Bhalobasar Chupkatha

Cast: Smritika,Suranjan,Deborshi,Amit

‘Silent words of passion and obsession’ is the translation of the original Bengali title Bhalobasar Chupkatha. The flavour of the original and much of its essence is lost in the translation. Suranjan Dey has written a simple screenplay of a marriage falling apart when the wife’s values take a beating after she steps into the glitzy world of advertising. Does the couple come together in the end? The director has kept the climax open-ended for the audience to draw its conclusion.

The storyline and structure are rather weak. Monanto (Suranjan),a journalist falls in love with the pretty and glamorous Suparna (Smritika). They get married and settle down. However,Suparna falls prey to the glamour of the advertising world when boredom within marriage drives her to seek a job. What happens next is too predictable and this becomes the bane of Bhalobasar Chupkatha.

The film is structured as a flashback with Monanto pining away over his lost love over drinks with his Mumbai-based filmmaker friend and finally breaking down into tears. Nothing wrong with a man crying over lost love,but the fickleness of Suparna would make one feel that she is not worth the tears.

Dey’s random usage of monochrome is not clear. Either he uses it to undercut the repetition of shots or as a narrative strategy. Focussing on the schism would have added some dramatic conflict to enrich the texture of the film. The title song is quite good but the rest of the music is average. Suranjan delivers a natural performance as Monanto in the flashback but is less convincing in his drunken scenes. Suparna has sex-appeal but is fairly inconsistent as far as her acting is concerned. While she delivers an average performance in the segments where she is shown to be in love with Dev,she is extremely bad in the sad segments. Dey uses the clock tellingly in the end as a narrative strategy while the portrait of Mona Lisa jars with Suparna’s character. Some ‘history’ of the lovers would have added flesh to the linear storyline. The short length comes as a saving grace.

All said and done,Bhalobasar Chupkatha is a film that is a tad too simple.

RATING : The film does not deserve more than two stars — one for the screenplay and one for the director’s ability to narrate a routine story with honesty and simplicity.

RUSHES:

Plot: Love story falls apart after marriage

Verdict: Could have been better

Box-office prospects: Uncertain