Dev’s insipid take on patriotism Cast: Dev Adhikari, Sudipta Chakraborty, Sreeja Dutta, Carl A. Harte Rating:2* The problem with Bagh...
Dev’s insipid take on patriotism
Cast: Dev Adhikari, Sudipta Chakraborty,
Sreeja Dutta, Carl A. Harte
Rating:2*
The problem with Bagha Jatin is that the film has too much of Dev, in fact,, it’s only Dev. One can understand that he is playing the titular role, but in films that show the fight for independence the other characters are also given importance with leading man.
The film is about freedom fighter Jatindranath
Mukherjee aka Bagha Jatin, one of the founder members of the Jugantar party,
masterminding and plotting against the British Raj with the support of
independent countries across the globe.
One had expected Khudiram Bose to have a
backstory and the song ‘Ekabar bidaai de maa ghure aashi’ but he is reduced to
just a couple of scenes. That is the same for all the other characters like Sri
Aurobindo, Charu Ghosh, etc. Moreover, Dev with his weak voice and deadpan
expression falters in this great revolutionary’s biopic. Even the VFX of the
tiger is a huge letdown.
Director Arun Roy keeps focusing on Dev the superstar and not Bagha Jatin the revolutionary. However, there are some effective performances by Sudipta Chakraborty who essays the role of Binodbala, Jatindranath’s elder sister, and Carl A Harte as Charles Tegart, the British fearless cop and Jatin’s nemesis, Carl is good in whatever limited screen time he gets. Debutant Sreeja as Jatin’s wife Indubala has a silent presence with nothing much to do. Also, the revolutionaries plotting at various stages in the film don’t engage you at all. Only the torture scenes keep you glued. The one interesting sequence is when Bagha dons different avatars especially the Naga sadhu one and the leper to evade being caught by the British. Wish there were more adrenaline rush in the film.
Don’t expect a patriotic film along the lines
of Shaheed or Kranti. If you are a Dev fan you will lap this up, but if you go
to see this film as a patriot you will be disappointed.
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