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Day 3
Nadharer Bhela(2025) Director- Pradipta Bhattacharya Language- Bengali Genre- Drama
Exploitation, detachment, and the male gaze are among the few themes explored in this three-hour tale directed by Pradipta Bhattacharya. 'Nadharer Bhela' (The slowman and his raft) 's basic narrative quite suitably justifies the mundane existence of the characters in the film. It's the deconstruction of hope, the expectation that every person adheres to. Life as we live and breathe imposes constraints and rules on us until the very end. We dream, we hope, and ultimately succumb to a delusion of happiness through materialistic pleasures. The film has quite a different take on aspirations, ambitions, and ultimately, where it leads.
Nadhar(Amit Saha) (probably suffering from a form of Parkinson's disease, Bradykinesia ) is an extremely slow man wrt his every motor function, which kind of alienates him from the society where everything is moving at breakneck speed. The subtext here is quite explicit: the sheer contrast of Nadhar with today's world is a sharp outcry for the loss of compassion in today's exploitative world.
The film is set in a remote village of Nadia District, where modernization has reached like debris of a nuclear war. The people there resort to cheap thrills presented in the ongoing circus to satisfy their desires with no remorse and school their inferiors in morality. A synecdoche of modern one-dimensional society.
Pradipta Bhattacharya beautifully uses the village as a backdrop, and it becomes a recurring, undeniable presence in the minds of viewers. Let's take an instance, where a Hindu cremation blazes quietly behind the circus, its flames licking the night with sacred finality. Just steps away, villagers cheer as scantily clad performers gyrate to garish song numbers-cheap thrills wrapped in sequins and neon. A conscious choice to take these two scenes, which also happen simultaneously, is an exploration of transcendence and titillation happening such a few metres apart.
Nadhar, despite being an outcast, is always an object of exploitation. His mother, his employer, and his few coworkers always try and milk his disability for their needs. That being said, the female workers in the circus are also subject to male gazes. Despite playing a pious woman in a mythological play of the circus, Shyama(Priyanka Sarkar), her aspirations to become an actress are sabotaged by the exploitative, abusive circus owner Haru (Ritwick Chakraborty). An object of desire, Shyama finds a different gaze from Nadhar, whose eyes fixated on her during the show, doesn't evoke desire or lust, but admiration.
The tangled, transactional dynamic between circus players Shyama, Rupa (Satakshi Nandy), and Rahman (Sayan Ghosh) is steeped in self-interest and survival, yet not entirely devoid of humanity, be it the common hatred for their employer, Haru, or a sense of empathy towards Nadhar; it shows although with a purpose, they have not gone entirely cynical.
Joydeep Dey's frames speak volumes, be it the bedazzling neon lights of the circus or the burning pyre of a corpse, an intimate introspection of contrast already mentioned above. It gives you a non-urban gaze in the village with no filters, just raw and unhinged.
As much as this is a Pradipta Bhattacharya passion project, this is also a Satyaki Banerjee joint; his lyrics mirror each character's position whenever placed in the film.
Priyanka Sarkar brings her A game to play her character, possibly her greatest performance, and one of the most vulnerable roles she has played ever. Satakshi and Sayan are also effortless.
Ritwick Chakraborty is back with another towering performance, what a performer! A thoroughly disdainful character with no moral complex, no redeeming factors, Ritwick is completely at the pinnacle of his craft.
Amit Saha has given maybe the most impactful, physically believable performance in a Bengali film. It is not easy to play a character like Nadhar, with so many checkboxes to fill. He completely submerges in the need of the character; his eyes speak volumes because the character has minimal dialogue in the film. It is his performance that sometimes keeps the indulgent runtime in the film watchable.
The film's runtime stretches to 3 hours, with the director himself being the editor of the film. It is very indulgent in various places; the intention was clear: to show the suffering, hopelessness of the individuals, but still the redundancy of a few scenes was glaringly noticeable.
The subtext, as I said, was way too explicit to be called subtle; therefore, the meta commentary, though understood, doesn't do much except for Amit Saha's performance as Nadhar.
A more meditative or languid narration was needed, which I admit is a pure creative choice of the makers, kind of disconnects the sympathy the characters needed at the end. The climax, which was shot and acted with absolute peak poetic lyricism, would have worked more, I guess.
Nevertheless, a much crisper editing was needed; apart from that,"Nadharer Bhela" is a Bengali film made by a Bengali for the Bengalis with a rooted cultural and social context, which is a rare sight nowadays.
Day 3
Nadharer Bhela(2025) Director- Pradipta Bhattacharya Language- Bengali Genre- Drama
Exploitation, detachment, and the male gaze are among the few themes explored in this three-hour tale directed by Pradipta Bhattacharya. 'Nadharer Bhela' (The slowman and his raft) 's basic narrative quite suitably justifies the mundane existence of the characters in the film. It's the deconstruction of hope, the expectation that every person adheres to. Life as we live and breathe imposes constraints and rules on us until the very end. We dream, we hope, and ultimately succumb to a delusion of happiness through materialistic pleasures. The film has quite a different take on aspirations, ambitions, and ultimately, where it leads.
Nadhar(Amit Saha) (probably suffering from a form of Parkinson's disease, Bradykinesia ) is an extremely slow man wrt his every motor function, which kind of alienates him from the society where everything is moving at breakneck speed. The subtext here is quite explicit: the sheer contrast of Nadhar with today's world is a sharp outcry for the loss of compassion in today's exploitative world.
The film is set in a remote village of Nadia District, where modernization has reached like debris of a nuclear war. The people there resort to cheap thrills presented in the ongoing circus to satisfy their desires with no remorse and school their inferiors in morality. A synecdoche of modern one-dimensional society.
Pradipta Bhattacharya beautifully uses the village as a backdrop, and it becomes a recurring, undeniable presence in the minds of viewers. Let's take an instance, where a Hindu cremation blazes quietly behind the circus, its flames licking the night with sacred finality. Just steps away, villagers cheer as scantily clad performers gyrate to garish song numbers-cheap thrills wrapped in sequins and neon. A conscious choice to take these two scenes, which also happen simultaneously, is an exploration of transcendence and titillation happening such a few metres apart.
Nadhar, despite being an outcast, is always an object of exploitation. His mother, his employer, and his few coworkers always try and milk his disability for their needs. That being said, the female workers in the circus are also subject to male gazes. Despite playing a pious woman in a mythological play of the circus, Shyama(Priyanka Sarkar), her aspirations to become an actress are sabotaged by the exploitative, abusive circus owner Haru (Ritwick Chakraborty). An object of desire, Shyama finds a different gaze from Nadhar, whose eyes fixated on her during the show, doesn't evoke desire or lust, but admiration.
The tangled, transactional dynamic between circus players Shyama, Rupa (Satakshi Nandy), and Rahman (Sayan Ghosh) is steeped in self-interest and survival, yet not entirely devoid of humanity, be it the common hatred for their employer, Haru, or a sense of empathy towards Nadhar; it shows although with a purpose, they have not gone entirely cynical.
Joydeep Dey's frames speak volumes, be it the bedazzling neon lights of the circus or the burning pyre of a corpse, an intimate introspection of contrast already mentioned above. It gives you a non-urban gaze in the village with no filters, just raw and unhinged.
As much as this is a Pradipta Bhattacharya passion project, this is also a Satyaki Banerjee joint; his lyrics mirror each character's position whenever placed in the film.
Priyanka Sarkar brings her A game to play her character, possibly her greatest performance, and one of the most vulnerable roles she has played ever. Satakshi and Sayan are also effortless.
Ritwick Chakraborty is back with another towering performance, what a performer! A thoroughly disdainful character with no moral complex, no redeeming factors, Ritwick is completely at the pinnacle of his craft.
Amit Saha has given maybe the most impactful, physically believable performance in a Bengali film. It is not easy to play a character like Nadhar, with so many checkboxes to fill. He completely submerges in the need of the character; his eyes speak volumes because the character has minimal dialogue in the film. It is his performance that sometimes keeps the indulgent runtime in the film watchable.
The film's runtime stretches to 3 hours, with the director himself being the editor of the film. It is very indulgent in various places; the intention was clear: to show the suffering, hopelessness of the individuals, but still the redundancy of a few scenes was glaringly noticeable.
The subtext, as I said, was way too explicit to be called subtle; therefore, the meta commentary, though understood, doesn't do much except for Amit Saha's performance as Nadhar.
A more meditative or languid narration was needed, which I admit is a pure creative choice of the makers, kind of disconnects the sympathy the characters needed at the end. The climax, which was shot and acted with absolute peak poetic lyricism, would have worked more, I guess.
Nevertheless, a much crisper editing was needed; apart from that,"Nadharer Bhela" is a Bengali film made by a Bengali for the Bengalis with a rooted cultural and social context, which is a rare sight nowadays.
Joto Kando Kolkatatei(2025)
Language-Bengali
Genre-Crime, Mystery,Drama
Plot summary: A young detective enthusiast follows in the footsteps of legendary Bengali sleuth Feluda when a decades-old mystery resurfaces during Durga Puja, testing his skills against a puzzle that once stumped his hero.
Review:The one thing that never leaves the film during its entire runtime is the undeniable warmth and casual charm that manages to evoke a smile throughout.
Anik Dutta is a Satyajit Ray fan; all of his films bear tribute to the master, but if a movie is barely constructed as a fan service, which is so heavy-handed, it feels like an advertisement. The film sure has the accurate flavor of a Feluda mystery, but it never really hits the suspense button, despite the film being marketed as a mystery drama.
It seems like, after the meteoric success of "Aparajito"(a film which navigates through the making of Ray's Pather Panchali), Anik Dutta has been asked to make another film targeting the same audience, which he reluctantly accepted. Although formulaic, downright predictable, what makes the film watchable is Abir's enigmatic screen presence, Debojyoti Mishra's ambient background score, which uplifts many banal scenes.
The plot shifts between several timelines, locations. The way Indranath Marick shoots those scenes gives a sense of warmth and authenticity at the same time, be it the cabaret scenes of vintage Kolkata posh pubs, or in the dreamy hilly areas of North Bengal.
The dialogues bear a resemblance to Feluda novels, with frequent heritage Kolkata references, its culture, and the cultured disposition. It stays true to its influence, but becomes repetitive, which has been a constant trait of every aspect of the film.
The opening of the film sets the tone for the film early on, with the titular song playing in the background, and a seemingly mundane journey of an old envelope through different hands takes place. A McGuffin is set, a mystery is hinted at, few moments later, our protagonist also enters the screen. It is so borderline conformist in its approach that, for an attentive audience, there is no surprise in the fold; still, the frames and an uplifting musical score give a sense of nostalgia and belonging in those frames.
It is revealed by Anik Dutta in interviews pre-release that a considerable chunk of the film is directed by his cinematographer due to illness. This seems a valid reason for some scenes being so abruptly placed throughout the film; it sticks out like a sore thumb.
The character of Abir, who plays a pivotal role in the film, is given no proper buildup. The scene where he makes an entry does seem like a rabbit conjured up from a magician's hat. The chemistry between Abir and the lead protagonist (played by Quazi Nawshaba Ahmed) doesn't hold up either. Anik Dutta has always made his characters politically conscious or at least socially relevant in all of his films, but here the characters are a mere caricature of the cliches of a typical Bengali treasure hunt novel, with no depth whatsoever.
The performances on the board are watchable, with Abir bringing the old school Bengali sleuth charm. The film works better whenever he is on the screen. Nawshaba(Protagonist) is decent, but her character arc, although very interesting on paper with a cross-national history to dwell upon, the absence of any emotional arc preventing the audience from connecting with her character. There is hardly any scene that establishes the emotional bond between her with her mother.
Among the supporting cast, Rik Chatterjee shines. A boy recently back from his studies in Europe with a different overview of culture and restrictions is accurately portrayed by him. He has a nice screen presence.
Aparajito Ghosh Das, Anindya Banerjee, Rajat Ganguly, Mithu Chakravarty are all decent, but none of them has a significant impact on the film, although their characters contribute to various key plot points.
The songs, except the titular one, don't work from the film's perspective. The songs are sung well, no doubt, but the relevance is not there. Anik Dutta can place songs in the right place if u look at Bhooter bhobishyot (cult classic).
The climax, although it ends on a warm note, is underwhelming, which is kind of predictable. It doesn't really go beyond what was hinted at in trailers, or maybe it's a conscious decision, I don't know.
The film, being a festival release, the banality of the film, which doesn't affect the nostalgia it strives to serve to the audience. A Packed theatre, full of kids with their parents, grandparents, in a jovial mood, gets to spend time with a charming (although very surface-level) film, which is a good thing for Bengali films for sure.
Plot summary: A young detective enthusiast follows in the footsteps of legendary Bengali sleuth Feluda when a decades-old mystery resurfaces during Durga Puja, testing his skills against a puzzle that once stumped his hero.
Review:The one thing that never leaves the film during its entire runtime is the undeniable warmth and casual charm that manages to evoke a smile throughout.
Anik Dutta is a Satyajit Ray fan; all of his films bear tribute to the master, but if a movie is barely constructed as a fan service, which is so heavy-handed, it feels like an advertisement. The film sure has the accurate flavor of a Feluda mystery, but it never really hits the suspense button, despite the film being marketed as a mystery drama.
It seems like, after the meteoric success of "Aparajito"(a film which navigates through the making of Ray's Pather Panchali), Anik Dutta has been asked to make another film targeting the same audience, which he reluctantly accepted. Although formulaic, downright predictable, what makes the film watchable is Abir's enigmatic screen presence, Debojyoti Mishra's ambient background score, which uplifts many banal scenes.
The plot shifts between several timelines, locations. The way Indranath Marick shoots those scenes gives a sense of warmth and authenticity at the same time, be it the cabaret scenes of vintage Kolkata posh pubs, or in the dreamy hilly areas of North Bengal.
The dialogues bear a resemblance to Feluda novels, with frequent heritage Kolkata references, its culture, and the cultured disposition. It stays true to its influence, but becomes repetitive, which has been a constant trait of every aspect of the film.
The opening of the film sets the tone for the film early on, with the titular song playing in the background, and a seemingly mundane journey of an old envelope through different hands takes place. A McGuffin is set, a mystery is hinted at, few moments later, our protagonist also enters the screen. It is so borderline conformist in its approach that, for an attentive audience, there is no surprise in the fold; still, the frames and an uplifting musical score give a sense of nostalgia and belonging in those frames.
It is revealed by Anik Dutta in interviews pre-release that a considerable chunk of the film is directed by his cinematographer due to illness. This seems a valid reason for some scenes being so abruptly placed throughout the film; it sticks out like a sore thumb.
The character of Abir, who plays a pivotal role in the film, is given no proper buildup. The scene where he makes an entry does seem like a rabbit conjured up from a magician's hat. The chemistry between Abir and the lead protagonist (played by Quazi Nawshaba Ahmed) doesn't hold up either. Anik Dutta has always made his characters politically conscious or at least socially relevant in all of his films, but here the characters are a mere caricature of the cliches of a typical Bengali treasure hunt novel, with no depth whatsoever.
The performances on the board are watchable, with Abir bringing the old school Bengali sleuth charm. The film works better whenever he is on the screen. Nawshaba(Protagonist) is decent, but her character arc, although very interesting on paper with a cross-national history to dwell upon, the absence of any emotional arc preventing the audience from connecting with her character. There is hardly any scene that establishes the emotional bond between her with her mother.
Among the supporting cast, Rik Chatterjee shines. A boy recently back from his studies in Europe with a different overview of culture and restrictions is accurately portrayed by him. He has a nice screen presence.
Aparajito Ghosh Das, Anindya Banerjee, Rajat Ganguly, Mithu Chakravarty are all decent, but none of them has a significant impact on the film, although their characters contribute to various key plot points.
The songs, except the titular one, don't work from the film's perspective. The songs are sung well, no doubt, but the relevance is not there. Anik Dutta can place songs in the right place if u look at Bhooter bhobishyot (cult classic).
The climax, although it ends on a warm note, is underwhelming, which is kind of predictable. It doesn't really go beyond what was hinted at in trailers, or maybe it's a conscious decision, I don't know.
The film, being a festival release, the banality of the film, which doesn't affect the nostalgia it strives to serve to the audience. A Packed theatre, full of kids with their parents, grandparents, in a jovial mood, gets to spend time with a charming (although very surface-level) film, which is a good thing for Bengali films for sure.
Indradip Dasgupta's fifth feature film as a director is marketed as a tribute to the body of work of filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh. The plot points, characters, the chamber drama setup revolving around a woman soaked in melancholy quiet evidently tries to honor the auteur's legacy.
The first thing which hinders the film from being a proper fitting to the legacy of Rituparno's work is the absence of nuance, the complex but intrusive characterization. The film deals with the melancholy of woman left alone after marriage, which invites an ideal premise to explore grief and longing, but we are served with just dialogues, with which the primary exposition of the characters are conveyed to the audience. The dialogues reveal quiet bluntly the emotional state of the characters within the first half of the film which is unexpected and disappointing from a film paying tribute to the auteur.
The rich visual aesthetics shows promise throughout, as Pradip Mukherjee shoots with an unparallel lyricism. The house becomes a character, an undeniable silent witness to the boiling sense of loneliness each and every character is suffering from. The walls, the murals, preparation for the upcoming Durga Puja everything looks heavenly and sometimes eclipses the lack of subtleness in other departments.
The film also captures Subhasree Ganguly (Titli, the lead protagonist) at her finest, be it the close ups, or be the silent moments where she is conveying through eyes only. She tries her best to articulate the most complex nuances which the script fails to churn out anywhere. With a sense of duty towards his in-laws , there is a certain realization in her character, that it is not only her suffering from loss but also her in-laws where someone has lost a son and someone a brother, she overcomes self-pity and with grace as she accepts the responsibility. All of this information although spoon fed to the audience, Subhasree still manages to bring a sense of genuineness to her portrayal.
The role of Meghdoot (Jeetu Kamal) is also mishandled. There are different shades which his character has but it is always shown from the perspective of the protagonist, we never get to feel for his longings, desires which was very much needed to where the film was headed especially at the climactic revelation. Owing to the sensible agenda, the film tries to convey, it is quite disappointing how it's dealt with.
The subplot with Rudranil Ghosh also gets lost into thin air after a certain point, which although was very generic could have been given a better closure, we are never shown his arc except one scene with Sohini Sengupta (her maternal aunt). It is quiet suprising to see an actor like Rudranil Ghosh being wasted into a half-baked character. The veterans (Sohini Sengupta,Kaushik Ganguly) stay true to their role and performs according to their skillset and amplifies the emotional subtext.
Jeetu Kamal looks graceful too, although not given much of a depth as his character demands for, there is a certain charm in his performance. There is a a scene which announces his arrival in the life of Titli(Subhasree),where the sudden gust of wind dismantles the alleys of Kolkata ,and there is a drone shot which shows his car advancing to Titli's home as a guest. It is very well made and a nod to the name his character has, 'Meghdoot' (which means rain, or one who sends message through clouds). The character also has a message to deliver, over all it is quite impressive how it plays with the name.
Indradip Dasgupta(director)is also a known music director, so he uses music as an instrument of storytelling in his films, but here the songs and the music both seems overburdened ,it doesn't add anything worth to the film.
The film running at a length of more than 2 and a half hours feels very much outstretched with redundant characters, unresolved subplots and an unnecessary cameo at the end which makes no sense.
It is a frustrating watch specifically for the premise it sets up, the potential it had with the characters .It is evident though,that Indardip Dasgupta has tried to invoke a sense of suppressed emotions ,but ends up doing a one dimensional narrative which never really hits the right spot despite Subhasree giving a superlative performance.
The first thing which hinders the film from being a proper fitting to the legacy of Rituparno's work is the absence of nuance, the complex but intrusive characterization. The film deals with the melancholy of woman left alone after marriage, which invites an ideal premise to explore grief and longing, but we are served with just dialogues, with which the primary exposition of the characters are conveyed to the audience. The dialogues reveal quiet bluntly the emotional state of the characters within the first half of the film which is unexpected and disappointing from a film paying tribute to the auteur.
The rich visual aesthetics shows promise throughout, as Pradip Mukherjee shoots with an unparallel lyricism. The house becomes a character, an undeniable silent witness to the boiling sense of loneliness each and every character is suffering from. The walls, the murals, preparation for the upcoming Durga Puja everything looks heavenly and sometimes eclipses the lack of subtleness in other departments.
The film also captures Subhasree Ganguly (Titli, the lead protagonist) at her finest, be it the close ups, or be the silent moments where she is conveying through eyes only. She tries her best to articulate the most complex nuances which the script fails to churn out anywhere. With a sense of duty towards his in-laws , there is a certain realization in her character, that it is not only her suffering from loss but also her in-laws where someone has lost a son and someone a brother, she overcomes self-pity and with grace as she accepts the responsibility. All of this information although spoon fed to the audience, Subhasree still manages to bring a sense of genuineness to her portrayal.
The role of Meghdoot (Jeetu Kamal) is also mishandled. There are different shades which his character has but it is always shown from the perspective of the protagonist, we never get to feel for his longings, desires which was very much needed to where the film was headed especially at the climactic revelation. Owing to the sensible agenda, the film tries to convey, it is quite disappointing how it's dealt with.
The subplot with Rudranil Ghosh also gets lost into thin air after a certain point, which although was very generic could have been given a better closure, we are never shown his arc except one scene with Sohini Sengupta (her maternal aunt). It is quiet suprising to see an actor like Rudranil Ghosh being wasted into a half-baked character. The veterans (Sohini Sengupta,Kaushik Ganguly) stay true to their role and performs according to their skillset and amplifies the emotional subtext.
Jeetu Kamal looks graceful too, although not given much of a depth as his character demands for, there is a certain charm in his performance. There is a a scene which announces his arrival in the life of Titli(Subhasree),where the sudden gust of wind dismantles the alleys of Kolkata ,and there is a drone shot which shows his car advancing to Titli's home as a guest. It is very well made and a nod to the name his character has, 'Meghdoot' (which means rain, or one who sends message through clouds). The character also has a message to deliver, over all it is quite impressive how it plays with the name.
Indradip Dasgupta(director)is also a known music director, so he uses music as an instrument of storytelling in his films, but here the songs and the music both seems overburdened ,it doesn't add anything worth to the film.
The film running at a length of more than 2 and a half hours feels very much outstretched with redundant characters, unresolved subplots and an unnecessary cameo at the end which makes no sense.
It is a frustrating watch specifically for the premise it sets up, the potential it had with the characters .It is evident though,that Indardip Dasgupta has tried to invoke a sense of suppressed emotions ,but ends up doing a one dimensional narrative which never really hits the right spot despite Subhasree giving a superlative performance.
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