In a promotional interview Srijit Mukherjee had said, " Chowranghee was Uttam Kumar's Chowranghee. Shah Jahan Regency however, is Shankar's." I guess (and I can only guess) that the director's intention was to tell a story with several point of view characters. What he ended up with rather, was a royal mess of a fantastic novel. Cinematically.
Srijit's natural flavour lies in punning, and it shows up in whatever he writes, be it lyrics (Monta Ahare) or dialogues. Unfortunately though, his talent comes in the way of a serious screenplay.
In Chowranghee (1968) when the staff gives farewell to Sata Bose, the entire film comes through. At that moment we forget about the enigma of Karabi, or the decline of Marco. We organically become one with Sata Bose, in his agony, in his reflection. This is where the story-'telling' lens of the director takes the cake.
In Srijit's film, we are rooting for Kamalini instead (which is fine). But the moment he kills her off, the film dies with her. It's as if the director himself takes the plunge midway through the film's life. The film then continues for an hour more. The audience is left with indifference, terrible acting and eventual dejection.
Srijit claims frequently that he remains involved in the editing of his films. Well. Sure enough. Narcissism and editing simply cannot go hand in hand. He is so much in love with himself (and his writing), it is clear that he is unable to cut his masterpiece down to size. Shah Jahan Regency does not benefit from Samiran's love story. Rather, the film suffers from it. Badly.
Indeed the film has certain beautiful cinematic moments : (i) Kamalini stands on the edge, face to face with Kolkata ; (ii) The hotel transition scene ( masterfully done ; Kolkata, Tokyo and Singapore make way for Delhi and Paris); (iii) Rudra supports himself by the wall to counter Kamalini's pull.
Sadly, the film never becomes more than the sum of its parts. One wonders how the film (certainly worth remaking) would have shaped up under a seriously competent director, and editor.
I agree with Srijit that the 1968 movie belonged solely to Uttam Kumar. However, this 2019 version is nobody's Chowranghee.
বড় একা লাগে, এই আঁধারে।
No comments:
Post a Comment