Abhisandhi

Notwithstanding the heavily borrowed script,Abhisandhi had many cinematic possibilities as a psychological thriller. But Chatterjee fails to carry the responsibility of a complex film.

Remember Primal Fear 1996 that fetched Edward Norton a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination? Many years later,the Hindi plagiarised version Deewangee featured Ajay Devgn in the role Norton played in the original. The Bengali copy-and-paste is credited to first-time director Tarun Chatterjee as Abhisandhi The Deception. He has tweaked the story at many places,included a mafia don segment to heighten the suspense,and converted Martin Vail Richard Gere,the defence attorney,from a male to Rudrani Som Rituparna Sengupta,an attractive female. He has also changed the ending and gives himself credit for the story, notwithstanding the heavily borrowed script,Abhisandhi had many cinematic possibilities as a psychological thriller. But Chatterjee fails to carry the responsibility of a complex film on his inexperienced shoulders.

He did a faux pas by casting two lesser-known Bollywood actors in the two main male roles. Mukul Dev plays Biswanath/Shankar Jha,the man accused of murdering his employer,the general manager of the railways,who the psychiatrist diagnoses as suffering from Dissociative Personality Disorder. Sanjay Swaaraj plays the prosecution attorney,Rudranis estranged husband. While Sanjay manages to carry his role with minimum dialogue dubbed by someone else,Mukul Dev is distinctly uncomfortable as Jha. His voice dubbed by the brilliant Shantilal Mukherjee made his task more difficult. Mukherjee could have done the role himself with much more conviction.

There are more loop holes in the story. Chatterjee has introduced a mafia segment with Kalyan Ray playing Abbas,the don who orders killings at a hefty price. This is introduced to add a twist to the tale but it fails. All Ray does is flash patient smiles or talk in sweet tones to Rudrani,whom he addresses as behenji. Why Rudrani and Abbas are so friendly is not clear. The saddest thing is showing the much venerated film scholar Chidananda Das-gupta on a wheelchair as Abbass father,he is reduced to a junior artiste in a small scene. The character is totally redundant and this is no way to treat the senior most film critic in the country. Sreela Majumdar is wasted in another superfluous role.

Another major flaw lies in the music and songs composed by Kalyan Sen Barat,who also makes a brief appearance. The songs are artificial impositions and badly placed in a film that could have done without songs. There is a sex angle that rationalises the anti-climactic end that disproves the saying,crime never pays.

Rituparna is the sole saving grace of Abhisandhi. As Rudrani Som,a noted criminal lawyer with a florishing practice,she gives a wonderful,restrained and dignified performance. She has chosen her saris with care that extends to the look and the hairdos she sports throughout the film. Chatterjees choice of subject is commendable but he has failed to do justice to it.

Verdict:

Abhisandhi merits two stars,one for Rituparna for pulling it off and one for the director for choosing a powerful storyline,never mind the some-copy-and-some-paste job.