Amit Brahmo

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Relationships, a facade? It's all about urban relationships- the facade we have to maintain at times in order to keep our relationships going. Social media posts often are most colourful when relationships are at their worst. The younger lot comprising Chumki( Sara Ali Khan is good) , Shruti( Fatima has improved her acting skills a lot) are at times fickle in their relationships and seem to be sitting on a fence whereas the elderly- Shivani ( Neena Gupta is brilliant)and Sanjeev Ghosh ( Saswata Chatterjee looks the part) who have tolerated each other longer, have got used to living with each other. There so-called more permanent coexistence is not because they love each other madly. It's a facade again because they don't want to roil the fabric of their families and they have to live upto social expectations. Their daughter Kajol ( Kankana the natural) and her hubby Monty ( the master Pankaj Tripaathi) are going through a midlife crisis in their relationship. Monty crosses the line and his family life is on the verge of ruins. After a long long hiatus, Shivani and her once flame Parimal ( Anupam Kher is convincing in whichever part he does) get together at a college reunion. Fond memories are rekindled. Old age companionship fills their lives with joys however temporary. How these complex issues are brought on the rails, is the story in the second half. The movie is little too long. It could have done with tighter editing. Characters singing songs to narrate their stories directly to viewers is an interesting experiment but at times it's a tad tedious. Acting wise the film leaves nothing to be desired. All principal characters have acquitted themselves with elan. Pritam's musical score is good but too loud and interfering at times. Pretty watchable Metro... is. Amit Brahmo, Kolkata.

Metro In Dino

Killbill Society A Bengali film- A review Remember Meghna of Hemlock Society( 2012 Bengali film by Srijit Mukherjee), where she, emotionally distressed, wants to end her life but fails. In comes, Ananda Kar of the Hemlock society who organizes courses on how to commit suicides!!! Meghna attends a workshop and at the end of it, she becomes enchanted with life once again and leaves the Hemlock society, a transformed lady. Srijit is back with “Killbill society” this time. At the centre of this plot, is Poorna Aich ( Koushani Mukherjee is a revelation in this film) , a star insta influencer who has just won an award for her debut film. Her popularity soars and she's all over the media channels. Her beau doesn't take to her sudden rise to fame charitably and insinuates that she must be sleeping with the film's director or the producer. The relationship gets very toxic and Poorna decides to walk out on her boyfriend. The complexed guy doesn't stop there and decides to teach Poorna a lesson. He releases intimate videos of theirs and Poorna is at her wit's end. People get involved in discussing saucy details. Poorna's budding career goes for a toss. She becomes a butt of ridicule. She even contemplates suicide but cannot muster enough courage. She then hires a contract killer for herself!!! Before she even ends her call to a ‘don', comes Antarip Karmakar, the contract killer. He is a professional who kills for money and explains his terms and conditions to Poorna. “100% advance, madam, you understand. I cannot get my full money once you are killed!”, he reasons. Thereafter starts the operation and the ‘killer’ ( played convincingly by Parambrata Chatterjee). Both of them come in close proximity during the ‘planning’ stage. He shadows Poorna in her various activities everyday, apparently to plan her elimination! Will the killer succeed in this ‘venture’? Or something unexpected will happen on the way. Well, I cannot divulge lest I be called a contract ‘killer’! The build up and denouement of the movie is indeed interesting. Go and see the movie. The movie has Srijit Mukherjee stamped all over it. It abounds in scenes with puns, subtle humour, poignant moments backed by beautiful music and cinematography. The screenplay is beautifully written by him. The movie seldom ever sags. Maybe some will say certain scenes drag with verbosity and garrulity. I would rather say let the devil be given his due. After all he's the captain of the ship and the writer on top of it. Let Srijit show that he is well read! All in all, ‘Killbill society’ is an immensely watchable film. And yes, by Srijit's standards there's little or no convolution in the plot. That's a big relief to old brains like mine! AMIT BRAHMO KOLKATA, APRIL18, 2025 @@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@

3 likes

I haven't read the story by Buddhadeb Guha. I am not sure whether the film could recreate the human interaction between Babli and Abhiroop as well as it was written. In the film it appeared rather mundane and the psyche of Babli arising out of an insecurity about her body, was not captured so well. Babli is a complex character who is mercurial and temperamental. Is it because she's not physically attractive? Insecurities in her life are many- losing both parents( maybe in an accident), as mentioned above her physical attributes not being attractive. Therefore she gets hyper if she sees another woman attempting to usurp her love interest Abhiroop Sen( Abir is brilliant as the character). She thinks throwing tantrums will be an all fit solution. She's even annoying at times. Subhashree as Babli is quite adequate and her insecurities have been portrayed well. The film is a tad too long and drags at times. Cinematography in scenic outdoor locales in Manipur( Loktak has been beautifully captured in dusk) is lovely. Small moments especially the scene where Babli is departing by a train, are well captured. Not bad but it lacked that something something. You know what I mean. It was shocking to see how Sauroseni has been wasted.And lastly Abhiroop Sen educated at the LSE would do better to pronounce uncertainty as not ' uncertainity'.

Babli

2 likes

Very monotonous and drags unnecessarily for tad too long. Too much melodramatic. Not well written. The movie hangs very heavy at times. Actingwise not too disappointing- Akshay was loud and eccentric in his mannerisms. He always looks better in the action scenes. In emotional ones, he is pathetic.Radhika Madan as Rani is sweet. Her acting impresses. Things look very farfetched at times. Passengers on board the low cost airlines are too theatrical and scenes look contrived. Very boring.

Sarfira

I won't rate this very highly amongst Kaushik Ganguly films but Kaushik at his next to best form, is ten times better than his contemporaries. Actingwise brilliant. Silajit surprised me as a diffident man who has lost his job and now lives off his wife's salary. His helplessness and angst have been beautifully portrayed. Sabaash Silajit. Rituparna and Prosenjit are powerful too. Music is very appropriate. Cinematography excellent. That scene on a full moon night on the Puri beach is to die for. All in all, very watchable.

Ajogyo

15 likes

Two stalwarts Churni and Jaya Ahsan come face to face in this film. Former is ex wife and the latter, the present one. Koushik Sen the husband is fighting for his life. Turmoil is palpable. The ex helps the present wife in locatibg vital documents of her former husband. At times, much against her wishes. A kind of bond starts building up between the former and the present wife. Superb acting by all actors. Churni takes the movie to the next level. Jaya is restrained in her acting befitting a reluctant present wife seeking help from the ex wife.

Ardhangini

Marriage is an institution. But who wants to live in an institution " This is about the marital story of Kavya Ganeshan,a dentist and Aniruddha Banerjee, a factory owner going sour after nine years. Both sides have lost interest in each other. Aniruddha is too busy with his cork factory and Kavya sulks as Ani is too occupied with his work. The marriage goes frigid. Both find a relationship- Ani with Nora, a budding model and actress and Kavya finds solace in the arms of Vikram, an international photographer. Ani and Kavya live in the same house but like strangers sharing a hotel room. Just then Kavya's grandpa dies at Ooty and Ani offers to accompany Kavya for the funeral. It's on this trip that both of them rediscover their lost chemistry of the past. Whether they will be able to salvage the relationship, is the movie all about, Vidya is brilliant as usual and Prateek is competent as well. Their onscreen chemistry is brilliant. Music is appropriate and direction is good if not outstanding. A watchable film. Duration- 139 minutes. Amit Brahmo

Do Aur Do Pyaar

3 likes

I am not a malayali but a bong living in Kolkata. But I am a big fan of malayalam films. Had read Goat days by Benyamin. Then my daughter recommended Blessy's movie Adujeevitham starring Prithviraj. The story is about Najeeb's leaving for the middle East with a dream to work for a 'company'. He is from a small village in Kerala and for a living digs river bed sand and loads on boats. His dream is what thousands like him have - leave for greener pastures in search of jobs. Earn some quick money and settle debts at home. Then retire with money in the bank. He mortgages his house and valuables and pays the unscrupulous agent for fixing his visa etc. A 'sponsor' is waiting for him and his companion at the Riyadh airport, to take them to their 'dream job'. On reaching Saudi, what happened to Najeeb's dreams is what Adujeevitham is all about. Incidents are stark and morbid at times. You feel for the plight of Najeeb and his companion Hakim. They face untold sufferings. Najeeb often goes into reveries of his beautiful countryside village, its river and his lovely wife who was pregnant when he left her. Najeeb's life in the desert country is tough and inflicts unfathomable pain on him. He cries and wants to escape but fails. What happened thereafter is for you to go and see in this well made film. I don't want to act as a spoilsport. Coming to acting, one can talk about Prithviraj's Najeeb times without number. This is a masterclass of living and getting under the skin of the character. This is not acting. Prithviraj has surpassed himself in a watershed role. Cinematography by Sunil is top notch and original score by Rahman very soothing. One disclaimer though. The film may be too stark and morbid fir few. মিথ্ম

The Goat Life

3 likes

Lapata Ladies was not on my agenda until yesterday when a friend rang up and suggested I see this film. I checked up a few fact about LL and found that it's an Aamir Khan production and Kiran Rao has directed it. So it better be good. I wasn't disappointed. It was like fresh draught of air really. Gave glimpses on women empowerment without being preachy. Fresh actors mostly. Bride swapping by sheer chance not on purpose. Then the story takes the two brides on new trajectories. Storytelling is brilliant. The rural milieu has been beautifully captured. Denouement is interesting. We come out of the audi, happy. An immensely watchable film. w emempowermenemp

Laapataa Ladies

Freelancer is an ott series currently airing on Hotstar. The plot revolves round ISIS trying to rope in educated and brainwashed assets from all over the world and assigning them specific tasks. Aliya Khan, a young muslim girl from Mumbai and with a relatively liberal family background married her batchmate Mohsin whose family is also quite modern. A lady agent brainwashes them to give up ostentatious life and follow shariat. The family gets indoctrinated and is taken to Syria. Aliya is caught in this maze much against her wishes. She attempts to escape but fails. Thus starts the drama of her rescue mission by her father's colleague Avinash, a freelance mercenary. The series is worth a watch and moves at good pace with competent acting, direction, editing and looks quite authentic. The ISIS hub in Syria is captured well. The rescue mission though looks a trifle facile. But overall, a good production.

The Freelancer

5 likes