Thriller or romance?

Shree Venkatesh Films bought the copyright of the Tamil box-office hit Kaadhal.

Amanush
Shree Venkatesh Films bought the copyright of the Tamil box-office hit Kaadhal. Binod is a crude,ill-mannered orphan pushed by the father of his orphanage into an engineering college in Kolkata. He is brilliant and is prepared to do anything for the beautiful Ria who makes it her responsibility to give him an image change. There is Aditya,a handsome hunk,pursuing Ria. Ria falls for Aditya and Binod becomes an unwilling go-between. Shattered,he goes back to his former ways. He does not take up the scholarship to study abroad. Post-interval,the story changes and becomes an action-packed psychological thriller with no logic,little suspense but lots of dynamism.

Technical Expertise
Amanush offers delightful entertainment packaged colourfully till the interval. The ragging of Binod by his hi-fi classmates,Ria trying to polish up his manners,rebuking him soundly when he falls out of line or cannot cope,his transformation from an ugly duckling to a beautiful swan,ending with Binod fumbling with his paper at the seminar is well orchestrated. The songs,with fitting lyrics and mind-blowing music by Jeet Ganguly,jell into the scenario very well indeed. Just before the interval,when Binod realises that Ria does not reciprocate his feelings,he changes back to what he was. There is a well-choreographed fight scene in a basketball court flooded with blood and gore. It would have been convincing had it not been stretched.

Post-interval,Amanush portrays Binods growing fatal obsession for Ria but she does not recognise the signs. Jeet Ganguly gives a wonderful signature sound-byte to Binod when his psychopathic nature begins to reveal itself. The song picturisations in Mauritius stand out like sore thumbs because the mood doesnot justify any songs. The scripts consistent attempts to rationalise Binods psychopathic and dangerous behaviour fails to hold the film together towards its seemingly interminable end. Soham is a very promising actor but as he is comparatively new,he tends to overdo his act at times. Srabonti is wonderful eye-candy and has histrionics to match. She is natural and spontaneous. One wonders why established actors like Biswajeet Chakraborty,Dolon Roy and Saswata Chatterjee are reduced to junior artistes. Kumud Vermas cinematography deserves mention especially for the forest sequences shot probably in natural light.

The director ought to know that a psychological thriller should not let go of simple logic. The needless flashback into Binods childhood in a brick kiln does not link up to his admission,academic brilliance and scholarship in an engineering college. When did he ever go to school? Why is he so fierce with the father in the orphanage who guided him well and was kind to him? This undercuts the rationale the script tries to bestow on him. Rajeeb,in his second film,tries to include every ingredient of mainstream entertainment. But he fails to invest the thriller bit with any logic.
RATING :
The film deserves a three-star rating. One for Soham and Srabonti,one for Jeet Gangulys music and one goes to Kumud Verma for his wonderful cinematography.