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Konttho (2019)
SHIBOPROSAD DELIVERS AN ONCE IN A LIFETIME PERFORMANCE
Pronounced Kawn-Tho
Director: Shiboprosad Mukherjee, Nandita Roy
Year: 2019
Genre: Drama
As with all other film industries, and maybe more than many others, Tollywood is ridiculed for its disappointing remakes and predictable action flicks, but even with dozens of soulless flicks being produced, directors like Shiboprosad and Nandita are keeping the artistic, beautiful storytelling alive, and they deserve a boatload of credits for their attempts.
I have seen most of Shiboprosad and Nandita's combined directorial movies, and 'Kontho', to me is the best amongst all of the movies they ever made. And this comes from a fan of other films they made, full of soul and beauty; Indeed, 'Kontho' is on a different level.
In the age of devastation caused by Cancer, 'Kontho' tries to give the affected a hope to survive, especially those afflicted by throat cancer. The leading character here, RJ Arjun (a radio jockey), suffers throat cancer and an operation removes his larynx. The story that continues is a tremendous showing of how quickly the diseased can come back when they are kept mentally warm.
Shiboprosad, the co-director himself, plays the lead role of RJ Arjun, making a grand comeback to acting after an inexplicable hiatus (the role in 'Haami' wasn't a lead role, ofcourse). When the movie starts, He plays the role of a RJ perfectly, mesmerizing us with his voice and his speaking skills, all while we see him helping people out mentally, through the voice of the radio, including saving a girl from an immediate suicide.
Although Arjun brings happiness to the listeners of his show, and his family and friends are close to him, his quarter-century year long smoking habit results in throat cancer, and a surgery saves his life while taking away his biggest asset, his voice. His character then rapidly changes, playing emotionally volatile as a man would be under such circumstances.
Shiboprosad brings his full might into this power-packed performance, earning sympathy and admiration from the viewers. He shows such tremendous comfort as a 'speechless' man that it seems almost magically real. One of the best single performances I have ever seen, and I hope he gets some much-deserved awards for this performance.
Obviously, Arjun couldn't have succeeded without the help of his family and friends. Paoli Dam plays his wife, showing love and concern for her husband, while also showing childish envy towards his speech teacher Romila Chowdhury (Jaya Ahsan). This Romila helps Arjun in the most unpredictable yet highly accurate ways, and feels an attraction towards him at the end. Koneenica Banerjee plays Indrani, a friend who vows to never 'leave Arjun alone' and keeps his promise.
Comedy is an influential part of this film. Pritha's father joking about the financial instability of RJs was pretty funny. The iconic veteran Paran Bandopadhyay and fellow veteran Chitra Sen brings more humor into the fray.
This redemption-based story couldn't have survived without a few twists or two, one of which links Arjun to Romila in a clever way. Again, the story is sometimes predictable and drags somewhat in the second half, but the knock-out ending throws away the little drag to a considerable distance.
The background music is fitting to the scenes needing it, especially a recurring theme. And the songs, one of which I presume is by Anupam Roy are excellent to listen to.
If you like Bengali or regional movies, then do watch this, atleast for this once in a lifetime performance by Shiboprosad.
CONCLUSION: 'Kontho', an admirable story of a cancer survivor never giving up, is fueled by Shiboprosad's performance of a lifetime, and beauty to help us smile.
4.3/5
Vinci Da (2019)
A MUST-WATCH PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER
'Vinci Da' is an interesting watch for a movie watcher, as with it, Srijit returns to what he does best, thrillers. Vinci Da qualifies as one of the best thrillers Tollywood has made in the recent years, and keeps the viewer intrigued until the end.
The song used in the trailer, sung by the current Bengali heartthrob Noble, sums up the movie quite well, as its lines carry meanings that can only be understood later on in the movie, along with references to Lalon Fakir and Leonardo Da Vinci. Another track by Anupam Roy adds some mixed emotion, while the music played during the climactic scene is as epic as it needs to be.
The climactic scene, and the lead-up to it is indeed one of the finest I've ever seen in Benhali thrillers, although it suffers from a lack of pace at certain periods. Let my words not fool you, the film is never, and I mean, never, boring. The interval comes after a breeze, as the story moves forward with character introductions. After the interval, the plot tenses, and that too for all the good reasons.
The character of Aadi Bose is as chilling as it needs to be. The younger version of the character, played by Riddhi, simply kills his father, and shows enough brain to kill him before his 18th birthday, thus exempting him from a sure death sentence. The wit comes from an eternal love for law and its consequences, which makes it somewhat mentally distorted.
The older, (im)mature version of Aadi Bose is even more dangerous. His criminal record (patricide) bars him from achieving his dream of being a criminal lawyer, and he is not content to give advice to top lawyers. Thus, he becomes a serial killer (lawyer). His faulty ideals leads him to believe he is fighting for justice, but the face of the innocent people being killed says otherwise.
Aadi is extremely dangerous, murderous, captivating and somehow truthful. The way he blackmails Vinci Da and captures evidence is the signs of a complex mind.
Vinci Da, on the other hand, provides the title of the story. He is like us common Bengalis, only being extremely educated on the subject he loves, and having decency and a backbone to speak against the mediocre bigwigs. Although at first captivated by Aadi's words, his humanity takes over soon enough and the rest is history.
I love how symbolism and foreshadowing is used in the movie, foreshadowing being the most important aspect I search for in a thriller. When Vinci Da turns his beloved into an old woman by the help of prosthetics, we have no idea the same effect will be implemented in the final scene of the movie. Even Vinci Da foretells his intention multiple times while being at Aadi's house.
Biblical symbols are freely used, as Aadi can be taken as the fallen angel, while Vinci Da judges him as the God. I love how Srijit mixed Biblical references of the judgement alongside our very Bengali cultural reference in 'Chor Police'.
Leonardo Da Vinci is in fact an important part of the film. The title wordplays his surname to Vinci Da (Da means elder brother in Bengali), and the poster directly references him. Vitruvian Man, Mona Lisa and Last Supper is directly referenced, as is his mastery in different genres of art and science.
Prosthetics is as shown as an amalgam of art and science, and the movie shows the power of prothestics, and the beauty, all while showing the plight of the skilled costume designers and makeup men of films. Fittingly, the lead makeup man and costume director gets seperate credits, just after the director gets it.
Ritwick has literally proved himself to be head and shoulders above all other actors in Bengali cinema, and this role solidifies his place. Riddhi shows unmatched courage in a performance not expected from such a young chap, and yes, it still comes as a shock when we know how impressive his acting can be. Sohini shows stature, plight and character in the short screen time she gets. Among the victims/villains, Bharat Kaul seemed to me the best actor. Rudranil as the titular character was nice, although at times his acting felt a bit flat to me. Not being rude to him at all, he's excellent, but sharing screentime with Ritwick must have some effects on the viewer.
Srijit is finally showing shadows of his old self, after a few melodramatic flicks. The cinematography is excellent, especially the full shots of the broken house, where Ritwick's and Sohini's character meets. Plus, the lines are crisp, while not being idiotic one-liners.
CONCLUSION
Vinci Da is a legit thriller, with full cultural references, excellent character work and a plot to fall far; watch it for the performance by Ritwick and Rudranil.
4.0/5.0
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