Chatushkone

Overall Chatushkone ( চতুষ্কোণ ) has shaped up to a very good movie . Highly watchable , entertaining , cinematically and visually appealing. Srijit Mukherjee has scored again with his structured commercially viable but not the run of the mill movie with 'hatke' subjects.

The core of the movie is based on a love triangle and how; whst we think as liberty to live own personal lives of people can affect the personal lives of others as unintended consequences. It also explores relations both in their deep and superficial layers. The story is told in a very impressive format where past , present and the imagination all merge into a very effective story with the suspense quotient maintained till the end.

In the recent times Kahaani (I am a big fan) Barfi and Jatishwar were three movies which I enjoyed thoroughly . I have no hesitation in adding Chatushkone to it. Coming to the movie , the casting of the main characters itself guaranteed a high level of acting but its the casting of smaller characters that adds so much value to the film. Tried and tested actors have made Srijit's job easier and the use of lesser characters in telling the story is remarkably done by a wonderfully written script. But one has to note that Chiranjeet is a revelation and steals the show in the face of such good competition from actors like Aparna Sen,Parambrata and Goutam Ghosh. He looks much better in his older avatar , leaner and mature. And the grey stubble and sunglass hooded eyes give him a very attractive personality matching the requirements of his charater fully . About Aparna Sen ,what more can one say. She has shown that age is just a number. Her acting remains still of the highest order and make us forget about her age. But let me also add that her age shows up at two scenes a bit unflatteringly. I had a slight idea that perhaps Roopa Ganguly ( and no one else ) could have fitted.the role better. But that's it.

The script , story idea , cast and acting takes the movie to newer heights. This movie does not have too many songs which is a very strong point of Srijit. only two tracks are there and both are well picturised including the excellent one by the perennial favourite , Anupam Roy. So actually he deserves more credit for making the audience attracted to the visuals through dialogues and photography. Like his other movies he has experimented with camera and lighting and resorted to sepia , filters and out of focus frames to tell his story either in the flashback or imagination. Editing has been efficient as far as changing the scenes are concerned but the film could have been shorter. I will request Srijit to stop having the epilogues in his movies and not try to explain too much. Heis now a leading director not only of Bengali films but in the country and people are knowing him .by his films. I t was a pleasant surprise to see the packed hall in Navi Mumbai. I wish him many more successes and hope he will keep on making good movies.

While watching the movie ,I could not help being reminded about Happy New Year. There also references to movies past and witty one liners with filmy connections were made . How jejune and forced it seemed in HNY but how nicely Srijit had used them. That's the real pity. With a budget and scale of HNY this guy could beat Hollywood. But he will not get that luxury now when he is at his creative best.