BoX#1313

http://calcuttatube.com/box-no-1313-2009-bengali-film/

Hansraj

This is the tale of a young Baul boy, Hansraj, representative of one of the innumerable dormant talents in the rural Bengal and his dream of singing in the radio, a hope that could never have been realized but for the determined effort of the teenage Basanta and his friend Shamu. The village, where Hansraj lived with his widowed mother, uncle and aunt, was situated not too far from Calcutta and was a regular picnic spot for the school goers. In one such picnic party, he had a chance meeting with Basanta, Shamu, the flamboyant Tony and several others from the city school. There, hearing the excellent voice of Hansraj and his knack of quickly creating compositions, Tony falsely promised to introduce him to the big bosses of radio industry if Hansraj could manage to come to the city. Thus encouraged, the innocent Hansraj left his home and travelled to Calcutta with Tia, his fiancée, promising to look after his family. He eventually spotted the school where Tony and his friends studied and there Tony, under pressure from his friends, took him to his home where his sophisticated mother, on the first glance ordered Tony to get rid of him. Thus Hansraj soon learnt the ways of the city dwellers when Tony, trying to save his face, accused him of theft and threw him out of the house. But thanks to Providence, he was saved by Basanta and Shamu, the later giving him shelter in his house. Then it was upto Basanta’s tenacity and Shamu’s support to counter all the obstacles that the rich Tony created to prevent Hansraj to make it to the radio station.
This delightful story is ably directed by Ajit Ganguli studding the entire narrative with a number of songs, mostly in the voice of Arati Mukhopadhyay and Sandhya Mukherjee with the wise choice of fascinating lyrics by Pulak Bandyopadhyay. As to the casting Arindam was just appropriate in his role while the others also produce a balanced performance.

Jhinder Bandi

Based on the novel of Saradindu, which is again based on Anthony Hope's "Prisoner of Zenda", Tapan Sinha directed this gripping drama of love, betrayal, lust and glory featuring Uttam Kumar, Tarun Kumar, Radhamohan Bhattacharjee, Dilip Roy, Arundhati Mukherjee, Sandhya Roy and surprising everybody with Soumitra Chatterjee cast as a villain for the 1st time. I'd bought the CD just last week and watched it just on the day following the one that saw the end of an era of classical music by the Sarod Maestro, Ali Akbar Khan who was coincidentally the music director of the film.

The story is peculiar yet the concept is remarkable. Sankar Singh, the would be king of Jhind (in Madhya Pradesh) was abducted before his coronation ceremony by his brother Udit and his ally the crooked Mayur Bahan. To prevent the cruel Udit to occupy the throne, the news is kept a secret and a trusted few are send throghout the country in search of Sankar Singh, who being a connoisseur of wine and women was a person to be easily lured to remotest of places. During this search one of the Royal guards spotted a Gauri Sankar Roy, a young man from Calcutta, who had remarkable similarity with Sankar Singh. Hearing about the complications that clouds Jhind, the adventurousGauri Sankar accompanies the Sardar to Jhind and there he was crowned the king much to the chagrin of the villains. The baffled Udit and Mayur Bahan devises several counter attacks to destroy Gauri Sankar. But thanks to his courage, Gauri Sankar manages to evade the dangers with the help of the diplomatic Sardar and Dewan and the brave Rudrarup. But problem of a different kind arises in the form of the queen Kasturibai of the neighouring kingdom Jharoa who is betrothed to Sankar. Gauri Sankar was here too forced to pass himself as Sankar during the engagement ceremony with Kasturibai and the dazzling personality of Gauri Sankar easily wins Kasturi's heart, who was more prepared to behold the disreputed Sankar Singh. But Gauri too finds himself leaning towards Kasturi and thus feels guilty of his weakness. Meanwhile the search of Sankar Singh continues and news of his wherabouts reach Gauri, Sardar and the rest. But this was the time Sardar reveals to Gauri a curious story that links his lineage to the Royal blood which proves him to be a deserving candidate for the throne. Thus it is left to be seen who actually gets to the throne and how the evil plans of Mayur Bahan is countered by Gauri.
The movie is fascinating watch and Soumitra as Mayur Bahan surpasses all the others in acting.

Ch(n)ader Pahaar

It was after several long years that I set my eyes again on the book, excerpts from which had been a part of my primary school syllabus. From the very day the pages of this riveting adventure story unfolded itself in front of me, it had been etched deep into the memory. So though the age has advanced, the thrill of Sankar's adventure had remained as exciting as ever. Bibhutibhushan's masterpiece indeed had become a classic for all times.
Sankar, the son of an ordinary jute mill worker in a village of Bengal. A keen student of geography & astronomy, had always aspired for an adventurous life. Thus when he came to know of a job in the Mombasa railway construction site in Africa, he didn't waste any time and travelled across the continent to join there. There he received his first taste of danger at the labour camp where suddenly a man-eating lion appeared and kept terrorizing the labourers for days. Infact, Sankar himself had a close shave with the lion once which far from deterring his spirits made him even more emboldened. As the lion stalled the construction work, Sankar took up a stationmaster’s job near Kisumu. But here too he faced the wrath of the jungle as a lion became an infrequent visitor of his quarter and he himself had a narrow escape from a venomous Black Mamba. But here came the turning point in his life when he met the near dying Diego Alvarej, an explorer of the jungles of Africa who told him of his curious adventure in the slopes of the Richterseveldt mountain range that led to the disconvery of a diamond mine jointly with his friend and fellow explorer, the late Jim Carter. Fate had dealt a rough hand with them as they not only lost the way guiding the path to the mine but also had a tragic encounter with a three-toed savage ape that cost Carter's life. Alvarej himself had struggled to come down and he told all this as he recovered from his wounds nursed by the ever sincere Sankar. The stories invoked the adventurer in Sankar and he requested Alvarej to allow him to be part of his next mission: to find the route to the diamond mine.
Thus began the dangerous and perilous adventure of Sankar in the trecharous terrain of the Richtardsveldt studded with venomous insects, toxic herbs, savage beasts and a dormant volcano. The able penmanship of Bibhutibhushan has brought to fore all these in a brilliant style and nobody wil believe that the writer had never set a foot in the continent that he so masterfully described. Added to this is the bonus cover design by Satyajit Ray and the other equally brilliant sketches in the book makes this all the more appealing.

Saat Paake Bandha

http://calcuttatube.com/saat-paake-bandha-2009/

Madly Bangalee

http://calcuttatube.com/madly-bangalee-2009-bengali-film-review/