilayered story to tell on screen but Acharya has done it with sincerity and precision.

Ardhangini (2023)

A humane depiction of crisis

[8/10 · 4 June 2023]

What kaushik ganguly brings in this poignant tale of human relationships is relevance, I would even go to length to say that it feels somewhat like poetic realism. The characters converse in this film with heavy emotional and realistic undertones simultaneously, which is a remarkable achievement. People in real life don't talk like his characters do, despite the dialogues not seeming heavy-handed.

Kaushik Ganguly's film could have easily fallen into a melodramatic trap owing to the story it deals with but he skillfully avoids it with a measured and mature screenplay. The way he creates emotional turmoil, guilt, anguish, and anger among the characters is what makes the film an engrossing watch. The intimate frames, the cautious and sensitive camera movements, atmospheric lighting of scenes make almost every scene meaningful. The contrast of characters between Churni and Jaya makes their interaction scenes brimming with brilliance. The still relevant social disadvantages of being a woman in a patriarchal society are brought upon sensitively, it doesn't have a preachy tone,rather it comes off quite organically. Despite dealing with such a serious issue, the film has its humorous moments which are so beautifully placed and staged, that it doesn't seem feel to forcefully fed in.

The writing also makes space for crucial supporting characters. They don't feel like catalysts for the leads to go on, be it Damini Benny Basu or Kaushik Sen or Ambarish Bhattacharya, or Lily Chakravorty. The relationship between a wife and mother-in-law has rarely been shown in Bengali films this way as this one does, one of my glorious takeaways from this film. All the female characters here are written with a true sense of feminism, what it is supposed to be. You don't have to belittle anyone to make another person superior. Despite being a social commentary against our society, it doesn't blame anyone, the film tells us through various ways not to lose humanity and not to engulf ourselves in egoistic tendencies.

The performances are top-class, Jaya Ahsaan and Churni Ganguly are mavericks, its difficult to choose the better performer between them. Churni's acute command of her skills clashes with Jaya's undeniable screen presence and range. Lily Chakravarty's role is also written brilliantly and she acts like a true veteran. Ambarish's role also speaks for his performance, he has made his presence felt every time whenever he is in. Kaushik Sen and Damini Benny Basu also impress in their brief but remarkable appearances.

Ganguly's last two films have suffered a second-half debacle, which I also feared from this film. But Ardhangini gets more intense after the interval as the complications increase and many perspectives come into the light. The first twenty-thirty minutes of the film tests your patience and the narrative remains flat during that period and could have been trimmed shorter.

The music sometimes feels overburdened in some scenes but it gets better as the film progresses.

A true human drama delivered by one of the finest filmmakers of Bengal with very few hiccups.

Chengiz (2023)

Not a film to be released pan India

[6/10 · 23 April 2023]

It will be not wrong to say "Chengiz" is not the perfect film for pan India release,because it has nothing new for the people outside Bengal. The primal fact being the superstardom of Jeet will not work because of the minimum exposure of Bengali commercial film outside. The second reason is the selling point of the film being overused in many commercial films i.e a child wronged by authority rises to become a gangster for vengeance. People might say ,many films of these same template has become a commercial hit from other regional industries ,but just look at the stars of those films,whose name is enough to pull the audiences. Frankly,jeet doesn't have that .Now we may think about KGF 's meteoric success,where everything was relatively new,the director,the lead ,but the fact in Karnataka,there is a huge market for commercial films in the state itself.

In the past few years,proper mass films have considerably reduced in Bengal,single screens have been closed and thus the alienation of bengali films from rural or common audiences. They are resorting to hindi dubbed south Indian films on YouTube and day by day they are losing interest in bengali films. Now the situation is that except towns,bengali films are finding it difficult to cater audiences.

Amidst all this ,jeet announces his next film "Chengiz" which will be the first Bengali film to be dubbed in Hindi and released alongside. But the sheer ignorance of the fact that why people outside bengal would watch this is surprising.

If looked from only bengali commercial landscape,"Chengiz" is a long awaited bliss,it is definitely a proper mass entertainer. But for a moment,think about mumbai,pune ,bhopal audiences,they have seen Vikram vedha,lucifer and many other similar films where they know the lead ,there is a certain fan-base of those stars too. Then why they would be seeing the same thing from a unknown face.

It is evident from the teaser and trailer,that the film's story-line is the 70's but the blatant negligence in production design is thoroughly pathetic. There is no effort whatsoever to recreate the period the story is set in. I would not be saying this if this was not an pan India release,they could have surely upped the cost there to make it at least visually believable.

The film tries to not be entirely herocentric,in the first 30 mins Jeet has hardly few scenes,it exercises on the world building which is a decent move. There were hardly a few scenes where we saw protagonist's desire for vengeance steaming up,his relation with his uncle which could have been a sure-shot emotional arc is underutilized. There is a constellation of interesting side characters developed during the narrative. But they were never utilized to their fullest,but still for a film belonging to this template I couldn't complain as this is how it supposed to be.

Jeet owns every scene he is in,his aura,his charisma as proper mass film hero is established in the film. There are certain qualities of a mass action hero,he has all in it. But as pseudo intellectual society we belong to now,it is sad how will bengalis will ignore this to watch other things. As a community we never stick to our own,we will watch KGF,Pushpa,RRR but when it comes to Bengali commercial films we are suddenly intellectual which is downright hypocrisy. The supporting performances are good also especially Shataf Figar as an egoistic gang lord .The dialects used by the gangsters worked well also. The dismal turn of Susmita Chatterjee as a female lead is somewhat surprising,the love arc seems to there for the sake of it. She fails to emote ,express in any scenes of the film. In films like these,people rarely expects female lead to have a lasting presence,but that doesn't mean that the output will be this awful.

The amateurish scene transitions are a huge eyesore and hamper the flow. The action sequences are shot well and the depiction of blood and gore are not anyways timid,it suits to the genre and one of the redeeming factors of the film. The background music is overbearing at times and also the songs are forgettable.

The fact that this film is not a remake and is relying on an original script which had its roots in the city itself is praiseworthy. It had been a long time after perhaps,bengali commercial films are tapping this territory.

It is a bliss that someone is trying to put us on national map in commercial films but this is not the right film to do that. Despite all the blemishes all those drawbacks,we must break our hypocritical pretentiousness and just gave these films a chance. A industry relies on star power,which is absent for many years and someone is trying to bring that back,it might be criticized but must never be ignored.

Kuttey (2023)

Bhardwaj Jr needs more work

[7/10 · 14 January 2023]

When Konkona narrates the story of a dog,lamb and a tiger in the beginning of the film,I hoped the story would adhere to it for making the naming of the film as "Kuttey" justified and the epilogue significant. But the narrative doesn't even add up with that story,which is why I was wondering the importance of that fable told by Konkona throughout the runtime and at the end was disappointed with whimsical climax. The film is filled with cluster of events one after another which keeps you engaged but it feels like over-saturation after first half. The film follows a rashomon structure,and a labyrinth of perspectives and coincidences galore as it progresses. The screenplay lacks depth and fails to make the characters dark as the premise of the film demands. The visuals,score demands more grittier approach than the narrative follows,none of the characters were intimidating enough despite such a great ensemble. If you take out individual performances,none of them disappointed and again Tabu is a winner,what a brilliant performer. Kumud Mishra's character was given a gentle backstory which works well and the only character you could have a little bit sympathy for.

The visuals,the background score are terrific,also being a film school pass-out Aasman Bhardwaj intelligently crafts the action sequences and beautifully utilizes his knowledge of blocking in those. The one take action sequence during the heist evokes brilliance in terms of execution,and easily the best part of the film. Aasman's film is clearly highly influenced by the style of Tarantino,Guy ritchie and his own father's films. What I didn't get from this film is originality,which I was anxiously looking for. Aasman need to grow over his father's shadow and establish himself as an individual filmmaker. I assume he will grow as a filmmaker,because the sheer technical prowess he has regarding films ,what he needs is more polish in his narrative.

And last of all,Arjun Kapoor doesn't look like a sore thumb in the middle of a brilliant casting,he was not brilliant but certainly not someone who spoils the party,Aasman worked hard to bring out a credible performance from him.

Expecting more from Aasman Bhardwaz in future.

Bhediya (2022)

A truely Indian werewolf

[7/10 · 26 November 2022]

Bhediya is termed as a Indian werewolf film by many,but the actual film borrows nothing else other than "man turns wolf" portion from its foreign counterparts ,rather the film has strong Indian roots and contexts in every aspects,be it the popular desi cinema references,the age old Indian folklore or the regional bias etc.

Niren Bhatt(writer of the film) doesn't keep it too subtle while making the social commentaries on nature preservation or the north eastern bias .The commentary also isn't particularly impactful as it dilutes down as the film progresses.

Labelled as a horror-comedy but the film doesn't even try to spook the audiences at the slightest, the comedy is also slapstick and filled with one-liners which works in some places and feels redundant in others. That being said,the film works in many departments also. The cinematography is spectacular,it brings forth the beautiful and pristine nature of Arunachal,and tempts us to go there. Sachin Jigar 's atmospheric background music perfectly blends with the plot and its premise. The vigorous and on point work in vfx is thorougly appreciable. The wolf transformation scenes are really great ,which reflects the sincere work in department and is easily the main highlight of the film.

The story though interesting on a surface level,the script is not .The comic one-liners becomes monotonous after a period of time ,and lowers the gravity in some scenes where it is required. The story doesn't even try to delve deeper into the social commentaries it provides. The character transitions in the end seems very abrupt and hurried and the climax is also very underwhelming.

Dhawan as a lead has done a decent job and among the side characters,Abhishek Banerjee's performance is surely a winner. His comic timing is spectacular and for him only, several cliched scenes becomes memorable. As for pop culture references,I really enjoyed some of them and frankly some of them are really smartly placed in the narrative.

Now people who loved "Stree",(director's debut and an another horror comedy) will be slighly disappointed."Stree" was an almost perfect mash up of horror and comedy,with none of the two eclipsing the other but "Bhediya" works predominantly as a comedy film with a supernatural premise, nothing more nothing less.

It may be also harsh to dismiss "Bhediya" as a film,it has many redeeming factors and most importantly it's first of it's kind.

Ponniyin Selvan: Part I (2022)

Ratnam returns with a bang

[8/10 · 4 October 2022]

Mani Ratnam's PS-1 is an immersive journey into the internal politics, and power struggle in the kingdom of the Cholas. MR takes a segmented approach in his narrative to establish the central characters of his film. The film is named so after its source novel, but the titular protagonist is established much later which doesn't betray the narrative flow as the sequel is already in cards for expanding the titular character arc.

The film concentrated more on character drama than the CGI, action set pieces which help the grounded approach of Mani Ratnam. The script diverges and converges beautifully throughout the film, the audience may find it difficult to follow the characters and their motivations in the beginning but the confusion will diminish as the film progresses if given due attention.

The handling of women characters in an Indian mythological film is not one of the strong points but Ponniyan Selvan-1 's women characters occupy a formidable presence in the film. Their intellect and personal motivations shape the narrative significantly.

As the performances go, it's a constellation of spectacular performances. There were few spectacular shots in the film which are pure magic of lighting and color correction, it doesn't score much in the VFX or CGI department. Even the war set pieces aren't that impactful, they are grounded not over the top but still, it could have been much better. Perhaps Mani Ratnam wasn't that concerned to make them impactful.

The film takes you inside the royal diplomacy in the Chola dynasty with conspiracies brewing for the throne. The editing in the second half feels hurried and disrupts the narrative a few times.

Mani Ratnam's signature shots were a treat to watch on the big screen, particularly the shots involving Nandini played by Aishwarya Rai, and the shots highlighting the instability of Aditya Karikalan played by Vikram. A passion project from Mani Ratnam really feels like an authentic adaptation of the source novel, with the sequel in the pipeline I want to know what is going to happen to the Cholas.

Lokkhi Chele (An Angel's Kiss) (2022)

KG is back

[8/10 · 27 August 2022]

Kaushik Ganguly constructs drama like no other,and his latest release which announces his comeback as director after three years is not an exception. An audacious social commentary,powerful and truly gut-wrenching,the film addresses volatile religious dogmatism,racism ,exploitation in the name of religion compellingly. Ujaan Ganguly in his second film as an actor gives a incendiary performance,he truly inhibits his role like his skin. A passionate performance from the whole cast lifts the film to another level. The casting was tailor made for the roles. The competent script also balances well with the other aspects of the film,it evokes tension,emotion whenever required in the film. There are some believability issues in the film in the second half,as it indulges in monologues and coincidences which might seem far fetched. But the acting department has eclipsed those defects,the cast has made everything look believable .The camera work deserves special mention too,it minutely reflects each and every nuances in the film. We realize the dark world of superstition which could be viciously vindictive if shaken when we leave the hall. Kaushik Ganguly has given another thought inducing film in his career.

Meal (I) (2020)

Devastatingly shocking

[8/10 · 25 August 2022]

In Meal(directed by Abhiroop Basu) there is an amalgamation of themes like communal vulnerability, domestic violence, and economic instability. The family members as it seems are walking on a thin line of sanity and decency which feels like it is about to erupt. The facial expressions indicate a possible outbreak and their mask of minimal decency to fall. As the characters converge to eat their breakfast, it feels like a ticking bomb in its final seconds of countdown. The acting adds another level of discomfort to the watching experience, as the characters they play are on the verge of sanity. All four actors are superb.

Basu's film uses ambient noises as background score which makes his film more disturbing. Almost without a single line of dialogue, Meal hits harder than expected as it ends.

Nope (2022)

Yep

[8/10 · 21 August 2022]

A powerfully directed film from Jordan Peele again. It borrows aspects from many iconic films like E. T,Close Encounters of the third kind ,Signs but that being said the film is refreshingly original too. An audacious spectacle,"Nope" is an exhilarating watch for the most parts. It teases with the audience by the incoherent paranoia almost through out it's runtime. The cinematography by Hoyetma Van Hoyetma is spectacular ,it broadens the theatrical experience to an impossible grandeur. Peele lightly mocks the alarming media presence in our life in the film,the influence of sensationalizing everything. But the mockery is barely noticeable,and the film is more straight forward in the plot development. The standout performance belongs to Keke Palmer who wins every scene she is in. The brilliance lies in the film when it intentionally doesn't reveal or explain everything happening but as soon as it does,it loses the charm. A spectacularly designed climax saves the film from derailing at the end. Nope is a film made for theatrical experience,it mustn't be missed by any fans of the genre.

The Unnamed (2016)

A earnest work

[8/10 · 19 August 2022]

The social commentary could have been much more subtle but there is a certain earnestness in the film ,which works. The humorous approach of tames down the sensible issue the film deals with, a bit,but still the film works because of the non-pretentiousness.

Midnight Express (1978)

Biased but brilliant

[8/10 · 6 August 2022]

Brutal,agonizing and harrowing told ,Alan Parker presents Turkey as "living hell" which is extremely problematic in terms of honesty. The fact that the film borrows it's plot from the experiences of a real man doesn't help to ignore the explicit bias in storytelling. Alan Parker though has directed the film brilliantly with able assist in the script from Oliver Stone. Brad Davis is brilliant in his role,descending into the sinkhole of brutality as his character is tortured ,oppressed in the prison. It's a brilliantly made film,yes it is extremely biased but still from the perspective of film-making,it's very true to the genre.

Vikrant Rona (2022)

Swagger sudeep and brilliant visuals

[7/10 · 31 July 2022]

A concatenation of multiple genres, Vikrant Rona relies on the enigmatic presence of swagger Kichcha Sudeep and the breathtaking work in the visual effects and cinematography. Anup Bhandari partially succeeds in creating an apt premise for the essence of the script but couldn't capitalize on it.

The film struggles to find a foothold in the first thirty minutes and the lackluster editing fails to grab attention from the beginning. The film starts to get better as Kuchcha Sudeep steps in, maybe the reason is his undeniable magnetic charm eclipses the other half-baked supporting characters and script.

The second half improves the storytelling and engages us with fairly thrilling aspects in the same. The unnecessary complexities in the plot make it confusing to keep track of the events taking place one after another but the jaw-dropping 3d visuals made it impossible to ignore the earnest ambition behind the making of the film. As I said earlier, the film never sticks to a particular genre, it jumps from one to another, sometimes it seems like child folklore, then it turns into a horror film, and rapidly it changes to other genres like adventure and crime thriller. It packs many punches to make a solid thriller but the good aspects start too late. The problem is the extremely shallow side characters which add nothing to the film, it's only Sudeep as a character and an actor who commands the screen space whenever he is there. There is a particular fight scene in the rain which is brilliantly shot and edited.

The film caters to the die-hard Sudeep fans well and works also for those who want to watch a decent thriller loaded with brilliant visuals, it is less impactful if not watched in theatres and that too is a one-time watch.

The North Water (2021)

Nihilism ..

[8/10 · 9 July 2022]

Nihilistic,brutish and bleak,Andrew Haigh's five episode miniseries is a fascinating tale of survival. It has curved some of the most devilish human acts which seems remotely humane in a civilized world to even think of.

Andrew Haigh's making is brilliant,he vigilantly creates a world which seems doomed from the very beginning. It has done some exquisite work in cinematography and the musical score was just enough to satisfy the nihilism in the show. Jack O'Connell and Collin Farrell are fantastic in their roles,may be one of the most complex characters to play for Farrell in his career. A brute,an alcoholic and an absolute beast,Farrell's character is thoroughly hateful which he plays with extreme conviction. The rest of the cast including Stephen Graham,Sam Spruell,Roland Moller were extremely faithful to their roles too .The fifth episode has tried to diminish the bleakness of the past episodes ,but that didn't work for me.

Fandry (2013)

Manjule's lens is thoroughly intrusive

[8/10 · 3 July 2022]

Manjule's film apparently feels like a nonchalant tale of the prevalent caste system in a village. It doesn't sensationalize the discrimination by showing dalit oppression in the hands of the upper caste. But as the film ends,it makes us feel many things without showing literally almost nothing explicit. The last twenty minutes involving a pig-hunt is a boldly constructed metaphor mirroring the sociopolitical hypocrisy of caste system.

Manjule's script feels so near to those terrains and their people,to the taboos prevalent there. It's not a bait to gain sympathy for the so called lower caste either,it's a story which though simply told hurts deeper as it ends.

Suzhal - The Vortex (2022– )

A compliant small town murder mystery

[8/10 · 2 July 2022]

A lavishly intense 8 episode mini-series which juxtaposes an ongoing local festival in a small town with a murder mystery. It relies heavily on visual narration and is brilliantly shot by DOP Mukeswaran , the way he captures the festival scenes is thoroughly impactful .The series solidifies it's foothold more by establishing the key characters in the town concerned,each of their sub-plots has driven attention and none of them feel like redundant. They also act like a catalyst for the central murder-mystery.

The characters engulf the attention so much that the central murder mystery somewhat gets overshadowed but the creators tactfully tackled that in the last two episode and reinstated the attention on the murder.

A ravishingly well made series which treats it's surroundings too seriously , sometimes more than the central mystery itself.

Laali (2022)

A intriguing short

[8/10 · 23 June 2022]

A short but delicate tale of objectophilia of a laundry man with an unclaimed red dress in his shop. Tripathi's one-note roles in his previous films have somewhat ignored his versatility as an artist, but this short explores him to his proper caliber. A man who doesn't indulge in small talk but longs for a true companion is portrayed beautifully by Tripathi. The director relies on background noises, radio broadcasts quite skillfully to establish the premise of the film.

Pett Kata Shaw (2022– )

An anthology worth craving for

[8/10 · 19 June 2022]

Ep 1:A short purely obedient to Bengali horror in fables,but it had nothing to do otherwise. It is explicit in what it shows,nothing great about this one and it doesn't even try to peek deeper. It is a campy one but still an interesting watch.

Ep 2:It exfoliates slowly into a unprecedented climax which works brilliantly

Ep 3:This broody atmospheric short traces the origin of Bengali superstitions in a village. The spectacular sound design,color grading celebrate the technical prowess of the segment.

Ep 4:Grief,guilt,remorse morphed with horror,the final segment of the anthology is fascinating to experience. The tropes of a old folklore is realized through the modern lens of a urban life.

Signal (2016)

Engrossing

[9/10 · 19 June 2022]

A superbly made crime series loaded well with emotions and humour. The final episode kind of lags in quality though.

The whole soundtrack is addictive af. Available on Spotify.

Once Upon a Time in Calcutta (2021)

Urban decay

[8/10 · 7 June 2022]

The cultural and structural decay of a city captured by one of the most unique filmmakers we have. It's beautiful,melancholic and delivers sharp criticism of our society .

Ozark (2017–2022)

A lukewarme finale ,still a better show than many contemporaries

[9/10 · 19 May 2022]

Ozark is something of a black sheep among Netflix shows,first of all it is slowly paced,it is not binge worthy like u could see 4 episodes a day,watching this show need time not because of the running length but the weight of the episodes which cannot be denied at all.