Mishti-Doi Craving

I recently identified a feeling and called it "Bengali-craving". Not Bengali food, not fashion, not language. I have not lived in Bengal or indulge in any of these at any point in my life. So I don't have much explanation on what that craving was ? But I noticed it a few weeks after watching Vicky Donor and Kahaani.

Bingo, I blamed it on the diet of Doordarshan. Specifically of 80's and 90's, when at any given point of time, they did play a show in Hindi with it's roots in Bengal. Shows based on Rabindranath Tagore's work, Mahasweta Devi's stories, or movies by Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Bimal Roy and some of Basu Chaterjee's movies. I guess the imagery stayed back more than I knew. That way I can also blame Hemant Mukhrjee, Salil Chowdary, RD Burman and Bappi Lahiri, who used a lot of melodies between their Bengali and Hindi films

Among all, this one is the sweetest memory for me. Satyajit Ray's Apur Sansar, end sequence. I was captivated by the location and sannata, just the wind and few dialogs.

So yes, this craving meant a repeat show of Talaash. Come to think of it, this Doordarshan TV serial had all the big-shot Bengalis associated with it.

Once Nostaligia was covered, we needed something current, something of this age. Not that anyone went away, but Bengaliness is coming back on center-stage again.

Beginning with Vicky Donor. Protagonist was Delhi-Punjabi but the heroine was Bengali and they had some Kolkata locations as well. That is what triggered this in the first place.

And soon came Kahaani (2012). That was some sucker-punch of a movie. I am a nobody to praise its excellent Kahaani/Story ! It needs to be seen. Cool Bidha Bagchi and really really sweet Rana. Their unique poster lead to a really interesting movie. And one side-effect is - it makes me hum a lot of 80s RD songs. A lot of them played in background, in Bengali.

Last few years has definitely seeing a surge in Bengali-backed movies. And then thanks to Netflix I got to see these 2 new movies a billion times.

Piku

I still don't know what Piku means, but nevertheless I have watched this movie like 50 times.
Ad-films background of the director shows up, in those well composed shots, which last under a minute.

Very interesting dialogues and sequences. People speak up at the same time. 2-3 disjointed thread run through a single conversation. Someone says no & does exactly that. Every single talk around constipation is included at different intervals. True depiction of how bugging 60+ & their adult kids dialogues.

Classic trope of AB having a side-kick to make things interesting, and his friendship with Raghuveer Yadav. Deepika and her kajol eyes. Her bickering with AB and defensiveness when outsiders/Rana comment. Irfan is a gem as usual, every sequence he was part of.

Production quality is impeccable. Piku's cluttered house, but with impressive wall artworks. Rana's messy house. Trip packing sequences and getting up at dark O' thirty for a long road trip. For a road trip movie, they picked great locations. Night time Ganga ghat at Varanasi, so many sights in Kolkatta, Delhi.

Music by Anupam Roy has been on loop in my Youtube.

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy

So when the movie trailer came out, I was turned off. Not believing they could making something watchable for something in my favorite genre - Raj-era environment, Calcutta, Detective, Mystery. And later it lingered on Netflix for a long time, before I watched it.

Movie was very tightly made. So when it ended, I did not understand many things, I had to re-watch it - just to answer, "Wait what" questions. Then, I guess I played it 50 more times. Everytime kids came back home, they would be exasperated, cause this was always playing on TV.

Superb and controlled acting by Sushant as obsessive-compulsive about finding the truth. His compulsion to find the truth, takes things forward. Tough Ajit, and that gang of bachelor boarders. Really menacing villain - his end sequence with heavy metal background music, elevates this to SuperHero movie level. No mention of 'Satyanveshi' word - hope that happens in a Sequel.

In terms of frames, I could put a snapshot of every single scene here and still not be satisfied. This movie is worth watching with unblinking eyes. Watching the tram go away in the middle of the night. Marriage invitation piping up but not distracting from the storyline. Angoori devi makeup room. And many more.

Production values were superb. The way they built outdoors locations and crowds. And blended CGI into it. The Making videos are educational.

They ended with an awesome hero, trusted friend and a menacing nemesis. That is the perfect combination for a franchise. So looking forward to the sequel. Every indication so far shows it's not in plans. Attention of all producers and makers have dissipated.

Music - now there is no equal for it and yet it was prefect in the movie and very hum-able outside. Yes no item or dance number yes, chalega. All songs were in background, spreadout and blended with the background music. Heavy metalish in a Raj-era movie - and no one notices. Unexpected yet perfect.

2017 includes its share.

Jagga Jasoos. My detailed review in the link. I got twitter responses from Anurag Basu. That's included as well.

This one was eye catching thanks to rich imagery of Africa and North-East India. Its Bengali-heavy maker team did add their nostalgia elements. But there were no clihed Bengali stereotypes in the movie. They did not even say "Cholegaye" in Khaana Khaake Chalegaye, :D In the story, there was a stopover at Kolkatta, but without any sightseeing, just tram and few other studio props. Offline I did find out about the Bengali specific Easter eggs (agapastala, tiktiki, shundi), but it no way changes the flavor of the movie.

Bengali-ness simply enriched these movies, without overwhelming it.

My Yearly Movies List here.