Thursday, March 22, 2012

'Bhooter Bhobishyot' - a brief take

Here goes my wall post on Bhooter Bhobishyot on Facebook:

'Bhooter Bhobishyot' is witty, hilarious, a fresh concept and a nice tribute to the Ray brand of humour. Has some super one liners. Go for it!

Would like to add, Paran Bandopadhyay is superb and Saswata Chatterjee lights up the second half as Haat-kata Kartick (once again after his outstanding 'Bob Biswas' in Kahaani).

Wish the film all the very best!

The 'Kahaani' BO magic

Bidya’s BO magic

Loved to read this article in today's Telegraph about Kahaani's rare box office magic in Kolkata and Bengal! Cheers to Sujoy Ghosh & Co. & the entire cast (Specially the Kolkata actors) to make it happen with a shot-in-Kolkata film with a majorly Kolkata cast and a crew partially from the city. Kahaani magic is largely Kolkata magic as well!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Kolkata random 2

by Shreyas Surya DasGupta


Loved this surreal shot by a friend who loves shooting the city in its various moods and moments. Showing a slice of Kolkata 'adda' (The legendary 'chat' by Bengalis) among some senior citizens.

Bhooter Bhobishyot : Srijit's take


Here's Srijit Mukherjee's oven fresh view on Bhooter Bhobishyot on his Facebook wall :

In Tollygunge, we might not have lavish budgets, infinite timelines, never-ending resources and enviable infrastructure, but we do have fantastic actors, superb technicians and most importantly...an incredible storytelling bug. For a milestone comedy cum satire, and one of the wittiest scripts in the recent times, watch Bhooter Bhobishyot!!

The curiosity to check out the new release is on accelerator mode now!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Bhooter Bhobishyot : TOI rating

The Bhooter Bhobishyot poster


Bhooter Bhobishyot gets a **** rating in the Times of India review today. Am all the more keen to check it out at the earliest. Some audience feedback will be fine.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Kahaani : a brief take

In a hurry, but can't help sharing my view on Kahaani briefly. Saw it yesterday. So, here goes my Facebook wall post on the same, slightly edited: 



Kahaani is the Kolkata film made in Hindi that finally hits the bull's eye (after failed attempts like Yuva and Raincoat, and Anjan Dutt's BBD that unfortunately never made it to theatre screens). Highly recommended for all Kolkatans and non-resident Kolkatans and all others who love a story-driven, smartly-made film rich with performances. Sujoy & Co., Vidya and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, you rocked! And proud of you - Param, Kharaj, Shantilal and all other actors from Kolkata. Loved to see Indraneil too, who's more of a Kolkata actor now.




Hope to post a complete review. Watch this space.








Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The 'Kahaani' we are loving to watch



Couldn't resist this one. Just couldn't. Kahaani has been increasingly generating unprecedented buzz in the city since its last Friday release. Nationally too, I learn, the scene is no different. Predictably so, as Kolkata is not a backdrop, but a well-etched lead character in the film, besides Vidya Balan (Or would 'Bidya' Balan be in the right spirit?). The strong reviews, feedback from friends and colleagues.... all are tempting me to catch it ASAP and post something here. Oh... at last a film with Kolkata featuring prominently in it scores with audience (Didn't like Yuva, the last example of such a film that comes to my mind).

Thursday, March 01, 2012

The 'neutral' police administration

It was good to know that the arrogant and foul-mouthed youngster Akash Banerjee was finally arrested in an unusual climax of a not-so-uncommon road drama where he and his friends in a car violated traffic rules yesterday, then abused and assaulted a traffic constable and shoved the traffic police inspector on duty while dropping the name of his famous aunt (father's sister) - none other than the CM of the state - Mamata Banerjee and threatening with grim consequences.

It was great to know that the arrest was at the behest of none other than the CM who was on visit to Darjeeling, and showed good governance in a quick, exemplary action (Though this must be noted that that media had raised its voice about the incident by then). It was indeed a new and welcome experience for people of the state.

But a question remains. Is this the 'neutral' police administration that the CM promised after she took the charge? She has the moral duty to answer (Especially since she heads the home ministry) what precisely led the police to let the brat and his gang walk out of the police station scot-free initially?

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Bhooter Bhobishyot - a sneak peek



Loved this funny and witty 'official' sneak peek of Bhooter Bhobishyot - the long-awaited debut film of city-based adman-turned-director Aneek Dutta. It's a funny ghost story with an eclectic ensemble cast, packaged as a sensible entertainer. Very Bengali and contemporary in feel. Looking forward to catch it when it releases sometime in March.

The 'bandh', the attack and the denial

Handful of buses (public and private put together), empty streets tempting enough to play a game of football, closed shops , low turnout at office marked yesterday's bandh (Officially an 'all-India' industrial strike) in the city.

I condemn the attack on the Anandabazar Patrika reporter Subhashis Ghatak and photographer Pintu Mondal by Trinamool hooligans for they dared to cover their ransacking the CPI(M) zonal office in Jadavpur yesterday! Following the brutal attack that could've turned fatal, a Star Ananda reporter Partha Pratim Ghosh was roughed up.

It was SHOCKING to know that a Kolkata Police constable off duty, named Tarak Das, was a prominent member of the Trinamool gang! He was clearly seen in the day-long coverage of the incident on Star Ananda. He is a real star indeed, for all the wrong reasons.

What added to the shock was that the CM rubbished the incident later on! This marks the hat trick of her denial after the recent Park Street and Katwa rape cases. As everybody knows, she was proved wrong by her own department (Police) as the Park Street case was cracked and a few key accused were arrested shortly by a team led by DC (DD) Damayanti Sen.

Didi, please think before you speak (to the media). Please remember you are a CM first, and a party supremo later. You are clearly testing the patience of the electorate who voted your party to power.

Monday, February 27, 2012

The strike : how will it be this time?

Don't know how tomorrow will unfold. The industrial strike called by trade unions incl. CITU hints at clashes between the ruling party and the opposition in the city, as the Trinamool-led government is hell bent at opposing the strike. Had enjoyed defying the last few strikes (called by left organisations, SUCI etc) and enjoyed being at work. Will have to watch out first this time.