Bye Bye Bangkok

The name of this magic is a short holiday in Bangkok. Once they reach Bangkok on a trip organised by the same travel agent,a very funny take on Biswajit Chakraborty,they realise two things –– One: their spouses have landed in the same hotel with other partners. Two: the new partners are worse than the ones they are married to.

The core lies at the door of Sadhucharan (Rudranil Ghosh),the driver of one of these couples. He is forced to make the trip with his boss’ wife (Locket Chatterjee) who walks out after a fight with her workaholic husband (Neel Mukherjee). Mukherjee plans a visit to Bangkok with his pretty but unpardonably forgetful secretary (Swastika Mukherjee) though they stay at different hotels. Their’s is no affair to peep into. A biscuit salesman (Kanchan Mullick) is persuaded by his professor client (Anjana Bose) to pretend to become her husband on her trip to Bangkok,her prize for having drawn the lucky ticket in the biscuit packets she bought from him.

Once in Bangkok,he rejects her attempts to get ‘immoral’. Her husband (Shilajit) makes ad films. He snaps up a deal with the wife (Sonali Choudhury) of a real estate promoter (Kharaj Mukherjee) promising that if she put in her money into his path-breaking feature film,she will get an international award for producing it. Her husband plans a trip with the biscuit seller’s model wife (Kanchana),a greedy woman who sleeps around because her husband cannot get her the goodies she wants.

Rudranil,Kanchan Mullick and Kanchana steal the show from the others who are also very good. Anjana as the professor married to the would-be filmmaker adds a touch of dignity despite the not-very dignified approach the character has. Kharaj is his brilliant self as the real estate developer. Locket and Neel do not have much scope to explore their characters. There is a lot of tongue-in-cheek about marriage as an institution but all in good humour. The ad filmmaker’s interaction with his potential,award-crazy producer spills over with satiric barbs directed at all makers of off-mainstream cinema.

The laughs begin when the right spouses discover their husbands/wives and begin a funny hide-and-seek game around the hotel. Bangkok comes across not as Oriental exotica,but as the location for the married partners’ seeking a fresh holiday from their jading relationships.

The film is structured as a flashback from Sadhucharan’s perspective. He is unhappy not being able to get back home and live on as an illegal immigrant in a strange land. He finally finds the pretty secretary. The film ends on the suggestion that they will join forces for a happier future. The music is wonderful,vacillating between fast,funny numbers and a pensive Tagore song or two punched with modern songs.

Bye Bye Bangkok successfully walks the tight rope between situational comedy and adult sex comedy by using more innuendo than sex to depict the amusing game of musical chairs among four married couples in Bangkok. It is an entertaining film but not for children. Rating: ***

Three stars are for direction,acting and putting together a wonderful team show.