Srijit Mukherjees Mishor Rohoshyo was one movie I had been looking forward to for some time. Like numerous Bengali kids, I had grown up on Anondomela, Sandesh, and Shuktara, childrens magazines that have a long and rich tradition, waned and buffed as they might have all turned out to be, in the present day. The Shontu Kakababu series was a part and parcel of our secular, literary pujo-making -- i.e., the invariable spark to any Sharodiya Anondomela for years and years, until its author Sunil Ganguly died, only recently. Srijit Mukherjee set out to screen this movie, and thrilling as it sounds, one of the few Bengali movies to be shot in the authentic location of the story -- namely, Egypt! So what happened to this big budget movie with all the promise? Lets look at the cast: Prasenjit Chatterjee (who never lets us down these days), Indraneil Mukherjee (it turns out for once he is not the villain), Swastika Mukherjee (her second time to fit into a comic role, which she seems good at), and Rajit Kapoor (our very favorite Byomkesh Bakshi hero), also theater-personality-turned-director Kamaleshwar Mukherjee (nice bit of delivery, presence!) But the spark that looked very promising never really lit the fire -- and why? Here are some of my ahem, analysis, 1) Shontu was lackluster, as cute as he might be. An important role needs good acting, there is no other option. Also, did Shontu actually have a girlfriend in the story? I need to double check. The child readers of Anondomela in those days had no ahem, precociousness. 2) Too many jarring camera movements actually shifted and digressed our attention, and can not see any logic as to why the camera was so whimsically used? See how the camera moves for instance when Swastika and others discuss their plans to go in search of Kakababu. 3)a) The script was not great, even as it is intended to be a comedy (to compare, see Hemlock society for instance, each dialogue was just as it should have been, and delivered very well)... 3) b) for such an ambitious project, a cryptic dialogue was needed, and better editing, to minimize unnecessary scenes and repetitiveness (eg. why was the scene in the tomb of the mummy so long?) 4) Unnecessary dramatic lights were used, for instance when Kakababu and Baba Pir have their first meeting, there is an light flickering on Babas face for absolutely no reason 5) Indraneil was great as usual, but his skin tone and Indian looks give him away. No, he does not look or sound so much like a Egyptian poet cum revolutionary, even though we are informed he knows 17 languages, and is a master of camouflage. His head gestures are still, typically Bengali. 6) Sound tracks were jarring too. Monotonous sound tracks failed to pique our attention and interest in the movie. What was great? Prasenjit made the best he could of his role. Egypt with its dunes and pyramids was the shade of gold we envision it to be. The message about how a democracy has to be fought for,and how revolution becomes an act of self defense, was enlightening.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 05:47:42 +0000