The Storyteller

If one reads Satyajit Ray's short story "Golpo Boliye Tarini Khuro (Storyteller Tarini Uncle)" one would hardly find enough material to make a feature-length film out of it. There are other Tarini stories of course, but Ananth Mahadevan's "The Storyteller" is based only on the aforementioned one. Hence, the makers have had to add stuff, drag out the narrative, build upon the characters and feed in underlying themes.

Casting Paresh Rawal as a Bengali was nothing short of a blunder. And it felt like he wasn't given much to base his character off of - the worst thing that can happen to a Ray adaptation. Adil Hussain as the Gujarati businessman Garodia too seemed out of it. Additional supporting characters have been sprinkled in generously but most of them didn't seem to add much to the narrative. I failed to understand the dynamics between Tarini and the librarian Suzie (Tannishtha Chatterjee - awfully miscast). Only Revathi somehow makes her mark despite her limited screen time.

Clichés have been added in poor taste (two things need to be mentioned here: 1) Tarini was fine with having Gujarati food at his employer's residence in the original story, 2) The depiction of Durga Puja in the film is the worst I've ever seen). Had expected some good stories (either original or adapted from Ray's other works) presented in animated form as Tarini attempts to put his employer to sleep - got a couple of poorly "spun" headless/tailless ideas instead. The overall pacing is painfully drab, with more focus on the mundane and minimal efforts to make things interesting for the viewer. Even the conflict and the resolution seemed lacklustre. Tarini's ultimate self-discovery after overcoming self-doubt felt like a consolation prize for sitting through the film.

Pros? A few witty lines here and there and the closing scene. The music too, I guess - Tagore and Ray never fail.

"The Storyteller" is a prime example of how bad filmmakers ruin good stories despite having great actors on board. Let's just leave it at that.

The Film is good not Great. The theme is good. The story is wonderful as it is written by a master himself the Great Satyajit Ray. HIt is an ordinary film lacking the magic of great director.

My view is that Paresh Rawal would have been great in Adil Hussain's role and the Tarini's role could have been played by Saswata Chatterjee or Rajatava Dutta...they could have atleast justified the role.... the language problem was clearly seen as the poor choice of director. Unfortunately that is how it is.... A fantastic story sopiled by the wrong choices and understanding of a very ordinary director.

Anwar Says: Bengal is land of literary genius and this movie is based on short story of one of them Satyajit Ray -Golpo Boliye Tarini Khuro. What a masterpiece from the pen of Ray , witty with an unexpected twist and shot on the original lanes of Calcutta and Ahmedabad. Thanks to director Anant Mahadevan who has chosen the original surroundings and not with the green curtains.

For the character of Tarini Babu , there couldn't be a better choice than Paresh Rawal. His obsession for fish and Pujo and smoking a non-filter hand made cigarette looks so real. Adil Hussain as Gujju cotton tycoon hiring a storyteller to solve his insomnia can be conceived only by Ray. His calm and composed reactions, even after the twist is a treat to watch. Revathi has nothing much to do. Editing is superb and you just cannot miss even a single frame, even after a slow pace.

Please find time to watch this movie, a soothing experience after much of crime and violence. You will understand the flavour of meaningful cinema.

#disneyhotstar #anwarsays #bengalilitreature #Tagore #pujo #fishlove #storyteller #SatyajitRay #PareshRawal #AnantMahadevan #MaximGorky.

I hvnt read the original story but have read many other stories. Film captures the simplistic vibe of his stories.

Paresh rawal is retired from his day job, and is a passionate storyteller. With wife gone and son in US, he is alone, and takes a job of a storyteller in gujrat.

Wont put spoilers but what happens next is good, though bit predictive in the beginning but the climax was food for me. I liked the way it ended. There are things i want to say but thay may act as spoiler.

In the end, everyone wants to be a good storyteller. But only few are inherently good at it. One thing which i felt missing was maybe, rawals character may have told more stories, that wudve added more flavour to the film.

There's a cover of artificiality in The Storyteller as it starts to narrate the story of a retired serviceman's (Paresh Rawal) retirement journey as he moves from Kolkata to Ahmedabad and takes up a job. But all that dissolves away as the story dives into its crux, introducing a rather novel (though, not exactly, as this is an adaptation) conflict on film. It's something that I have not seen before, so naturally it worked for me, albeit less than what succeeds it. The film is centered on Paresh Rawal and Adil Hussain's effortless performances, also helped by Revathy and Tannishtha Chatterjee. By the end of it, I sat there amazed. This is a good film.

(Watched at the 2022 International Film Festival of India in Goa.)