Padatik

Padatik (2024), written, directed and gimmics by Srijit Mukherji

I have never seen a film start off as ungratefully pretentious, which ends with such humble modesty. Reaching for the unconventional while balancing itself on the familiar, and it somehow manages to make it all work.

An unapologetical love letter to cinema. A celebration of a legend. A celebration of Bengali cinema. An editing maestro.

There were a few moments where the dubbing and the folley seemed a bit off, but the mastery of the script and the language of storytelling kept me hooked none the less.

This cinematic excellence deserves to be seen on the big screen so, I highly recommend to check this one out in the theatres.

Shijidda p*ssed on the silver screen once again. This time, he p*ssed hard and fast. He had to make another terrible film when he could have just given up. But, he has to keep feeding on the good old Bengali nostalgia. However, I must say, this sick old capitalist clown of a filmmaker does one thing very well, and that is: getting his audience all teary eyed to the point that the embarassing performances and the terribly written dialogues, the awkward and flimsy shot and lens choices, the complete disregard for cinematic form (for what he thinks is experimentation gets shoved under the rug. Glad Mrinal Sen isn't alive to witness this disaster. I'm sure he would have killed himself. He shot 3-4 scenes at my institute; embarassing to the say the least. Disgusting.

This film depicts auteur film director #MrinalSen's active lifetime and his contribution in the Bengali Cinema, ranging from his struggling early days as an idealistic filmmaker during India's independence to his pivotal role in the Indian New Wave cinema movement in 1950s Calcutta, working alongside #SatyajitRay & #RitwickGhatak.

The story, screenplay, dialogues and direction by #SrijitMukherji is simply brilliant. He is true to his craft, but his narrative style is complex and non-linear.

#IndranathMarick being the cinematographer steals the show with his sepia hues and B/W frames.

The director Srijit Mukherji's editing is crispest to the core in resemblances with Sen's cult freeze frames and jump-cuts.

Music pieces by late #SalilChowdhury, #RabindranathTagore & #KabirSuman has presented some superb chords to remember, keeping the Revolution as its raw base, which is applaudable.

Costume Designer #SabarniDas has used the costumes in such a seemless manner that it never looked beyond the character sketches. They looked tailor-made for the characters, which might have helped them to get into the skin of it. Art Direction by #TanmoyChakraborty is splendid, creating the 60's & 70's era.

As per the performances are concerned, #ChanchalChowdhury as Mrinal Sen have excelled in all aspects and probably have given his career's yet another great performance, #KorakSamantha as young Mrinal Sen was superb, #AishaniDey as young Geeta Sen looked sweet, #MonamiGhosh as #GeetaSen, wife of Mrinal Sen lent abled support and #SamratChakravarthy as the lead pair's only son #KunalSen was great in his accent, dialect and screen presence. The film has a plethora of cameos, like #BarunChanda as Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India, #JeetuKamal as Satyajit Ray, #SujanNeelMukherjee as #AnjanDutt, #AkshayKapoor, #RohitBasfore, #SajjadulAhamedRiyad & #TanisaIslamMahi who has done their parts pretty well.

Production by #FriendsCommunication & #BigScreenProductionsHouse, producers #FirdausulHasan & #PrabalHalder and distribution by #PVRInoxPictures have made a fantastic film.

Don't afford to miss this ultimate humanitarian saga. Definitely a Must Watch.