This
weekend, I happened to watch one of Srijit Mukherji's movie, Chotushkone.
Even though the movie released last year, I just felt the need to review it for
it's been long since I watched an Indian movie that breaks the conventional
style of story-telling.
You know the
movie is going to be gripping when the first scene of the movie begins with a
woman writing a suicide-note stating that no one is responsible for her death
and then scratching out the 'no one is responsible' part. The premise of the
film seems simple at first: four directors are on their way to meet a producer
who has agreed to make a film featuring four stories directed by them. Each of
their stories, however, must represent 'death' as a theme in some way or the
other. These four directors, Trina, Joy, Sakyo and Dipto are familiar with each
other, and as the story progresses, their past is discussed and several disclosures
come to light.
Even though
'chotushkone' actually means a quadrangle, I liked the way Mukherji
deconstructs this structure, first, as a triangle, and revealing the fourth
side only towards the end. I will take the risk of not saying anymore about the
plot for I do not wish to give the story away. Chotushkone takes the audience on a bumpy ride with
constant flashbacks merging with the present day. The plot is extremely layered
with many twists and turns, but one criticism that I do have is that I feel Mukherji
gave the climax away a little, say about five to ten minutes, early. Also, some
of the sub-plots could have been fleshed out more. Out of the stories of the
four directors, I particularly enjoyed Trina's story the most.
The music is
melodious and refreshing. I particularly loved the song Bawshonto Eshe Geche.
The cinematography is brilliant with the film being shot in five different
tones. Srijit Mukherji's brilliant story is supported by a stellar cast
comprising of Aparna Sen, Parambrata Chatterjee, Goutam Ghosh and Chiranjit
Chakraborty.
I would
recommend this movie to everyone. It is an uplifting ode to Bengali cinema that
breaks conventional styles of storytelling and is bound to keep you
entertained. Looking forward to watching more movies from Srijit Mukherji. He
is definitely one to watch out for!
I watched the movie a few months back and i agree with you about the climax being given away a bit too soon. Apart from the ending, i loved the movie. Very mature performances from the three senior actors. Parambroto i felt has done better than this in his other films. Not his best.
ReplyDeleteVery true, Sujata. I also feel Parambrata has ended up getting typecast in playing characters that exhibit similar traits of gullibility and heessness across the films (be it in The Bong Connection, Kahaani, 22er Shraban or the start of Chotushkone)...
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