It is always difficult to write a review of a film made by a known person and who is supported by common friends. The desire to be honest is affected by thinking about the effect of the written word on the associates.
Fortunately Kamaleshwar Mukherjee’s UDO CHITHI saved me from this dilemma for after a long ,long time I watched a movie with unflagging interest from beginning to end. Kamaleshwar walked away from medicine and after a hard struggle , he established himself first as a successful ad film maker and then as a scriptwriter and Director of Feature films.
Watch this video clip…
The success of Udo Chithi is because a story is told. That may sound simplistic , but that is the most important part. The story is supreme—like a jungle stream bending here and there, leaping suddenly over scattered stones, slowing down and then cascading as a powerful waterfall before meeting the mainstream. No where does the writer/director lose control. The pace is tight, the dialogues occasionally punchy, the editing magnificently controlled (probably ArghyaKamal’s finest work) ---but the story remained supreme.
http://youtu.be/VMdZHXCwx_Qhttp://youtu.be/VMdZHXCwx_Q
Aniket (Indraneil Sengupta) an IT professional is a bit of a weakling and a cad. He is guided and controlled by the people around him, indecisive and a victim of his own conscience and physical needs, seeking something he does not have and in the process losing all that he has.He invests in the Share Market heavily on the advice of his friend Rohit (Rajatava Dutta) and loses 42 lakhs!!! He is tempted to invest all of the money his father has willed him—but that will not be available till his father dies. He is comfortable in his family life with wife Raka(Sreelekha) but is averse to devoting time in solving mundane problems like repairing the Kitchen exhaust and teaching his daughter. Familiarity breeds contempt and Aniket seeks excitement in his old schoolmate Kevin (Rudranil) and Sonia’s (Sudipta) Rave Parties. There he meets air-hostess Lilette (Tanusree) and falls for her, developing a relationship and sleeping with her.
Aniket’s father is Mohit (Biswajit Chakravarty) . He has travelled a lot often leaving his wife and child—often for long periods. He comes back to establish an old-age home surrounded by various plants and trees.During this time,when Ani-Lilette were together, Ani does not respond to phone calls.During this period Mohit had died—further aggravating Aniket’s guilt complex.
Pictures of the Party and Aniket and Lilette’s pictures are published on Facebook. Raka goes hysterical and tries to commit suicide. She leaves with her daughter to live a separate life and records her daughter’s title as her maiden title— trying to wipe out Aniket’s existence from their lives.
Sreya Ghoshal in this great version…
Aniket’s mentor is his previous Physics teacher Farhad (Anjan Dutta), who after losing his daughter to illness, is now bent on creating new engineering concepts and firms. Aniket’s friend is Subhash (Biswanath Bose) and his wife (Locket Chatterjee)—who have fallen on hard times as Subhas’s factory is on a lockout for the last 17 months.—and who are dependent on Aniket’s handouts. Information comes that the factory owners will lift the lockout but they do not. Subhash’s last hope is gone. His wife opens a beauty parlour which becomes a front for prostitution. Subhash falls back on a small scale adhesive business. His son develops an aggressive mentality and requires psychiatric treatment. One of the most poignant moments is of a 6 year old coming down the stairs with a bunch of pasted National flags for selling. Aniket takes the young boy away to Farhad where a natural empathy develops between them. Aniket is manipulated by his co workers at his office and his subsequent outburst forces the authorities to send him on a long leave.Meanwhile Lilette tests positive for AIDs and leaves the city. Aniket is at the proverbial crossroads.
However, the markets start changing. A SMS comes from Raka reminding him about the date of their 8th wedding anniversary. With Subhash’s son at his side Aniket faces the future with renewed hope.
All the flashback story is orchestrated by the SMS messages in Aniket’s mobile phone inbox which he starts to delete but finds that each of those messages tell the story of his life in that past year..
The opening graphics are outstanding and thoroughly in tune with Kamaleshwar’s ad background. The photography is adequate, though there is a jarring DI use in the evening scene at the riverside. The music is well orchestrated. A couple of songs are rememberable—Anindya’s Ek Din and Rupam Islam’s Shohor Ballad. Debojyoti Mishra’s background score is unobtrusive but mood-setting.But the Latino numbers are probably with a view to impressing Mumbai Directors and Producers.
Listen to Rupam’s lovely song….
As far as the acting goes—it is superlative. We are blessed to have so many talented actors all around. Indraneil brings out the negative shades of Aniket very well. Suave, charming, hesitant , and conscious stricken—this is a role Indraneil will treasures for a long time. Sreelekha is a perfect Raka—loving, caring, family lady, but increasingly disturbed by Indraneil’s lack of attention to her. Rajatava is brilliant. Basing himself on the old style Hollywood characters he gives a perfect lesson of timing and closeup expressions. Anjan Dutta and Biswajit Chakravarty are vastly experienced. Rudranil is splendid as usual but has to be careful in not allowing mannerisms to dominate his work. Saswata, Kaushik, Locket and Sudipta act with gusto.
The surprise packages are Biswanath and Tanusree. Biswanath in the role of the ineffective husband and a non-earner plays the role of his life. The nearest parallel is Uttamkumar’s Ghonada in Parthopratim’s film Jadubangsha—arguably HIS best role. Though Biswanath can never be anywhere near Uttamkumar in any aspect— but this depiction brings back the memories….
Tanusree is the BIGGEST thing to happen to Bengali films and their heroines. in the last 2 decades. Tall, stunningly beautiful, easy moving, glamorous and with a face in which emotions flow ever so naturally—she dominates this brilliant cast. The scene in which she repeatedly says that she wants to go back to her daddy because of her HIV status is poignant and memorable.Her career has to be watched with GREAT INTEREST.
However there are areas in the script which should have been bettered. For a person losing 42 lakhs—one would expect a much more volatile, fearful hero—not so cool and laid back. Indraneil has to be tested for HIV regardless whether he took protection or not. That portion is left hanging.Indraneil is never seen working!!!He is seen in the general pool workplace. Surely Assistant Managers get a cubicle of their own!!!!
Apart from these minor drawbacks, there is a certain feel of the movie which is very pleasing and reminds me about the film Chowringhee. Certainly a film to watch and discuss because of the issues it raises.Above all, it is a film which may bring more people to the cinema halls. Congratulations to Kamaleshwar—specially in bringing the Story back to where it belongs-- the Forefront!!!!!
