A thriller or a cop drama Director: Pratim D Gupta Starcast: Tota Roychowdhury, Anirban Chakrabarti, Raima Sen, Santanu Maheshwari, Indr...
A thriller or a cop drama
Director: Pratim D Gupta
Starcast: Tota Roychowdhury, Anirban Chakrabarti,
Raima Sen, Santanu Maheshwari, Indrajit Basu, Swastika Dutta, Tanika Basu and
Ziaur Faruq Apurba
Music: Debojyoti Mishra
2024 was a year of mixed fortunes for the Bengali
film industry. On one hand, there were record-breaking blockbusters like Bohurupi and
Khaadan decent successes like Tekka, Oti
Uttam, Shontaan, Jomaloye Jibonto Bhanu, and Boomerang, and unexpected hits like
Ajogyo, Paria and Eta Amader Golpo. On the other hand, some films had the hype but underperformed big time such as Mirza, Shastri, Nayan
Rahasya, Sada Ronger Prithibi, Dabaru, and Athoi. Chaalchitro, noted film critic turned
director Pratim D Gupta’s latest thriller has got the least number of screens
amongst the four Christmas releases but has managed to hold its screens as of
now. It has also got a lot of appreciation from the urban audience and print
media.
Storyline
Chaalchitro essentially is a story of four police
officers who are looking for a serial killer on the loose whose modus operandi
is to kill women and frame them on the chaalchitro (background of Durga idol).
The murders have marked similarities with some previous killings. What’s the
motive behind them?? Is the killer a mere copycat or does he want to give out a
message or a warning to the society at large ??
Pros
Director Pratim D Gupta deserves full credit for
balancing the subplots of the personal conflicts of the main protagonists with
the main plotline. He especially is excellent in handling the scenes between
Naseer (Anirban Chakrabarti) and his daughter (Tanika Basu).
It's rare to find a film where almost everyone performs
with full earnestness and Chaalchitro is one of them. Tota Roychowdhury as the
efficient cop is excellent. He had one of the most significant roles in the
film and he does full justice to it. With his salt-and-pepper hair and French
beard he still looks dashing. Raima Sen dazzles in a small role. Anirban
Chakrabarti gives a superb performance in a non-comical role. Santanu
Maheshwari as the rookie IPS is likeable and charming, and so is Swastika Dutta as
his love interest. Indrajit Bose, a popular TV actor shows his mettle here with
a memorable performance. He has also done some action here which is
commendable. But the real showstealers in the film are Apurbo, Bratya Basu, and
Tanika Basu. While Apurbo are Bratya are simply spine-chilling in their
portrayals, Tanika Basu gives a mesmerizing performance as a specially abled
girl, its truly worthy of many awards.
Action scenes, though limited are brilliantly choreographed. Excellent camerawork and BGM. It has added to the grittiness and complex narrative of the film.
Cons
The pre-climax twist in the tale is pretty good, but
somewhat predictable for viewers who these days are fed with so many thrillers across the world.
While the film scores high on the dramatic and
romantic scenes, the thrill factor is a little less than expected.
The climax looks extremely rushed and unfinished which
is a shame since almost the whole film has such a compact and slick screenplay.
Overall, Chaalchitro is certainly one of the better
thrillers in Bengali and is extremely watchable. It has
every merit to be extremely popular in plexes and later on OTT.
- - Ayushmaan Mitra
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