HitList—the Movie

Sandip Ray’s position is unenviable. Every day and in every film he makes, there is the invisible shadow of his father’s name hanging over his head. He cannot deviate from his father’s style and taste, nor does he have the quality of thought, actors, music directors or cinematographers that his father had. His script is devoid of all the nuances and subtleties of his father and his story telling abilities are just about average. Nowhere has this been more obvious than his current release—HitList.

(Tota ,Sudipta, Koel )

 The story is simplistically simple. Inspired by what he had read years earlier,  Sandip Ray’s  script is loosely based on Dark Days of the American Dream , Sin City or Black Dahlia and features the avenging widow who systematically kills off her husband’s killers. Tota Roychoudhury, Sudipta(his screen wife), Saheb and Babul Supriyo of MIdLife Advertising agency sell off their concept to a rival firm. Subhranil Dutta (Rono) is the honest Creative Director who is killed in a frenzy of rage at Tota’s house. Koel(Anindita Chatterjee) is Rono’s wife, who gets employment at the same firm and then starts her revenge spree.

(Saheb, Babul, Sandip Roy)

Saswata is the police officer in a forgettable role, who brings in his guru Dhritiman Chatterjee(Prabhat) to solve the case. Dhritiman hounds the suspects, till Tota and his wife drive off the road at KualaLumpur( don’t know why they had to go there). Dhritiman knows Koel’s  killing off the other two but releases her as he feels that he would have done the same thing.

(Koel)

The film is horribly out of tune with modern films. Apart from the Feluda like opening style of Babul Supriyo’s murder, and the taut progress of the first fifteen minutes, the film meanders along without any serious attempt at character delineation or psychological delvings into what causes normal people to behave abnormally and talk about killing people as casually as swatting a fly. The opportunities were there. The reactions of the four killers, and how they changed after the  murder was one area. Koel’s reactions after her husband’s death and her transformation into a cold blooded killer was never explained. These are the areas where there is real directorial or script work. Unfortunately there was none. Why were Dipankar Dey(Koel’s screen father) and his wife brought in? There was no real interaction between them. Tinnu Anand got a paid Kuala Lumpur trip for a side role of no substance or worth. He was sent once to Satyajit Ray by his father Inder Raj Anand to see film making. I am sure he can see the contrast.

(Sandip and Tinu)

Dhritiman Chatterjee wearing a jacket and  scarf and dark glasses , stands out like a snow mountain in the desert and certainly NOT like an undercover detective. Did Sandip Ray think of the Kiriti Roy/ Swapankumar stories of a bygone era?

(Dhritiman)

If so, he is hopelessly out of sync with the 21st century. What was the purpose in showing the Malaysian dance performance? Payback time to Malaysia tourism??  What use was the ad film shots of the Malaysian model? Some ogling interest?

 

(Kim)

Prasenjit turned down the role played by Tota. It speaks volumes of his intelligence. The role is not fleshed out, nor  does it have any acting peaks. Tota does his best, consummate actor that he is. But even he will be dissatisfied by the final effect—the instant erasure when the film ends from the memory of the viewer. Sudipta is now looking her age and is overacting in parts.

(Tota and Sudipta)

Babul Supriyo ‘s role is inconsequential. Subhranil looked dignified and serious. The real surprise was Saheb. Energetic, restless, flirtatious, exuberant—he conveyed his character brilliantly. His death midway in the film resulted in the loss of whatever energy the film had.

(Saheb and Koel)

(Saheb and Babul)

There were two previous Topshe’s in the film—Siddhartha and Saswata. But again they must have been also confused as to what they were doing there.

Koel deviates from her song and dance heroine roles and shows that she has the potential for good acting. However ,there were areas in which she is very ordinary. Her reaction on seeing her husband’s dead body is typically Hindi film of the 70s copy. One can literally see her winding up for the wail. Again , if the director had so wanted, there was enough scope for her to emote with force and character. She could never convey the changes which transforms her from an ordinary house wife to a cold blooded scheming killer.

(Koel and Tinu)

And how can anyone be so foolish as to keep her Hit List on her mobile!!!! Dhritiman Chatterjee is lost in this role of the retired police officer who relies on his hunches. Any decent forensic expert or Police Officer could tell that the injury on Rono’s head was made antemortem and by a sharp heavy object.

The cinematography(Sasanka) was competent with a few great shots like Koel standing against the Kuala Lumpur skyline and the Koel-Dhritiman conversation on the office balcony.

(Koel)

The Editor Subroto Roy did his best. Though there were a couple of false cuts, whatever pace the film had was due to him. The music is eminently forgettable and so unfortunately is the film. Thank God, I saw it at Nandan (half empty on the first Saturday evening show) for Rs. 70. The INOX crowd must be regretting their expense.

(Shooting Scene)

Sandip Ray could very well benefit from watching the classic of them all with the same theme—The Bride Wore Black  by Francois Truffaut.

(Original Poster Of Bride Wore Black)

Is it too much to expect a film a little like that from a man who has the genes of one of the best film directors of all times and who had the unique opportunity to work with him in his formative years?

Sandip Ray