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Reviews
A Death in the Gunj (2016)
Nostalgia trip full of eerie stopovers!
A daunting and haunting debut by Konkona, the film's a dark yet nostalgic trip down the memory lane. Of colonial hangovers, trials and errors of driving ambassadors, sporting kick-ass sideburns, the thrill of motorbikes and séances and loadsheddings, knitted sweaters and retro glasses, Anglo-Indian bakery shops, mahua-drinking tribals, and picturesque winter vacations with the entire family.
Set in McCluskieganj of '79, the film opens with a death and never ceases to be eerie. Wondering if the 'McGuffin Pictures' in the film's opening credits is a clever use of the plot device by the same name? Konkona's eye for detail - the brilliant use of folk songs as the plot unfolds and spreads out, the paper support slowly slipping out underneath the chair as Kalki and Massey's characters engage in lovemaking; motifs like the word 'eulogy' tumbling out as the child reads from a list of words with 'e', the Katherine Mansfield-like death of a bug under a magnifying glass in the garden - point to the imminent death.
Among the brilliant star-cast, Vikrant Massey's Shutu is someone most of us can relate to or empathize with... The introvert who quietly tries to woo the girl, runs her errands and pins all his hope on that one girl only to realize the futility. The sensitive boy suffering the aftermath of his father's death, often the soft target who looks like a "pretty girl", the butt of all jokes, a bully's obvious victim, and the "dudh-bhaat" in the muscle show of kabaddi matches. What a powerful portrayal of vulnerable masculinity!
Must mention Sirsha Ray's cinematography which is like poetry lighting up each frame and quietly smoldering in the memory of the bonfire this film is.
Suicide Squad (2016)
How I committed Suicide on Friendship Day
The world needs superheroes. But what are they without super villains?
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
The prime super-villain, Enchantress and her machine-god-like bro, is way too comic-al. Yes, pun intended. But why does the sis-bro duo want world domination? Unclear. And the loony bin turns upside down as Amanda Waller begins recruiting. She plays one go-getter, twisted character, someone whom you'd not want to be pally with/mess with in real life.
Splash of neons like a breath of fresh air, a cheer leader with a baseball bat, waddling her cute pigtails and twinkling eyes, and a combo of minxy madness and toxicity, Harley Quinn is played by Margot Robbie. You want to live her idiosyncrasies, you want to jump in joy and sink into despair, and fall in love with a madman, her Puddin', her Joker
just because. She wisecracks, she shows off her inner child, yet she's confident with her sexuality. "This is just a whole lotta' pretty and a whole lotta' crazy," as they say about her. Whole lotta' love for her, I say!
Jared Leto's Joker has no character development and appears sporadically like all guest appearances go. Barring the scenes where he's lying on the floor surrounded by knives – in all sorts of varieties, or where he plunges down after Harley Quinn into a pool of gooey, toxic stuff. The metal teeth, the method acting and the tattoos don't help. I can scream Heath Ledger's name out aloud and state that he was, to me, the creepiest Joker ever. Think Jim Carey or Jack Nicholson – way better. Sorry Leto, you were a letdown.
Will Smith's Deadshot plays it cool, funny, quirky, wherever necessary and as you guessed, as expected. He almost appears like a vamped up version of the dad from 'Pursuit of Happiness'. The other villains are Diablo with his pyrokinetic powers and a tragic backstory, the super angry Killer Croc, a clichéd Captain Boomerang, and the sword- swinger Katana – so hugely underdeveloped a character, and almost a sorry sight.
What's good, sorry, great? The brilliant soundtrack which takes you back to your childhood – Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Without Me by Eminem, Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap by AC/DC – and to pep it up there's 'Purple Lamborghini' by Skrillex and 'Sucker for Pain' by Wiz Khalifa, Imagine Dragons and Li'l Wayne. Yes, give it a listen. I bet you'll fall for it.
A film that acts like a filler between 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' and JLA, what else is there to say? As Killer Croc says, "Got me a sewer to crawl back into". Here, I go back to work.
Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015)
The Adventures of Badass Byomkesh
The Byomkesh Bomb, The Adventures of Badass Byomkesh (How many times did I not think of Hergé?), anything. But not a generic Detective!
As Sharadindu takes a backseat, the very original plot unfolds with a predictable storyline, not with so much of mystery ... but interspersed with a dark, brutal 40s Calcutta ... drug-lords, narrow alleys, sirens, slogans, vintage posters and ads (Gold Flake on the trams, Brylcreem, Lipton even) - a war-torn backdrop! And jazzed up music, often metal, often melodic. But brilliantly done.
*SPOILER ALERT* The noir cinematography, captures it all. (Watch out for the red Kali that Byomkesh draws in a heroin-induced state!) An action- packed thriller, very unlike the original impressions we have of Byomkesh who merely solves a case. This Byomkesh is on a mission to Save Calcutta. (So Hollywood!)
The climax is almost like a Quentin Tarantino film or several Korean films ... Bloodbath followed by casual conversation followed by brutality, etc. All the while retaining a very dark humor.
Sushant Singh Rajput's Byomkesh is cunningly suicidal ... In the way he reveals his mistakes to the wrong people. But he makes mistakes, that's something! Considering it's his first case, he never stops getting involved, his enthusiasm is remarkable ('Satyanweshi', truly) in spite of his socially awkward ways. Oh, he lies at the drop of a hat in his quest of truth! He is obviously different from the Rajit Kapoors and Abirs. Neeraj Kabir is a marvel, possible of doing anything and everything under the sun. I went WOW. He is the best thing in the film.
Anand Tiwari, Swastika Mukherjee, Meyang Chang ... Very well cast.
The film reminded me of Bhansali's sets with its 'attention to detail' bit while making a period film. But unlike Bhansali, in DBB there's no forceful Bengali words uttered, (What a relief!) Here, everyone speaks Hindi, normally.
#DibakarBanerjee, how well have you captured all of this!