Every young movie-watcher who freak out on Hindi movie fare must be excitedly waiting for arguably the most awaited sequel of the year- Dhoom 2.
I, too, am keen on checking out D2. But I consciously choose to write on a less faithful upcoming release in Bengali- Saron Dutta's Shikaar. Saron is an young ad filmmaker, also known as the son of veteran actor Swarup Dutta. He made his first film Raat Barota Paanch last year. It was in Puja fare of Bengali movies and did decently at the box office. It got positive review in a paper like The Telegraph which justifiably rips apart most of the mainstream Bengali fare.
Shikaar, so far I know from the reports, is a thriller set on the backdrop of Kolkata and has a romantic track between Koel and Amitava Bhattacharya. It shows a lot of Kolkata and that’s my basic point of interest.
I have this long-unsolved mystery in my mind- Why don't our mainstream filmmakers show such an interesting city except in a few songs? If this city is integrated as a character in the story, a la Yuva, it can enhance the look and feel of the story like nothing else can. If Yuva has got a timeless appeal it’s not for the movie itself which I feel was below par. It’s for the way the city was shot with its popular characteristics.
The makers of Shikaar has intelligently started a teaser campaign to arouse interest in the movie at the face of such monstrous competition like D2 and the December multistarrer Babul. Kolkata is splashed with posters that say “Shikaar saamnei”. Hope Saron scores big with his ‘hunt’. We desperately need many like him immediately to salvage the fortunes of Bengali mainstream cinema.
The flavour of Kolkata
The city is known for its old alleys. One such is shot by Atanu Pal.
Hey, I have seen the teaser trailer of the movie Shikaar on television, but it didn't really capture my imagination. I have no bias against this new filmmaker, though seeing Raat Baarota Paanch I did cringe at the sleaze element which was poorly incorporated in an amateurish horror movie that borrows more from the Ramsay Brothers than Ramu Varma. His trying to be different is praiseworthy but he needs to make a difference, substantially, contentwise. Styling a hackneyed concept isn't praiseworthy, deftly dealing with a subject always is.
ReplyDeleteAs far as filming a city like Kolkata is concerned, I share your views completely. Buddy, I would give full marks to Aparna Sen (for 36 Chowringhee Lane), Rituparno Ghosh (for Dahan) and Anjan Dutt (for Bada Din & Bow Barracks Forever) for best representing Kolkata in multiple frames. This year the outstanding movie Herbert, by Suman Mukherjee, has also captured the old-world charm of Kolkata brilliantly. Most film buffs still have to refer to Kolkata (the El Dorado, in the words of Mrinal Sen)aided by the cinema of Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Goutam Ghosh which often leads one to a stereotyping because of the retro aspect of the much celebrated films.