Chowringhee

Pinaki Bhushan Mukherji's screen adaptation of 'Chowringhee' is marvelous. Most of the film is seen through hotel clerk Shankar's point of view and the viewer is introduced to a series of colourful characters, each having their own problems to deal with. The screenplay is impressive. The characters, even those with limited screen time, are well defined and the dialogues are wonderful. With actors like the legendary Uttam Kumar, Subhendu Chatterjee, Jayasree Sen, Supriya Choudhury, Utpal Dutt and Anjana Bhowmick it is very hard to go wrong. Needless to say, each and every one of them perform to the optimum level. The soundtrack is superb. While the songs are beautiful, the instrumental tracks are very effective. In addition, the cinematography is brilliant. 'Chowringhee' does remind me much of 'Grand Hotel', with the hotel setting, the quirky characters and element of comedy and tragedy but it is very much its own film and a rare gem that has been overlooked.

This movie version of the celebrated Bengali novel is a classic in its own right. A stellar cast of the best contemporary actors and some powerful performances, specially by Uttam Kumar and Shubhendu Chatterjee make this movie a compelling attraction.