Off the charted course, charmingly

Ace cinematographer Avik Mukhopadhyay’s directorial debut Ekti Tarar Khonje is definitely watchable, but it stops just short of being an effective film. No doubt it’s a significant entry in terms of visual story-telling and editing. What it lacks is a factor whose absence marred many films of late, made them look uncared-for— despite all the gloss and technical refinements they acquired.

But Ekti Tarar Khonje is better than most of them. It drags a bit in the middle and even preaches on Hollywood classics, but the freshness of its narrative style can’t be missed. Avik’s way of composing and weaving shots is innovative; at least two song sequences are pure delight. But they remain set-pieces mostly because the film’s climax is not a natural culmination of the brilliant moments his camera creates.

Let’s skim over the three main tracks of the film’s storyline. One: Shayan Munshi’s Abhishek, an aspiring actor from Chandannagar, wishes to make it big in Tollywood. He comes across Rani, a damsel from Kurseong, played by Arpita Chatterjee whose comeback marked Avik’s film and gave it a strong publicity. They develop a liking for each other which blossoms into love in time. Two: Abhishek gets to know a band of interesting characters played by Dhritiman Chatterjee, Rudranil Ghosh, Dibyendu Bhattacharya and Biplab Chatterjee in his quest for a film actor’s career. Three: He even manages a “second-lead” role in a Bengali film, but gets embroiled in a wicked collusion around the same time.

Madhuja Mukherjee’s screenplay balances the first two tracks nicely till the third track gains momentum. After almost plodding for one hour (which is not all that boring though, thanks to Avik’s camera that introduces us to the multitudinous scopes digital cinematography offers) the film suddenly sprints to the climax— abandoning at least two characters whose introductions were not as slapdash. Try tracking the roles of Rudranil and Biplab Chatterjee for clarification.

Sayan Munshi looks much more acceptable than most contemporary Bengali heroes. Arpita Chatterjee’s brisk performance within the small ambit that the script offers her is promising. Dhritiman Chatterjee’s Anandada is elegantly crafted. Dibyendu Bhattacharya, the “thug”, deserves special mention.

Tollywood, in the last few years, produced films that professed to be different and had tons of extra sheen on their surface (spare me the trouble of identifying them). Avik’s film comfortably stays away. The end result may not have been perfect, the screenplay needed to be worked on, but he made sense in many things he did as a director. Go watch it to see how Bengali films are changing.

Credits

Director & cinematographer: Avik Mukhopadhyay
Screenplay & dialogues: Madhuja Mukherjee
Editor: Arghyakamal Mitra
Music: Prabuddha Bannerje
Producers: Indrani Mukerjee, Jeet Banerjee, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury
Presenters: Screenplay Films & Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury


(Read: 'Things are different as Prosenjit's wife': Arpita)


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