Mishawr Rawhoshyo (2013)

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The acting in this movie is really good.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It took off the blocks pretty well with the chase and fight scenes being top draw and new to Tollywood, the scene involving ageing Mufti Muhammad (Barun Chanda) deepening the mystery, but from then on it went downhill. I don't understand these unnecessary attempts to force in some "Bangaliana" into such sleuth movies to make it more viewer friendly, which to my mind mars the mood. Absolute unnecessary teen romance and typical Bangla comedy have no place in these. Indraneil, though praised by some, too has been a thumbs down to me in such an important role, have never been a fan of his acting, and an Egyptian rebel talking unaccented fluent Bengali and reciting Tagore in the desert is too much to digest, Dev's pronounciation is less tough to handle I guess. The outside pyramid scene where Indraneil was in disguise made me remember the Hrithik scene in Dhoom 2 museum. Stunning job by makeup artist there. Overall, I rate this as 6/10 and expect much more fine tuning and corrections from Srijit when he next takes up Kaka Babu.

Srijit Mukherjee's 5th directorial venture fails to meet the expectation. Only positive side of the movie is performance by Prosenjeet. Indraneel Sengupta does well as Hani Alkadi. The movie fails to create the suspense and thrill expected from a Kakababu story. The director fails to understand that too much melodrama and intellectual gibberish in a thriller doesn't work always. It was unnecessarily stretched by at least 30 min. The characters of Neel , Swastika and Riddhi as Santu's love interest were complete misfit. Was JNU campus tour necessary ? Rajesh Sharma does a decent job. Too much editing of the original story takes away a lot of fun. Hope the directors will keep these in mind. The screenplay and locations are well done. Watch Kahani - how to show a thriller in a simple way without being preachy.

'Mishawr Rawhashyo' lacks the proper use of camera. The basics of camera movement have been violated here and there which can be easily pointed out by anyone from the field of film studies. The choice of cast is a mess, some being excellent, some being a total disaster. Story lacks the compactness. And music is incredibly brilliant, might be one of the all time bests in a Bengali movie. Prosenjit Chatterjee is at his best. The political touch to the plot was completely unnecessary. At times the movie goes past high above the boundaries of excellence while at times it goes well below mediocrity. With a mixture of good and bad, it can be declared to be an average movie.

Srijit Mukherjee's fifth directorial venture based on Sunil Gangopadhyay's novel was a treat to watch from beginning to end. The attention to detail and innovative camera angles right from the start bore an indication that something special was in store. Srijit twisted and modified the original story to make it relevant in the present times, interspersed it with enough comic moments to make the movie thoroughly entertaining and bound everything together in a non linear timeline seamlessly. Prosenjit Chatterjee delivered in style as Kakababu, the larger than life handicapped yet jovial protagonist and all the other actors were brilliant in their respective roles. The vast deserts and the inherent mystery of Egypt was captured with panache and along with the mesmerizing background score, made the big screen experience one to treasure. All in all, it was really fulfilling seeing our childhood hero come to life and save the day in style in a scintillating adventure. At the same time it made me a little sad thinking that there won't be another new kakababu novel in the pages of Pujabarshiki Anandamela....