Bengali Movie Review Thread

[rihaad]

[sherlockholmes]

Originally Posted by analyze

On request of Tapos, I start this thread here. I hope its in right section. If the moderators decide otherwise, please feel free to move to any other subforums which you deem suitable for the thread.

I intend to add some reviews of Bengali movies which I have seen. I do not claim all the review contents to be original. Some of them might be copied from journals or internet sites. I usually do not prefer watching M & B stuff (commercial) so do not expect a Prosenjit movie discussion here. The movies might be little arty kind which might bore the hell out of you all members and Tapos will vouch for that :).

I\'ll start from next post

Pooka Pooka Pooka :D

[analyze]

Originally Posted by sherlockholmes

Pooka Pooka Pooka :D

how come you are here ? I was lucky to drop in here (also ppl here deletes the ot posts) to see if there is a new movie that i need to download. how's everything ? havent seen you in a while.. send me your msn id, if you have one...
how's your work going.

[sherlockholmes]

Originally Posted by analyze

how come you are here ? I was lucky to drop in here (also ppl here deletes the ot posts) to see if there is a new movie that i need to download. how\\\'s everything ? havent seen you in a while.. send me your msn id, if you have one...
how\\\'s your work going.

Zins posted a message in mb in one of your threads saying that your active here.
i have been off forums for a while now, was checking out some masala and cric links @mb. and happed to see zins post:D.
My msn id is dead :cry: again :D

btw which boards do you frequent? Xb?
just dropped to say hi..:)

hows life now?

[marwalee]

LOL :D should I call here bond0008 too? :D

[analyze]

Originally Posted by sherlockholmes

Zins posted a message in mb in one of your threads saying that your active here.
i have been off forums for a while now, was checking out some masala and cric links @mb. and happed to see zins post:D.
My msn id is dead :cry: again :D

btw which boards do you frequent? Xb?
just dropped to say hi..:)

hows life now?

Well I posted a few messages in my film thread in XB.
I dont frequent boards as I used to ( Initial few days were tough :p, but I restricted myself o:) . Also, I had some info of bala and others in my pm box, which I wanted to retrieve but decided otherwise and got over it. Recently, I found that MB is also open like XB. Visited MB from outside but its of no use as search facility is not open to guests :( )

@zins

Well, you got me wrong atleast here. I wasnt at all pissed off of bond. No matter how stupid argument he presents, he will never cross the sanctity of decorum. He will try to act smart like everyone else (including me offcourse) but not oversmart with wrong attitude. I believe my ccing experience with him was pleasant. we argued and disagreed with almost anything. we pulled each other's leg but neither of us, I guess, had ever tried to hit below the belt :D

[Debpk77]

I do enjoy reading the posts in this thread. Thanks for the stimulating reviews and comments.

[analyze]

Movie: Katatar

Directed by Bappaditya

After a long time, I watched a movie worthy of discussion. Katatar, albeit flawed, is a treat to watch. The visuals are breathtaking. The director, heavily influenced by Buddhadeb, relies on beautiful wide angle shots and captured the beauty of landscape in its entirety. Even the KATATAR looks awesome under the eye of Bappaditya.

The movie is about an ensemble of characters residing in some remote place along India-Bangladesh border criss-crossing their paths. One is a girl looking for a home goes from one man to another. Her journey never ends.

To be continued ...

[analyze]

Next, is a forecaster whose job is to supply air-direction data at stipulated time.
Third, is a group of lawyers and typists in the district court and an eccentric person. This plot stands out as refreshingly critical and satirical at the same time.

The film under the back drop of palpable animosity and mistrust between two countries (rather specifically Bengal and Bangladesh) who have countless things common explores the humane side of the uprooted ones.

Now the minuses of the movie according to me. I believe the same difference exists between Bappaditya and Buddhadeb, which is between Rituparno/Gautam Ghose and Ray/Ghatak. And it is intellectual depth. The key is subtlety and humor in dark situations rather than some sermonizing or blunt know-it-all judgemental dialogues. An example is the conversation of a group of misfits in UTTARA. Remember, how they discuss about religious equality in America and how they too can marry some blonde because they are from same caste. Things like this differentiate a maestro and a wannabe maestro. The closest Rituparna came is in UTSAV but his microscopic details are devoid of clautrophobia of Ray's Charulata.

Enough said about the minuses, but still it is a great movie to watch. The visuals are sexually charged. I wont mind the heavy mouthed dialogues and the above lady. Songs are outright from average to bad. The sore thumb is the "Monn Charo" song.

I dont know the name of the above actress, but she is good.

[Liz]

Hiya iv just registerd, read ur reviews n ther good but i was just wondering if u did reviews in bangla for movies or songs or even if u know of any websites? its just for a exam i have on the 11th of june. any quick help would be gratefull.
thanx

[analyze]

Originally Posted by Liz

Hiya iv just registerd, read ur reviews n ther good but i was just wondering if u did reviews in bangla for movies or songs or even if u know of any websites? its just for a exam i have on the 11th of june. any quick help would be gratefull.
thanx

Nopes. The satyajit ray one's you will find a lot in google. Other's are mine and have not posted them anywhere else.

[analyze]

Film: Chowranghi

Directed: Pinaki Bhushan Mukherjee

Few days back, I watched Chowranghi. Though made in a commercial setup, it is refreshingly different in story and treatment but not without the typical cliches of indian cinema. Instead of focussing on a conventional hero-heroine setup, the central theme is a hotel at chowronghi. The story is conceptualized around the people who come in the hotel, the hotel staffs, owners in a post independent India. Calcutta had and still had a sizeable population of Anglican communities (very beautifully portrayed in Satyajit Ray's Mahanagar).

The hotel receptionist played by Uttam Kumar and Subhendu Chatterjee (new recruitee) and their initial relationship forms the starting point of the story. However, the story is told by the viewpoint of the subhendu and his interpersonal relationships with different characters played by an ensemble cast of Bhanu, Anjana Bhowmick, Utpal Dutt, Biswajeet, Supriya devi, etc Though in the above cast, it is not necessary that the characters have indeed been personally known to subhendu. Some of them are linked to the characters known to subhendu. Thus, it constitutes a standard euro-centric episodic structure. Though, the central theme is nothing heart wrenching but alienation-in-commercial-format and do-good-feel-good, it still has enough punch for atleast one viewing.

Acting wise, utpal dutt delivers a standard good performance as an anglican owner of the hotel in his small role. Second in run, according to my opinion is Anjana Bhowmick. She has a natural flair of facing camera with her candid, earthly smile. She looks beautiful as always. Uttam Kumar and Subhendu are strictly okay.

The crown goes to Supriya Devi who by her consistent hamming pulls down the movie to several notch below. I wonder it would have been much better without her. Though I agree, she looks sexy and hence the caps :D. Bhanu comes next to Supriya Devi in irritating me. Also as I said, the movie comes with all the standard indian cinema cliches, so I wont bother about repeating them here.

The best thing of the movie is the song "Bodo eka laage". I guess, this song alone made me want to watch the movie and write this review. I never knew that this is a film song (though I have heard it much earlier in my friend's place and liked it very much. Being a non-bengali, I assumed it to be an album song).

[rihaad]

Where's the review of "Komolgandhar" ?

Hope , you will manage it , we also need some new movies review too as anyone can step up to write the review ;

[analyze]

Originally Posted by rihaad

Where's the review of "Komolgandhar" ?

Hope , you will manage it , we also need some new movies review too as anyone can step up to write the review ;

Though I downloaded it, I didnt get enough time to watch it. Will add as soon as I finish watching it....

[analyze]

Movie: Komal Gandhar (A Soft Note on a Sharp Scale or E-Flat)

Directed by Ritwik Ghatak

*ing: Supriya, Abinash Banerjee, Anil Chatterjee

Komal Gandhar is Ghatak's vision of 60s bengal. His yearning for attachment to the new soil, his dis-illusionment to politics, his communist leanings, his penchance to use melodrama as an established artform (which is understandable given his historical relation with IPTA and his exclusion). Every frame of the movie is with such details of poignant and nostalgic love. In this sense he is a true autuer (an instant example that comes to mind is Wong Kar Wai). Meghe Dhaka Tara, though an exquisitely crafted movie according to my opinion becomes a tad too melodramatic with all its symbolism and metaphor (particularly for a person fed on staple bollywood fare and has no clue about 60s cultural, social and political scenario of bengal). With Komal Gandhar, one year later, he achieved the balance he sought in Meghe Dhaka Tara.

Here Abinash Banerjee as the lead protagonists of a theater group and also the movie exudes raw energy, anger of Ghatak. The protagonist Bhrigu (played by Abinash) is a true alter-ego of Ghatak in the sense that not only did he made great movies but he also passed on his legacy to others (a brief stint at FTII earned him loyal students like Mani Kaul, Kumar Shahani, etc who taught under him went on to make several movies that constituted the peak of Indian Art Film Movement).

An important anecdote that I read about Komal Gandhar follows:
"The knowledge that Komal Gandhar's box-office potential was sabotaged by people who were once his friends, deeply hurt Ghatak. It is to this day widely believed in Calcutta that the Communists and Congress joined hands to finish him off. A large number of tickets were bought by goons of both the parties who then disturbed the viewing of the legitimate viewer by sobbing loudly during funny scenes and breaking into uproarious laughter at the serious ones. The audience was alienated and the viewer-ship fell dramatically after a promising run in the first week. The film had to be withdrawn. He, being the co-producer, had to share the burden of the financial loss. It broke him. His descent into alcohol began soon after." [This was after his exclusion from IPTA and forming a separate troupe. Though Ghatak himself said that he was never a communist.]

to be continued...

[ctgkhaled]

Brilliant analysis with details explanation and still to come. Excellent! I like your way of analysis. Your id says it all. Thanks.

[srirup]

can u send me this movie ?

[agri_asif]

plz give me some movie, so that i njoy this night.:batting eyelashes