Ipshita Sarkar

I am 51 and therefore exactly the age bracket that the characters of Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte portray. This show is realistic and matured. That is what women in the mid-50s go through and yes you need friends to pull you through. Itis no longer about finding love and popcorn frills but more about the complicated challenges life puts in front of you and dealing with them together. I have always loved Sex and the City in every form. But I specially loved this edition because I could identify with the emotions so much more.

Honestly I felt cheated. The haphazard timeline of the film did serve to cover the milestones in the storyline but did not let the audience observe or wallow in any of the developing plots. Within the first hour of the movie we know Jo has rejected Laurie, there's something brewing between Amy and Laurie, there's a fellow in the New York boarding house who criticizes Jo's work, Meg who wanted a rich life has married poor and Beth who's been ill earlier is dying. I stopped and wondered why I should watch the rest of the movie at all because that was bound to be mere data fill in the blanks, since we've been told exactly where it's all going. We don't feel Beth's pain, we're never told why Meg chooses Brooke or why Mr. Bhaer should bother to follow Jo at all. And making Bhaer dashing and young Rob's the relationship of its soul- the fact that Jo chose maturity and harbouring man over young adventures with Laurie. The film is brilliantly acted and makes quite a case for women and their ambitions. Otherwise disappointing because it jumped too much to actually tell the story.

Honestly I'll resort to reversing an old Bengali proverb and say- the film felt like saap khurte kencho. There's a huge build up, but the revelation does not tie up the ends. I was left with a lot of incredulous questions than I got answers for. Although the stellar cast played to their strengths, I felt, Aparna remained Aparna Sen rather than become Manjari and we've seen Soumitra in similar roles as the patriarch many many times. Rituparna too. Lily Chakraborty, Sudipta, Kaushik Sen and Saswata seemed to inhabit their characters. The less said about Sreenanda Shankar the better. Ultimately the film captures an environment, and some lovely moments, but I was left with an emptiness.