Lagle Bolben

A humorous act produced by Niva Arts and directed by Arun Bandyopadhyay featuring the director in the role of a bachelor businessman Robin Banergee, maternal uncle and the only guardian to Bipul, an MSc passed young man. This Bipul is again betrothed to a girl named Malaya, but fears to ask his uncle's permission for his marriage. Bipul's tension heightens as he finds his uncle searching a bride for him for which he had employed a fellow named Nagen. On the other hand, Malaya's widowed mother, Ruby Roy is also in search of a nice groom for her daughter and lands up in Robin's house with the proposal. But here the events take a surprising twist when Robin finds that he is getting increasingly attracted towards Ruby. As he divulges this to Nagen, the later reminds him that in the event Robin marries Ruby, their offsprings will then become cousins to one another and hence there will be no chance of a marriage. Again, Bipul being unaware of the actual identity of Ruby's daughter, employs different tactics to dissuade Ruby from letting her daughter to marry him. The confusions that are created are supplemented by a series of misunderstandings that begins from the commencement of the story and these adds more fun to the whole drama. Finally it rests upon Nagen to disentagle the mess and straighten the cases of the two pairs of lovebirds.
The chief feature of the drama is the minimum use of background score and thus the actors are to be congratulated for their excellent performances and the nice comedy that is completely devoid of malice. Also each act finishes in a unique way, a style that is quite new to me. Also slight drift from the main concept occurs at intervals to reveal the true nature of each character, without which the story would have remained incomplete. Thus my Christmas evening was nicely spent watching the play, which I had long been waiting for.

Sajano Bagan

The final evening of the Calcutta Comedy Carnival at Madhusudan Mancha was reserved for Sundaram's production of 'Sajano Bagan', directed by the veteran Manoj Mitra who also played the lead part. Earlier when I showed her the festival banner for the 1st time, my wife exclusively selected this one much to my annoyance as I'd my eyes for another day's play. But as usual, she won the argument and so it was Manoj Mitra's performance that we were destined to watch. Well today when I think of it, it seems that her judgement should sometimes be taken real seriously as if it were not so I would have missed one of the finest display of stage acting, which I will cherish in my memory for a very long time.
Manoj Mitra was just superb. His acting, voice modulation, expressions, gestures, everything was perfect. Also the other actors that worked with him did a splendid job and the lighting of the stage was another classic piece of art that deserves special mention. The entire play is hilarious and filled with witty dialogues and slangs.
The story in not new to those who have watched 'Bancharam's Bagan'. The plot involves the aged Bancha Kapali, the lone gardener of a large plot of land and the local Zamindar, Nakur, who wish to get hold of this land. So he makes a legal contract with Bancha that states that Bancha is to receive a monthly salary of Rs.200 from the former on the condition that in the event of the latter's death the land will pass to the possession of Nakur. The ailing Bancha, who had already driven away his grandson when he came to know that he wished to sale the garden at Rs.12000, readily accepts the offer.
The evil Nakur had actually made this contract observing the frail condition of the gardener as he thought that Bancha's days were already numbered. But his frustration heightens when he finds Bancha to regain his health as each month passes by. The play then becomes a game where Nakur's each and every attempt to gain the land quickly gets foiled in one way or the other.

Parabola Sir

My 1st reaction on completion of this Narayan Sanyal novel was, "Alas! if only I had a teacher like this"
But trully speaking, if a character like Satyaban Chakrabarty nicknamed 'Parabola' Sir (by his students) would have really been my educator, then with all the petty sins that I commit regularly, I would have been forced to maintain a safe distance from this person radiating an aura of truthfulness.
Yes, Narayan Sanyal's 'Parabola' Sir can be considered as the ultimate symbol of truth and honesty who never compromised with truth even if that cost him his social life and had inflicted great pains on him continuously. So it is not a mystery that this man should be a maths teacher as obsession to something devoid of cowardice, emotions and solely based on logic can be his only way of venting his passions.
Narayan Sanyal's portrayal of the fictitious Satyaban Chakrabarty is also the work of a skilled writer who never misses the minutest detail. One of my friends had once commented that each of Narayna Sanyal's work is the result of an extensive research and really while going through this piece, I found how true his comment was. The whole story is full of mathematical expressions and quotations from theorems that is dexterously used to reflect the appropriate mood of the various situations and to cap it all the chapter numbers have been replaced by excerpts from mathematical proofs though the latter is just for ornamentation and bears no meaning to the actual context of the sections. As a whole this piece is a fine specimen of Narayan Sanya's ability of character analysis but a little less emotion could have been considered to give it a more realistic touch.

Tintoretor Jishu

To me this is the best directed Feluda movie by Sandip Ray. The ingenious plot of the father is efficiently picturised by the son and perhaps this is the later's best tribute to the legend called Feluda till date.

The story starts with the arrival of a stranger in Baikunthapur’s Neogi family, introducing himself as Rudrashekhar, son of late Chandrasekhar who is brother to Soumyasekhar, the current head of Neogi family. Chandra was an artist who died in foreign lands after being married to an Italian lady. It was there that he received a painting of Jesus Christ by a famous Renaissance painter, Tintoretto. Rudra is wholeheartedly welcomed by Soumyasekhar but along came the news of death of Thumri, Soumya’s pet golden retriever. Then, following a chance meeting with Soumya’s son, Naba, the three musketeers, Feluda, Topshe and Jatayu, gets invited to Baikunthapur to have a look at the famous painting and also to offer some clues to the dog’s killers. Though the case was proposed in a light-hearted manner, but Feluda smells rat and starts some investigation on his own. His hunch of something fishy proves correct following a failed attempt to steal the picture. Feluda learns an international buyer called Krikorian got information of the painting from an article by Bhagwangarh’s Bhudev Singh, a friend to Chandra and tries to buy it through a villainous art dealer Hiralal Somani. The story gathers a sudden momentum as Bankim, manager to Soumya gets murdered and Rudra gets missing while the painting gets replaced by a fake one. Now the chase begins with Feluda and his companions trying to foil the art deal between Krikorian and Hiralal at Hong Kong and the stage is set for the final showdown that keeps the audience glued to their seats.

The story has been followed with some modifications that have never felt damaging to the original plot and the wonderful fusion of oriental tunes with the traditional Feluda tune really deserves applause as do the use of witty dialogues that adds humorous flavour of the movie. As to the suspense account, it must be admitted that foretelling a part of the criminal's approach damps the thrill a bit but the use of action and chase sequences compensate them to a great extent. While the fictional portrait of Jesus by Sagar Bhowmick provides the much needed realistic touch to the historical part but Feluda's explanation while unravelling minute but important points could well have been enhanced by using flashbacks as those who have not read the book will be kept searching for the missed portions especially while revealing the true identity of an important character. But the thing that I disliked most was the transformation of the period to the 21^st century as I feel that the story had all the materials for a grand success without cell phones, lappys and modern vehicles (Lalmohan’s ambassador converted to indica was not required as such). Just imagine Holmes dressed in modern outfit or Poirot losing his fussiness over symmetry or Marple without her stitching set or Father Brown without the meek appearance or watching Byomkesh searching for clues wearing jeans! It is not that the period transformation produces giggles among the audience but it was an adjustment quite uncalled for.

As to the acting, Paran bandopadhyay tops the list with his subtle comedies while Bibhu Bhattacharya as Lalmohan is a dissapointment this time. While Shilajit excels with his stubborn looks and Sabsyasachi maintains the balance of sharp intellect and skilled karateka, Tota Roychowdhury offers a pleasant dimension to this intriguing plot. Biswajit Chakraborty plays the wicked Hiralal Somani to perfection while Parambrata and Bhaskar plays their supporting roles nicely. Just as an afterthought, Tota can be the next replacement of Feluda in some future screenplays!
As to the detailing I think two glaring errors are very much apparent. Firstly while Feluda, Topshe and Jatayu were seen sleeping at the Neogi’s, they didn’t even change their dresses! Secondly while following a footstep in the house at night, Feluda is wearing shoes, that is so unlike a proper detective.

Hirok Rajar Deshe

Chandan Sen’s presentation of the evergreen story of Gupi Gayen & Bagha Bayen’s second adventure based on the movie bearing the same name directed by Satyajit Ray. With some fine modifications on the actual theme, Kharaj Mukherjee’s songs and lyrics adds a different flavour to the drama. Added to this is the excellent use of lighting that gives the play a new dimension though my recommendation will be to take seats a little at the rear to appreciate it justly. The acting is classic and watching the actor playing the part of Bagha, one can’t help remember Robi Ghosh whose performance made this character a legend. Produced by Asoknagar’s Nataanan this play is a memorable watch.

Ashray

An Asutosh Mukhopadhyay novel that is important for two reasons. Firstly it became a book after 8 years of its 1st publication as a novel in a Puja magazine. Secondly the reason for this surprising delay was that Mr. Mukhopadhyay dictated major part of the story to his daughter, Sarbani while lying ill and wanted to write the whole thing by himself before it appeared as a book. But his untimely death dealt a major blow to this and left Sarbani torn between her father’s wish and her own that was to reveal the work to the greater audience.
This was probably the final work of Mr. Mukherjee and probably one of his best according to me. The intricate web of emotions that the author has woven not only shows his mastery with words but also it reflects how deep his study was of the human nature and the social bounds that shape it.
The story involves Nandita Bose, the only daughter of a barrister father and a writer mother, who suddenly finds herself a victim of an impending separation between her parents. Torn between the love for her father and hatred for her mother, she gets involved in a strange battle of principles that not only affects her family but also her personal life and ends in an unique style that can only be described as a copybook short story ending with the reader left to conceive the final chapters of the life of each character.
With the frequent use of contrasting perspectives in consecutive chapters, the author has forced readers to be overwhelmed with the various emotions ranging from hatred to love and fury to tranquility and his passionate zeal of expressing the plot, according to Sarbani Mukherjee’s introduction, is vividly felt as the story unfolds its various hues.

The 3 Mistakes of My Life

After I had read Chetan Bhagat's "One Night @ the Call Centre", an instant fascination in his work grew in me. But while going through this one's back cover, somehow it did not arouse any interest. Still, my hobby of collecting at least one work for any renowned author won over and I bought it. Well as I started reading through the pages my fears of losing interest in the piece was growing steadily until the "1st mistake" and from then onwards it was a real roller coaster ride.
The story is about three friends in Ahmedabad, Govind, a practical minded youth whose passion was maths and who dreamt of a flourishing business of his own, Ishan a passionate guy whose chief obsession was cricket and who believed his freinds blindly and Omi, the son of a priest to whom religion was the first priority. Govind, in trying to shape his future, convinced his friends to open a business in sports good and stationeries and they opened the same in the premises of a temple, where Omi's family lived.The guys struggled with the business and it initially flourished and profitted. They started two parallel small scale projects with Govind tutoring the local school goers and Ishan giving cricket coaching to those interested. But all of a sudden when everything was running smooth and they were looking forward to shift business in a modern mall, Govind made the 1st mistake of his life that cost him his confidence. From this point onwards the story becomes much more involved where business gets mixed with social issues, religions and politics and how these three cope with them.
The story is told from Govind's point of view and how his three vital mistakes became crucial to his business and his personal and social life. The emotions have been richly painted and nowhere it had turned out of the ordinary but Mr. Bhagat's trend of a signature Hindi movie style finish seemed to mar the end IMO. Also a slight discrepancy that I noted was that though the author has used the 1st person in two ways, one while describing his own conversation with Govind and secondly in the flashback mode with Govind as the 1st person, the style of both seemed the same. Maybe a slight different way of expressing feelings would have been more appealing to the reader.

The Sittaford Mystery

Another Agatha Christie classic that begins with a seance that starts with a jolly note during an evening tea party but soon turns grim as it predicts murder of one Captain Trevelyan who was situated miles away from them. One of the participants of the seance, Major Burnaby, a friend of Trevelyan, soon sets to enquire about his pal and he was the first person to make the gruesome discovery. Inspector Narracott is appointed in charge of the case and he soon arrests one of the Captain's nephew, Jim Pearson with all the circumstantial evidences that points to his guilt. But in his mind, he was still not convinced of Jim's crime as is his fiance Emily. Emily, a not-so-easy-to-stop woman befriends a journalist Charles Enderby and these two amateur sleuths starts enquiring the locals about any incident that can help them unravel the crime. This Christie classic was one of my favourites and as I read it for the second time, fully aware of who the criminal is, I just could not help admire the style of the author in throwing the reader off the track while presenting all the details and motives that can help one point out the murderer. A highly entertaining read that ends with the signature Christie style twist.

Munich

A Steven Spielberg directed 2005 thriller travelouge, beginning with the 1972 invasion of Pallestinian terrorists at the Munich Olympic village that resulted in the death of 11 members of the Israeli team, is a moving narration of the events that follows the massacre. This triggered the Mossad (Israeli foreign intel) to counter the threat by a series of assassinations by an undercover team of five led by agent Avner. This top secret mission is carried out initially quite ruthlessly though the team was more than once faced with a dilemma natural to a hurriedly assembled team. But as the assasinations pile up their soul begin to sicken and also they find themselves to be on the hunted list of their enemies. The various emotions and the mental trauma that they are subjected to and also the ruthlessness of the intel heads have been brilliantly depicted by Spielberg and also it has been portrayed accurately by the cast consisting of Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Geoffrey Rush and the rest. This movie is made more appealing by the touch of human emotions that is so characteristic of Spielberg.

Dadathakur

Probably one of the greatest tributes to the memory of Sarat Pandit was through this film by Sudhir Mukherjee in 1962. This was also Chobi Biswas' last movie and maybe one of his best, if not the best, performances. Based on the life of Sarat Pandit of Jangipur who with his simple lifestyle and witty criticisms was revered by all for his strict principles and fearless attitude against any type of injustice. Clearly a man of ready wit, he was an institution by himself and his income was solely based on his press and the two papers - Jangipur Sambad and Bidushak - that he used to publish. The movie is full of puns created and used by Dada Thakur and one never forgets the prompt reply to Sarat Chatterjee's welcoming comment to Sarat Pandit that ran "Kemon aacho Bidushak Saratchandra?" to which Dada Thakur's replied "Kemon aacho Charitrahin Saratchandra?". Also Sarat Pandit's fight against injustice is portrayed by his indomitable will that he used in promoting a petty but competent shopkeeper, Kartik Saha, to the post of chairman of Corporation against the corrput local politicians of the town. The rhymes that he created for the canvassing of Kartik will be unforgettable as will be the tunes that he composed on various subjects, the city of Calcutta being one of them. Equally unforgettable will be his commitment to his duties that is once shown when he was given the duty of printing and transporting the exam question papers of a school, 8 miles away from his home. On the day of the exam, due to a terrible flood the rail service was disrupted. But this never dissuaded Dada Thakur who traversed the whole 8 miles across the flooded roads to deliver the papers at the correct time. Again this is shown once more when we find him composing puzzles for the next day's Akashbani's show of 'Galpodadur Ashor' hosted by Dada Thakur himself, while the locales are performing the cremation of his son who died on the same night. A poor family man, he never took any financial help from anybody to improve his living conditions and his firmness of character was all he needed to clear all the odds that he was up against. His principles and philosophies inspired many youths during his lifetime, one being zamindar Darponaryan Chowdhury who parted with his life of pleasure to become a patriot in the service of the country. Chobi Biswas' fascinating portrayal of the character was not only superb but the various facets of the great man's life was precisely depicted. The other characters played by Tarun Kumar, Chaya Devi, Sulata Chowdhury and Biswajit deserves special mention. I think this treasure of Bengali film and society should be viewed at least once by every Bengali through the ages.

Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!

A Dibakar Bannerjee directed movie starring Abhay Deol as Lucky, a super thief whose ready wit helps him not only during his burglaries but also in ousmarting his captors while being cornered. Added to this is his flamboyance and carefree attitude that helps him to win people's trust. His original style soon transforms him from a petty thief to a famous one and brings him to the brinks of his dream for a rich lifestyle. But time and again he is faced with betrayals and he has to evade getting captured again and again from the police. Though the story is a nice one but sometimes is too slow and at other times too fast and as a whole seems to lack cohesion. Paresh Rawal is on a triple role but he seems to lose his natural zeal while Archana Puran Singh is good in her opportunist type portrayal of a side character.

Ordeal By Innocence

Another Agatha Christie classic but my enjoyment was marred by knowing the plot in advance, that too from its picturised version viewed quite sometimes back. So I could not enjoy the flavour of the mystery very much though the thrilling ending in the signature Christie style could glue me tightly to the final chapters that once more revealed to me the mastery of Christie's writing! That I knew the criminal didn't matter much in the final chapters but the sheer way of presentation kept me enthralled to the very end. Still I must say that the ending was rather poor compared to other Christie novels that I'd read though I'll recommend this again and again to mystery lovers for its surprising twist.
The storyline is itself a new one where we find a young boy, previously accused of murdering his foster mother, being given a free pardon after two years based on a very late evidence. But it was too late in the sense that the boy had died while in jail. So though the family was in one hand pleased at having the truth unveiled but the cloud of suspicion also engulfed them as it was obvious that the murder was an inside job, given the time and condition of the event. Thus as the case reopened once again, the members of the family starts doubting each other and the pain and anguish become apparent in the conversations that covers the most part of the story. Fresh evidences are sought out and the whole aspect is considered from a different point of view. Some tries to unearth the actual criminal and thus becomes a threat to the murderer. Some tries to keep the past in the dark and thus becomes obstacles in the path of truth. Thus the web is formed and readers will find this complex situation well handled by the author. This is more of a psychological battle between the good and the evil and the phrase 'innocent must not suffer' ultimately prevails. A very complex plot and enjoyable to those who loves psychological plots.

Sadhu Babar Lathi

Based on a novel by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, the movie is the most poorly directed that I ever saw in a Nandan II premiere. Added to this are the unnecessary overacting and the slow pace of the movie. The only thing that deserves mention is the quality of the songs that is not only rich in melody but the lyrics of each one is both simple and appealing.

Sonar Kella

Maybe this book (or maybe Joy Baba Felunath, actually both came in a single gift package from my parents) was my first introduction to Feluda but this time as I read it on the eve of my proposed holiday to Rajasthan, the excitement was of a new type. Not only did I choose this book just to savour the adventure but also to have a glimpse of Rajasthan in Satyajit Ray’s eyes so that I can match it during my travel. Probably Jaisalmer and its Fort were made famous to the average Bengali by Ray only after publishing this book. And also he must be the only person in India to successfully christen an age old Fort to a new name that his imaginative brain provided observing the golden texture of the same. To tell about the story will do injustice to the millions and millions of Feluda fans who surely will never forget this story though it may not be a favourite one for them. One can never forget the adventure following the little Mukul’s tales of his previous life and precious stones. Then there was the failed attempt to kidnap Mukul and thereafter begins the race between Feluda and the miscreants. In this, several suspicious characters are introduced and it is upto Feluda to undo the mask of decency from the face of the villains. This novel is not only famous for its storyline and its later filming but in this story Ray introduced the character of Lalmohan Ganguly aka Jatayu, the thriller novelist and thus was struck a lifelong friendship between Feluda, Topshe and Jatayu. Just one point to further note is that in the sketches of this book Lalmohan is far from chubby and only after the filming of Sonar Kella and Santosh Dutta’s renowned performance as Jatayu in it did Ray modify his sketch to make Lalmohan’s figure more to correspond that of Santosh Dutta. The climax of the story is inside the Fort and while reading this those who have viewed the movie surely could never resist comparing it from the movie version.

C Kkompany

The story of three losers and friends, one a crime reporter Akshay Kumar who is betrothed to the daughter of an underworld Don and dreams of settling in Dubai, second the retired Joshi who is considered to be a burden by his son and his family and third is Lambodar, whose height and self-esteem both seems to be the obstacle to his dream of reaching for the sky. These three hatch upon a plan to extort money from Joshi’s son, Purushottam by way of threatening him on phone in the guise of an emerging underworld gang. To enhance the effect they shoot a video in Akshay’s camcorder where Joshi acts as the hooded hostage whom Lambodar feigns to kill. They names the gang C company. This not only terrorizes Purushottam but the CD is misplaced and is telecasted over the whole country that alarms both the underworld and also the corrupt police forces. Meanwhile these three also starts to intimidate the corrupt officials and promoters by threatening phone calls and thus helps the common man who labels the gang as the Robinhood of underworld. TV shows are organized and the whole country seems divided in their opinion of the operations of this gang. The Don is also excited as one of his pubs is forced to close and so he also sets on the trail to finish off the leaders of C company. Though the climax is not so interesting but the final twist near the end is nice. As to the acting, the best part is done by Rajpal Yadav and Raima Sen is nice in her side role and never crosses her defined boundary to gain attention as the case is for several other actors of recent times. But Mithunda is not so correct in his characterization and at time overacts.

Mumbai Meri Jaan

It portrays the triumph of a city’s spirits in the face of terror. The film picks up representatives of certain classes of people, the principled corporate personnel, the professional journalist, the apparently corrupt policeman, the easy going shopkeeper and the idle supplier whose philosophy of life is challenged following the fateful day when serial bomb blasts ripped through Bombay railways and sent various emotions in the minds of the survivors and the other citizens. The film is truly based on how these five struggles to lead a normal life following the mental trauma and shock following the incident. Though the theme of the movie is based on bomb blast but the film chants the promise of life through mutual belief, courage, repentance and love of the city and the country. The chief characters are played by K.K. Menon, Paresh Rawal, Irfan Khan, Madhavan and Soha Ali Khan and I don’t any other could have done better in portraying the respective roles.

Tarnikhuror Kirtikolap

The content is as

1. Dumnigorer Manushkheko

2. Conway Castler Pretatma

3. Seth Gangaramer Dhandoulat

4. Lucknowr Duel

5. Dhumolgarer Hunting Lodge

6. Kheloar Tarinikhuro

7. Tollywoode Tarinikhuro

8. Tarinikhuro o Betal

To some, Ray’s Feluda belongs to the series of ‘Dada’s to which belongs Premendra Mitra’s Ghonada & Narayan Gangopadhyay’s Tenida, but to me Feluda appears to be Ray’s creation to meet the intellectual need of the Bengali youth. But Tarinikhuro, his other creation, can be more appropriately placed in the ‘addabaaz’ Bengali class and can be looked upon as an older version of Ghonada. Though the later’s exploits takes him around the globe but Tarinikhuro has always kept his adventures within the borders of his country. But that didn’t stop him from coming face-to-face with maneaters, ghosts, noblemen, murderers, actors, artists and men of various other professions as he claims to his audience comprising of the narrator and his four friends, Bhulu, Napla, Chatpati, Sunanda. According to him, much of his life has been spent touring the whole of India in pursuit of adventure for which he had to switch between various professions including that of journalist, model, production manager of a film company, personal assistant, personal secretary, private tutor and several others. And in almost every occasion he became involved in curious situations.

Eight of his exploits are penned by Ray in this book and he, as always had excelled in his storytelling ability and his brilliance in carving extraordinary stories out of an ordinary surrounding that is evident in 3, 4, 6 and 7. The other four are mainly ghost stories but here too the twists near the end will surely fascinate the readers.

Rock On!!

Smartly directed!! Magnificently performed!! Briliantly orchestrated!!

It's the story of four friends, the lead guitarist Joe (Mascarenhas), vocalist Adi (Aditya Shroff), Rob (Nancy) with his keyboards & KD aka Killer Drummer (Kedar Zaveri) whose dream was to launch a music album of their group that they called Magik with the motto 'nobody will takeover'! But alas when opportunity came of releasing their album, first the reality bite from the music company's executives and secondly the growing ego clash between Joe & Adi broke their dream and their group in one crushing blow.

10 years went by and we find the four friends diverted to different careers. Aditya, now a married man and a workaholic, never reveals his past and his true inner self to his wife. Rob now works as a composer in the commercials, KD, the jolliest of the four, assists his father in his jewellery business. The dreamer Joe is running a store for musical instruments and his wife Debbie, is running the family business of fish trading to counter the financial crisis of the family.

But a curious turn of fate brought the four frendz face to face and it was up to them to decide whether or not Magik can be rekindled. For this Rob has to fight against his cancerous tumour, Joe & Adi must wipe out their differences, Joe must choose between Magik & his family and KD must keep the spirits high for the group.

Arjun Rampal as Joe is superb and though he has very limited dialogues but his expressions were perfect to convey the emotions of the true dreamer, I think I've never seen him acting with so much passion before. Shahana Goswami, portraying Debbie, also shows a marvelous performace and I can say for sure that we have another of the like of Konkona Sensharma coming up in her. Next to mention is Farhan Akhtar, debutant in acting, though a seasoned director and also a fine singer. His characterization of Adi was just perfect for the role. Luke Kenny (Rob) and Purab Kohli (KD) are also outstanding in their performances, the former depicting what true love to music means and the latter breathing relief to the movie. Last but not the least mention must be made of the performer in the background, the genius of Shankar Ehsan Loy whose 'Magik'al touch is the best gift of this production.

The story is simple and will touch all the deep chords in ur heart and if u've ever lost a dear frend in ur life......................hope he is also watching this movie so that one day when opportunity arrives u can use all the lessons composed by Rock On to repair the broken wires and tune up once again to the music that is being played in ur heart!

Saradindu Omnibus Vol I

It was with a thrill that I took up this volume as I was trying to find some stimulant to freshen up my damped mood. It was neary a decade that I re-read the stories but as usual it was a pleasant experience.

The content, as all the fans of Byomkesh and the author know by heart, runs as
1. Satyanwesi
2. Pather Kanta
3. Seemanta Heera
4. Makorshar Rash
5. Arthamanartham
6. Chorabali
7. Mrityuban
8. Upasanhar
9. Raktamukhi Neela
10. Byomkesh O Barda
11. Chitrachor
12. Durgarahasya
13. Chiriakhana

The super-sleuth (as Shri Sukumar Sen has aptly termed him in the introduction) of Bengali crime-fiction saw its culmination in Byomkesh Bakshi, the best detective ever created by a Bengali author, in my opinion. The thirteen cases penned by his companion Ajit Bandyopadhyay takes us through some exciting puzzles and murder mysteries that required the super brain of Byomkesh to solve. The author Saradindu Bandyopadhyay has never tried to portray his most famous creation as a superman but Byomkesh has been projected much like an ordinary Bengali guy but with a keen intellect that distinguished him from the others. The Byomkesh stories were woven on the fabric of the Bengali social structure and so never had it lost the realistic touch. Also the author has never compromised to use his literary talents to enrich the text but never for once had he been carried away and left the reader miles from the actual plot. The simpleness of the story telling and the distinctive features of the crimes have made these jewels of both crime fiction and Bengali literature as a whole.

Hari Koreche Pratigya

A drama by Sandipan directed by Kajal Chakraborty who also plays the part of the chief protagonist of the narrative.

The story is about Hari, who under the guise of domestic servants is always on the lookout to steal his master's jewelleries for his sweetheart Kusum so as to win him over from his rival Jata, another wooer of Kusum. But Kusum's craving for jewellery is neverending and so Hari is found to switch his job and his name to meet Kusum's needs. But Hari's inner self begins to protest and finally we find him at the crossroads where he gets confused to choose between the life of a common thief and the ascetic.

The chief part of the drama is humorous but the problem is that the entire presentation is marred with a very feeble direction, and loosely woven sequences. Added to this is the inadequate use of background score and stage lighting. The entire performance can only be labelled as average though the individual acting of Mr. Chakraborty as well as the persons playing the role of Janardan and Panu (& the eununch) are excellent.

Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam

A situational comedy starred by a fascinating cast of Paresh Rawal, Kay Kay Menon, Rahul Bose, Mallika Sherawat, Zakeer Hussain, Tanaz Currim and Pawan Malhotra about how a drama company going by the name of Kalakar Natak Company saves a city from bomb blasts under the supervision of a RAW Agent, Arjun Rastogi.
The story revolves around the central plot of preventing a severe bomb blast masterminded by an underworld Don operating from Dubai. As RAW gets the information they starts immediate action but a blow to them comes when they discover that the agent appointed for the case is actually a double agent and is helping the terrorists. Then it is upto Arjun who uses the members of Kalakar Natak Company to help him protect the city.
Paresh Rawal is fascinating in his role as Udayshankar Mazumdar, the lead actor and a timid person in heart who rises to the occassion to take responsibility at the risk of his life to save his country. Kay Kay Mennos is also wonderful in his role of a gazal singer cum double agent and though his appearance is brief but he too breathes life to the movie. Mention must be made of Tanaz Currim who, with her distinct dialect, adds a special attraction. Pawan Malhotra is also nice, playing the part of a local goon and playing it correctly while Zakeer Hussain also plays his brief part succinctly. Mallika & Rahul, they are good, but it could have been better still!

Hijack

A hollywood style action packed drama reminding of 'Executive Decision' during the early parts and starring Shainey Ahuja and Esha Deol.

The story starts with the news that a terrorist group under the guidance of the mysterious Abdullah is will be trying to recover Rashid, another con man who had been captured by the police earlier. For this the terrorists stage a skyjack and in the process holds several people as hostages and starts killing them one by one as time passes without the Govt. avoiding their demands. Among the hostages was the little Priya, the daughter of Vikram Madan, the ex-pilot, now a demoted chief of maintenance, who had eralier lost his wife in another air-hijacking. Coincidentally the hijacked plane lands in the port where Vikram was currently stationed and thus began Vikram's ploy of rescuing his daughter and ensuring safety of the other passengers. In this, he is assisted by Saira, the air-hostess and together they carry out their plan to save the passengers and Priya.

The movie contains a good twist near its end and the first half is really quite exciting but the end is abrupt and oversimplified during certain sequences. Also it contains certain unnecessary songs that dilutes the main flow of the movie.

Via Darjeeling

A new concept, an unique last scene, 'down-to-the-audience' (coined the phrase to drive the meaning home) acting, these are the phrases I will choose to describe the classic. Added to this are the excellent acting of Vinay Pathak and Kay Kay Mennon! What more can you ask for?
The story starts with a police inspector, Robin, earlier posted at Darjeeling, now at Calcutta narratting one of his very curious experiences in Darjeeling at a gathering of friends. It was about a couple on their honeymoon at Darjeeling where the husband suddenly vanishes from their hotel room hours before he was to board the return train with his wife. The wife, who was at the bathroom, at the time of the dissapearance, consults with the hotel manager and calls the police and it was Robin who was given the charge to find the missing man. But Robin, after interrogations and investigations failed to find any trace of the husband.
The story serves as the prelude to the drama in which each of the friends in the gathering tries to find an answer to the mysterious dissapearance and though some of them go astray in their explanations, others manage some logical conjectures.
There is apparently no real climax in the story but the novel concept will keep the audience glued to the seat and the audience may identify their thoughts with that of the characters.
So I again say that those who like to experiment with their imaginations can enjoy the story as it not only is an excellent watch but also provides food for the brain.

Phoonk

My primary motivation to watch Phoonk came from a leading weekly magazine where the director Ramgopal Verma was quoted as saying he will give Rs. 5lakh to anybody who can watch the movie alone in a cinema hall. If my memory serves me correctly, the same type of award was promised to the lone watcher of the Hollywood horror movie Exorcist during its release. So it was with an exciting frame of mind that I bought the tickets for Phoonk!

Well after the movie the movie ended, I felt that Mr. Verma is going to lose several lakhs if his offer is really true. I was not only dissapointed but I just can't justify the classification of it in the 'horror' category.

Mr. Verma's signature sepia tones and close-up shots, this time could not bring back the suspense that we felt in 'Bhoot'. The story is loosely woven and the entire 2nd half is wasted on how an atheist is gradually converted to a believer in the Almighty and the sueprnaturals.

The story revolves around the little Raksha (Ehsaas Channa), the daughter of Rajiv (Sudeep), a construction engineer and a non-believer in God and religion and various rituals. But his philosophy is tested when Raksha suddenly started showing unnatural behaviours that is interpreted as the effect of Black Magic by Rajiv's aged mother (Jyoti Subhash) and explained as a psychological abnormality by Dr. Seema (Lillete Dubey). But Rajiv's concern grows as Raksha doesn't show any sign of improvement after being subjected to medical attention and gradually he gets converted into a believer. The story then turns to a good vs evil battle in which the followers of God wins over Satanic forces. The story is simple but the plot lacked the suspense that was characteristic of Ramgopal Verma.

Zakeer Hussain, the little Ehsaas Channa and Ganesh Yadav are the ones whose acting may be regarded as the only gifts the movie has produced.

Medical Murders

When the masters of their trade try their hands on heinous crimes the evillness surpass the ordinary sins and we witness horrible misdeeds taking place on helpless victims. Jonathan Goodman has portrayed some such incidences in this book where all the criminals have background of medical education.

The content is as:
1. The Jigsaw Murder Case by Jonathan Goodman
Here we find Dr. Buck Ruxton who killed his wife and her nursemaid (assumed to be the witness to the murder) and cut up both their bodies to pieces and bundled them away from home. It was probably the first time that an anatomist was brought in the murder case whose ingenious method of superimposing the X-ray images of the deadbody parts on a lifelike image of an actual photograph of the supposed victim identified the corpses.
2. The Wives of Dr. Bowers by Edward H. Smith
Dr. J. Milton Bowers poisoned his wives for the sake of money though some curious happenings forced the law to release him after more than three years of legal battle.
3. Poison of One Kind or Another by Harold Eaton
Dr. George Henry Lamson administered aconitine to get rid of his immediate crippled in-law to pave his way to his wife’s fortune but could not escape justice and was dragged to the gallows after being caught.
4. The Murder of Marilyn by Joan Lock
Dr. Sam Sheppard was held responsible for the murder of his wife who was battered to death by thirty-five blows to the head. Though it could not be proved but the various indirect evidences that had been put forward shows his participation in the crime. He got a release after serving ten years and died a natural death. The mystery still remains unsolved as to who was the actual perpetrator of the crime.
5. The Fatal Gambles of William Palmer by The Reverend Evelyn Burnaby
William Palmer was brought to trial for the murder of John Parsons Cook, a racehorse owner. Though the court verdict in his case was murder by administration of strychnine but the murderer, just before his execution, on his reply to the Governor, denied that he used strychnine and never revealed the actual truth. As a background it may be noted that in his early life Palmer had forged his mother’s signature to get hold of her money in the bank.
6. The Smethurst Case by Richard D. Altick
Dr. Thomas Smethurst, a retired medical man and a beneficiar to his late wife’s newly made will, was charged with the willful murder of his wife by poisoning. Though his trial was full of obstacles including the fall from grace of a renowned medical expert, but ultimately he was proven guilty of the grave crime.
7. Dentist in the Chair by Richard Whittington-Egan
The story of a psychopath, Arthur William Waite, a dentist by profession and a charmer by every other inches who poisoned his parents-in-law and cleverly managed to convince his wife of her mother’s apparent last wishes to be cremated instead of being buried. But he was not so successful after he murdered her father and was arrested and was directed to the electric chair at the age of 29.
8. Murder for Lust of Killing by F. Tennyson Jesse
The author here describes a typical class of murderers, those who loves to kill like Neil Cream who chose his victims among prostitutes and was caught due to his clumsy blabbering and his nature of sending letters to people at random accusing them of the murders he committed. In these letters he usually chose some random names and never followed them up. He was found guilty and was executed though he never confessed.
9. Doctor Satan by Rayne Heppenstall
Dr. Marcel Petiot was charged for the murder of 27 persons most of which he concurred by saying that he and his acquaintances, whose name he never mentioned, executed them in the name of the Resistance. He was found guilty and also he never could prove his alleged involvement to the Resistance.
10. The Polite Dr. Pritchard by H.M. Walbrook
Once again the case of poisoning, this time it was Dr. Edward William Pritchard who poisoned his mother-in-law and his wife to get hold of the former’s possessions. But he too was caught and hanged to death in the last public hanging at Glasgow. The author adds that even though Palmer was a murderer but his public image that he showed in court and during his execution was that of a philanthropist.
11. Mr. Jekyll and Dr. Hyde by Thomas M. Mcdade
Dr. Bennet Clark Hyde got the benefit of doubt after series of mistrials following the charge against him of killing two of the family members on his wife’s side and planning to take over three million dollar estate by inoculating the whole family with germs of the typhoid. But he was set free and was stricken with cerebral haemorrhage and died in 1934.
12. Suddenly at a Nursing Home… by Fenton Bresler
Nurse Dorothea Waddingham and her lover Ronald Sullivan killed an aged lady and her spinster daughter who were kept under their care in their apparent ‘nursing home for the aged’ after the victims were manipulated to leave their property to them in their will. Waddingham got the death sentence but Sullivan was acquitted. He shared the property with the victims’ next-of-kin.
13. The Janitor’s Story by Albert Borowitz
Dr. John White Webster was charged with the willful murder of Dr. George Parkman over the issue of a loan that the latter had advanced to the former and was found guilty mainly on the evidences brought to light by the discovery of the body by the college janitor Ephraim Littlefield. Controversies still rage at large of the correctness of the verdict and the janitor's story but now they seem pointless as the convict got a death sentence though he never confessed of the crime.

The Godfather

As I started reading the novel for the 1st time, I just couldn’t help comparing it with the film version that I had already viewed innumerable times. So everytime I came across the characters of Vito Corleone, Michael Corleone, Tom Hagen, etc. I just couldn’t keep my mind searching for the image as portrayed respectively by Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, etc. This continued till I came to Book III of the novel where I could tear myself from the comparison and could really concentrate on Mario Puzo’s creations.
The story revolves around the family of Vito Corleone, an underworld Don of New York who was forced to escape from his hometown at Sicily at a very young age following the murder of his father. In New York he took refuge in a rented home and started a family of his own. But fortune prevented him from a respectable living as he was forced to leave his job by a local underworld lord. Pretty soon he met the daring Peter Clemenza and the shrewd Sal Tessio and they introduced him to the world of smuggling at a very early age. Vito took the job in a fearless heart and very soon felt that the entire operation lacked proper organization. Meanwhile the local don intervened and tried to put a tax on their earnings. This infuriated Vito and very cleverly he staged the don’s murder and earned the respect of the entire area. This proved to be a turning point in his career as once the murder was committed he automatically managed to instill fear on the minds of his acquaintances. Thus began his illustrated career as Don Corleone in the underworld that culminated in his being held as the undisputed Mafia boss of the New York gambling circuit.
But problems arose in the form of mob war that included the infamous Five (Mafia) Families and the Corleones in their dealings with the upcoming illegal trade of narcotics, the future of smuggling. As Don Corleone refused his help in its introduction, attempt was made on his life that sparked the mob war which led to several members of the Corleone Family including Sonnie, the eldest son of Don Corleone getting killed in the way and Michael, the youngest son, being forced to leave New York. Thus Don Corleone was compelled to come to an agreement on giving security to the narcotic trade and made the return of Michael easy enough though a further attempt on his life could not be prevented that cost Michael to lose his first wife and sealed his destiny to become the next Don, inheriting his father's business. With Michael’s return the Corleone family started consolidating on their massacred empire and in the process many new faces like Rocco Lampone, Al Neri were given more responsibilities. Once the groundwork was done the family planned to move to Nevada and thus the strategist Michael planned for a deathly blow to the enemy. Traitors were identified and killed. The structure of the family was given a new shape. The security was strengthened and Michael was directed by the great Don before he himself passed away. Thus the Corleone family was once again on the verge of supreme power and the readers are kept glued to the words till the very climax.
The author has not only excelled in his description of the operation of the underworld but also the few places where he had detailed the gruesome murders, keep the reader horrified at the brutality of the underworld. But amidst the cruelties of the Mafia world, strangely the Sicilian’s love for their family makes a surprising contrast to this gory atmosphere and I nioticed that families have been given the 1st priority in any dealings. This shows the bondage of the members of the Sicilian Mafia families and their aim of a secured and powerful community for their children.At places, the author has introduced sub-plots involving Johny Fontane and Nino Valenti, Lucy Mancini and Jules Segal, Al Neri, who were closely related to the Corleone family, and in some of these the reader may find a bit disracted. Also portions revealing the more personal life of the characters could have been shortened, if not omitted altogether, that wouldn't have caused any harm to the actual theme.

Khela

A Rituparno Ghosh directed film on a fresh and original storyline with a fitting cast of Prasenjit, Raima Sen, Manisha Koirala and the little Akashneel Mukherjee with an appropriate guest appearance by Rupa Gangopadhyay. Though the story is a fresh one but its effects are only volatile and although the audience won’t feel bored during the viewing of the movie but will refrain to bring it as a part of any serious conversational topic.
The main story is about a movie director, Raja Bhowmick, who apparently can go upto any extreme to recruit his ideal cast. This is made evident by the fact that even though the production finalizes on the child actor to play the lead role in his next movie, Raja carries on his search for a better and a more ideal person. Thus he meets Abhiroop, a primary school-goer whom he feels can play the character correctly but is met with the obstacles while convincing the parents. But fortune favours him as Abhiroop, obviously thrilled by the idea of casting in a movie, hatches a plan of his own kidnapping and requests Raja to take him away fro the six-week long shooting. Raja is at first not so convinced but his perfectionist mind get the better of him and he carries Abhiroop from the his school to the movie site though assuring the child leave a note to his parents about his plans.
A sub-plot also evolves where we find Raja leaving his wife, Sheela, at his sister’s house for the sake of the movie. Here the selfishness of Raja is felt clearly as we find that though Sheela craves for a proper family life with children but Raja always shies away by the mere thought of it.
Thus begins the sequences of film shooting interspersed with a series of flashbacks featuring Raja and Sheela’s married life. These episodes end with the boy running a high fever towards the end of the shooting schedule and the simultaneous arrival of Sheela’s draft for the divorce suite with Raja. Thus as the shooting crew leaves for home, Raja is left alone with the bed-ridden Abhiroop and the decision for his future conjugal status. Though the film ends in a happy note but certain small details remain unexplored.The little Akashneel plays a very jolly role and deserves special mention as also Manisha Koirala in her touching characterization of Sheela Bhowmick. Raima Sen also plays her part nicely though the requirement of her role remains a mystery to me. The best point to note is that Prasenjit, if can be handled by a good director, can portray a very realistic image of the character he plays.

Apsara Theatrer Mamla

A not so very well known but quite intriguing Satyajit Ray’s Feluda story based on mysterious disappearances and murders of stage actors tuned to the rhyme of today’s scenario by Charbak and directed by none other than Sabyasachi Chakrabarty who plays the lead character of Feluda. The play may be thought of as a tribute to the golden days of the Bengali theatre projecting the devotion of the artists as a part of its theme. Though the essential facts remained the same as the original story but sub-plots relating the producer’s desire of selling up the Apsara Theatre to an estate promoter much against the determined wishes of the performers and the director has been added, as has been the inclusion of female characters in important roles, a rarity in Feluda stories.
The main theme is a sudden disappearance of the lead actor of the Apsara Theatre followed by a murder of the replacement after three months thus considerably jeopardizing the proposed show schedule. Several motives evolve and Feluda is held in confusion to the real identity of the criminal. I won’t give away the story but will surely point out that two equally significant motives have been introduced that was not in the original story. The play is not only an entertaining watch for the Feluda lovers but also serious critics may find in equally enjoyable. Special mention must be made of Kheyali Dastidar, who not only plays a character that was not in the original story, but plays it better than all the others. Sujit Ghosh, playing the character of the greedy producer, is also a new addition to the plot but he also is superb in his role. The third best performance, according to me, is by Subir Roychoudhuri as Jatayu who excels in his role and I think Sandip Ray can now think seriously of casting him as Lalmohan for any upcoming Feluda movie. The stage and the scene plans are also superb that is best noticed in the scene where the murder takes place in a dark lane in front of a taxi. Light has been expertly used to project the various moods of the story as it progresses. On the whole, a pleasant watch and a nice tribute to the golden past of the Bengali theatres.

Mere Baap Pehle Aap

Normally a Priyadarshan movie with Paresh Rawal can at once set the audience looking forward to at least two-and-a-half hour of constant laughter. But quite surprisingly fun is not the main theme this time. Priyadarshan’s composition must be given credit as he brings forward a very serious social problem, that of remarriage, and presents it to the audience wrapped up in a package of merriment. Though at places the movie is quite side tracked and main theme unfolds only after an hour but the presentation is nevertheless quite nice. Curiously I can’t say that any of the principle actors have acted wonderfully but the entire presentation is quite good. But even then mention must be made of Nasiruddin Shah who, though makes a guest appearance, but adds to the gravity of the story considerably. Also Archana Puran Singh, playing the part of the lady police officer excels in her role.

Three Men In A Boat

A hilarious novel by Jerome K. Jerome, aptly described by Anthony Armstrong as a comedy full of ‘calculated exaggerations’ in the introduction. This is possibly the most notable contribution of Jerome K. Jerome to English comedy. Actually intended to be a tourist’s guide of the Thames, the humour of the narrative got the best of it and what we received was a priceless piece of literature. It was quite a long time that I re-read the book but the fun seemed more and more fresh as the chapters commenced one by one.
Basically the story centers three friends, George, Harris and the author himself who, bored with their monotonous lifestyle, plans for a fortnight’s boating holiday on the Thames. What follows is a hilarious epic of fun, laughter and mirth that not only freshens the reader’s mind but brings to light the comical side of everyday happenings that remains hidden in the shadow of our apparently serious attitude to life. The beauty of this classical piece is that though set in the background of England, but the theme of the story has surpassed the boundaries of regions and has never gone beyond happenings that are actually quite ordinary and commonplace.The piece is blended with notes of some historical sites along the Thames and vivid description of nature at places adds to the richness of the text.

Jane Bhi Do Yaaro

An enlightening 1983 comedy directed by Kundan Shah featuring Nasiruddin Shah and Ravi Bajwani as two professional photographers, Vinod and Sudhir respectively, trying to set up business in the city of Bombay. But their plan of a successful inauguration of their studio is met with no response from the prospective customers. Thus began their ill lucks in the business till they met Shobha Sen, the editor of a daily 'Khabardar' that is popular in exposing corruptions.
Shobha, played by Bhakti Bharve, appoints them in a covert operation to extract information on the secret dealings between a dishonest builder, Tarneja and the municipal commissioner D'Mello. Also they are asked to keep a lookout for Ahuja, another corrupt builder who is supposed to be a rival of Tarneja. While gathering informations, the photographer duo stumbles upon some snapshots that shows Tarneja killing D'Mello. The duo then launches an investigation on their own but they couldn't locate the corpse.
Meanwhile in a humorous situation we find the coffin containing the corpse is being taken home by the drunk Ahuja while remaining unaware of its actual content. In the meantime Vinod and Sudhir realizes that Shobha is playing for money and so they tries to search for the corpse on their own. But the information of the whearabouts of the corpse reaches all the persons at the same time and it becames the centre of a race where Vinod, Sudhir, Tarneja, Ahuja, Shobha all takes part. The photographers ultimately recovers the body with the others in close pursuit and in order to dodge them, Vinod and Sudhir enters a theatre hall. Situations forces them as well as the others to take part in various scenes of the ongoing drama of Mahabharatha and from thereafter it follows a hilarious episode with the tale of Mahabharatha geting twisted to the great enjoyment of the crowd and at a later stage a part of Salim-Anarkali act being acted in the middle of Mahabharatha.
As police arrives on the scene the photographers explain them about the murder but the end of the movie is a surprise to everybody and it proves to be a classic in the hindi movie world.
At times the humour of the movie seems to be a bit stretched and forced but the clever acting of Nasiruddin Shah and the ever vibrant Satish Shah blended with the natural acting of Om Puri and the finer touches of Pankaj Kapoor, it never is boring and the story & screenplay writers, Sudhir Mishra and Kundan Shah must be praised for the wonderful storyline. This yester year movie is really a cellector's item.

Adventure Kaare Koe

A nice play by Aneek which can keep you seated smiling but not laughing for two hours. Though meant for comedy but certain comments and remarks send some valuable messages to the audience. The distinguishing feature of the play is the clever use of stage light to emphasize the effects of the various dialogues.
The story centres Bipradasbabu, a wealthy but miserly person who is planning to get remarried and so plans to meet his fiance at Calcutta. But problem arises when he finds that his niece is in love with a young man whom he strongly dislikes. So he plans to shift his niece for the time being to his sister's residence at Calcutta and instructs their family friend, Supriya Devi likewise. But the smart Supriya Devi, a psychoanalyst, being quite against Bipradas' wishes, has other plans up her sleeves. So as Bipradas leaves for Calcutta, Supriya Devi arranges a rendezvous for the young hearts at a Calcutta restaurant by the name of Hormone Garden. Meanwhile two of Bipradas' frustrated staffs takes this opportunity to enjoy a holiday in the absence of their master and they too leaves for Calcutta. After partying at various places in the city these two makes their way to the boutique shop run by Bipradas' fiance. Here the story takes some unexpected but humorous turns and we find the whole lot assembling at the Hormone Garden for dinner with several of them being unaware of the others' presence.
The humour continues and the climax is at Bipradas' sister's house where several misunderstandings cumulate to a happy finish. The drama is quite good and is an enjoyable watch.

Gangtoke Gandogol

This time Feluda is involved in an intriguing case at Gangtok. At the plane to Bagdogra on a possible holiday trip, Topshe & Feluda meets Sashadharbabu, a joint partner of a perfume company, who is on his way to meet the other partner Mr. Selvanker. But once on the plains, they get the news of the tragic death of Mr. Selvanker. On further enquiry, it was learned that on his way across the moutaneous terrain, Selvanker's was killed by a rolling boulder from high up the cliff that drove his taxi over the edges of the precipice.
As Sasadharbabu prepares for an immediate departure, Feluda gets acquinted to another tourist, Nishikantababu who informs that Selvanker, an antique collector, had bought a miniature statute of a deity bearing valuable stones from him. Curious at this piece of information, Feluda makes an enquiry only to learn that the statue was never seen after Selvanker's death. Sensing foul play, Feluda launches an investigation on his own and soon encounters two more mysterious characters. The 1st is the German photographer Helmut Unger who had shared the same lodging with Selvanker prior to the later's death and whose real motive on gangtok visit seems something else than photography only. Helmut informs Feluda of the 2nd mysterious character Dr. Vaidya, a soothsayer, who had earlier hinted a possible misfortune awating Selvanker. The case gets intense from this point as Feluda and the apparently innocent Nishikanta both receives threatening messages and Feluda recovers a puzzling telegram addressed to Selvanker before his death. Dr. Vaidya also comes to the picture and arranges a seance with himself becoming the medium. On the seance, Dr. Vaidya reveals, through his clairvoyance, that Selvanker was killed by his long lost child Virendra. But a dissatisfied Feluda carries on the investigations further and the readers are put in wait for an unexpected climax.
The book once again portrays the brilliance of Feluda's analytical power but additionally Ray excels in his narration of the picteresque Sikkim that can easily be envy to any travel guide. I don't know whether it was meant for any particular age, but whenever I had gone through this story starting from my school days till now, but I had enjoyed savouring it in the same way again and again.

Chalo Let's Go

This is a story of 4 friends

Asim – A medical graduate who decides not to pursue medicine, a confident and practical lad who will pursue anything that seems best and a born leader. He starts a tourism business with his three friends but ends up as an English teacher in a North Bengal orphanage.

Hari – A sensitive soul, singer, weak towards ladies but his chief problem behind his earlier break ups with five different girls seems to stem from his innocence and his difficulty in English speaking. He, after his venture with his friends in the tourism business, finds his soulmate and leads an unblemished commonplace life thereafter.

Sekhar – A hot headed youth who is not on good terms with his father but a good friend. He ends up as a celebrity ‘Jeebon Mukhi’ singer.

Sanjay – The intellectual and a good friend but when there is a girl involved, somewhat selfish. He is the narrator to this story and his future promises of a budding scriptwriter.

These four starts a band but fails miserably on their 1^st show. Then Asim decides to start a tourism business and convinces his friends on the project under the name ‘Gharoa’ (Homely). He raises the fund, and manages some clients for touring North Bengal.

Right from the beginning everything goes wrong. It starts with some of the tourists getting fussy when they don’t get the chosen window seats as was promised to them. Hari was given the responsibility to book the hotels in advance, but he had mistakes in all of the bookings and most of the clients get furious when they find they have to share rooms with others. To top it off, Hari meets a girl in distress and presses his friends to accommodate her in the party that puts added pressure to the finances. Unfortunately, news arrives of Shekhar’s dad’s death and he leaves making the team a bit crippled. But this news also brings the surprise turn when realizing their mental conditions on their friend’s father's death, the tourists now becomes softer and offer helps and advices to them. Thus a family type atmosphere prevails and now everybody interacts and in the process the audience enjoys the get-to-gether.

Speaking of the tourists we have Rudrababu, a terribly fussy as well as a responsible young man who fills the gap of Shekhar and helps Asim in the management. In the end we find Rudra joining ‘Gharoa’ as the most responsible member.

Next is Professor Dhurjati with a chemistry background who is not satisfied in any situation. All through the journey, we find him engrossed in a book with a cover that he claims to be a mystery story, but its actual contents reveals his distorted mental condition.

Again we have the Bengali Doctor from London, who is critical about Bengali’s poor organizational skills, their pitiable marketing abilities, but never offers his help to a dying local at the dark hours of the night.

His wife Tulu is also an important character who is apparently psychic but in her heart craves for a better partner.

Next is a Bengali couple consisting of a hen pecked husband and a devoted wife whose love for each other is eclipsed by the stressed family life.

There is also the lady mystery writer, who due to her attitude, is nicknamed Ms. Gambhir (Ms. Serious), but is an acute observer of human nature.

There is also the confirmed womanizer who describes his work as ‘Madam Crackerology’ and whose current companion is a girl of half of his age.

The last is the distressed Riya, who is ditched by her boyfriend and tries to find solace in the company of Hari.

Thus the story is about all the strata that comprises part of the middle class Bengalees. It portrays both sides of the coin nicely. Thus the story depicts how mutual respects are established and how it is destroyed. It speaks about growing trust between complete strangers and parallely describes mounting distrust among persons. The story is also about building relations and breaking them. But never for once the audience will feel any malice and the director has left it to the spectators to decide between the sin and the clean.

The story is studded with funny sequences blended with some scenes with a serious note and when considered to be a movie viewed within hours of watching ‘Sarkar Raj’, it is really a great relief from the modern day’s serious and complicated lifestyle.

Anjan Dutta once again chants the optimistic Bengali attitude and this is a nice and important contribution to the current Bengali movies. Saswata and Rudraneel deserves special mention as their acting, mainly the later’s are impeccable.

Sarkar Raj

Sarkar Raj is the sequel to Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar. Though the earlier film was chiefly an adaptation of “The Godfather” but influences of the later is lesser in the current movie.
Here the theme starts with one Anita Raj, a businesswoman from London, on her father’s advice, makes a project plan of setting up a power plant at Thakarwadi, Maharashtra. But she is informed by the sleezy Hasan Kazi that for this they have to acquire permission of Sarkar, Subhash Nagre. Agreeing to that, Anita asks Kazi to arrange a meeting with Sarkar. The meeting is also attended by the CM and Shankar Nagare. On hearing that the project will require evacuation of the 40000 residents of the nearby villagers, Sarkar is enraged and opposes the plan. But Shankar, who now handles much of Sarkar's works, understands the implications of the project and convinces Sarkar of how it will help in the development of Maharashtra. Believing in his son, Sarkar asks permission of Rao Sahab, the lord of Thakawadi. Once Rao Sahab gives his consent, Shankar launches a campaign through the villages informing the actual implications of the project. He quickly gathers huge support but problem arises in the form of Somji, the grandson of Rao Sahab and a very popular figure in local politics, who stirs up protest campaigns against the project. Meanwhile, on Shankar’s hint and sensing foul play in the project finances, Anita kicks out Kazi from the project. Now Kazi teams up with Kangra, a corrupt politician and plots revenge on Shankar. Shankar asks Chander, the right hand of Sarkar to arrange for a meeting with Somji but while on a phone call with the later, Shankar withnesses his pregnant wife getting killed by a bomb planted in their car and was supposed to carry both of them at that time. The Nagre family goes to mourning while Shankar removes Chander from his post as the head of security and places his man, Billu as his replacement. Chander gets enraged by this. At the same time Somdhi gets kidnapped. The media tries to use this as a possible break up between the Sarkar and Rao Sahab but both maintains harmony in front of the public. Meanwhile Chander locates the wherabout of Somji and he along with Shankar and Billu recovers him. In the process Shanker kills Kazi, the actual kidnapper. Understanding Shankar’s good intensions, Somdhi promises to co-operate Shankar on the project, in front of the press. But another problem crops up in the form of Wora, a minister of Gujarat, who makes a pact with Anita’s father and tries to shift the project from Maharashtra to his place. Undeterred, Shankar feels he can manage the situation when there is again a blow to the project as Shankar is assassinated by a contract killer. Then we find an enraged but composed Sarkar set to unearth the real plot and the masterminds behind the conspiracy. A horrifying pack of surprises awaits the audience as the evil minds are unmasked one after the other.
As a whole the storyline is more original than Sarkar but I felt that it lacked the compactness of the earlier film. Amitabh outshines the others in the last twenty minutes and Aishwariya Rai is brilliant in conveying feelings through expressions only. Supriya Pathak is a silent but important character who plays her part exquisitely. Others, including Abhishek, seemed ordinary in that respect.
At times the story touches on ‘The Godfather’, the important ones being:

1. The sequence involving the car bomb blast which reminds us of the same type of fate that awaited the unfortunate Apollonia Vitelli, the 1^st wife to Michael Corleone.
2. An important character, who could not stand Shankar in Sarkar’s position, though remotely resembles Fredo Corleone in action, shares the same fate as the later. In ‘The Godfather Part II’, Fredo had the same type of hatred towards Michael.
3. There is also another character who remotely resembles Hymann Roth of ‘The Godfather Part II’.
4. Near the end we find the Sarkar lamenting of Shankar’s death, the same feeling had been conveyed by Michael Corleone following her daughter’s death as depited in ‘The Godfather Part III’.

Parts of the scenes, where the detailing and directing seemed amiss include:

1. Shankar’s table where he meets his clients doesn’t appear to be a working table at all.
2. Why the camera was required to be projected towards the light during several shots of the interiors, specially those involving Shankar’s office, defies my imagination. Infact, the alternation of light seemed irritating to my eyes.
3. When the 1^st shot is fired at Shankar, normally a cool headed person, he never takes ground but remains upright. I don’t think he wanted the shooter to have a better aim!
4. The actual motive behind the setting up of the power plant seemed too much far fetched and not at all realistic.
5. Sarkar has been portrayed as someone whom the CM visits for seeking permission of setting up the power plant. This implies that the power of Sarkar surpasses the CM as well, I don't know how anybody can justify that!
6. Why don’t Chander ever change his clothes? From the previous movie, he seemed to be wearing the same set.
7. Till the day that I watched the movie I understood that it was only electricity that travelled through bare conductors. But the film shows that fire too uses the same property when in Kazi's hideout when one of the electrical poles caught fire it transmitted via the conductors!!

Barring these the movie is quite good and should be watched by those who want to follow the Sarkar chapters.

To add a very personal conjecture to the summary I want to make an observation. The title of the film contains the word Raj. This is the same as the surname of Anita who is shown to be handling the project while residing in Sarkar's villa as the movie finishes. Maybe this is purely a false assumption but it may so happen that the next episode features Sarkar & Raj teeming up in their operations for the welfare of Maharashtra.

Badshahi Angti

My favoutire Feluda novel with the perfect theft blended with surprises and just the right amount of action and mystery.

The place is Lucknow where Feluda and Topshe is holidaying with Topshe’s father. There, they are guest to Dhirubabu, friend to Topshe’s father and plans their tour from there. But soon after their arrival, they meet Dr. Srivastav who shows them a ring, which is believed to be a part of Aurangzeb’s personal ornaments. Dr. Srivastav received it as a gift from one of his orthopaedic patients, Piyarilal when the doctor cured the later’s only living son, Mahabir. But Dr. Srivastav is apprehensive as he recounts that on the previous night there had been an attempted robbery in his house. He felt that the thief is after the ring. Dhirubabu understands his anxiety and offers to keep the ring is his disposal. But on the next day the ring is found stolen. The other characters are also introduced in this juncture, the chief being Banbiharibabu whose business was to supply wild animals to different firms and who now leads a retired life enjoying his personal zoo consisting of ferocious and poisonous creatures like wild cat, corocodile, rattle snake, hyena, etc. The other important character is Mahabir, now a film actor, who is on a visit to his birthplace.

These characters also get involved as Feluda tries to investigate the theft while continuously receiving threats. Suspects accumulate in the form of Mahabir, who is thought to have an interest to the ring from the financial standpoint, Banbiharibabu, who is found to be an antique collector, though he never shows interest to it in front of others. Dr. Srivastav is also suspected on the ground that to baffle the thief, the doctor might have staged a theft so as to prevent a further attempt in his house. Also there is the mysterious saint whose movements arouse suspicion and the person(s)(?) who delivers(s) the threatening letters to Feluda. We also find one Bilasbabu near the end of the story who also plays a somewhat major role.

The riddle continues and the culmination is at Lachmanzula where the actual villain is caught amidst a tension filled atmosphere.

The storytelling is outstanding and the novel, I feel, is a treasure to readers of all age.