Hey
lovely people, I am again back after yet another short break. I know it’s
insane the way I am blogging these days. When I get to see the Indiranks I get
scared as if I am not getting marks in exam. My other blog 'twinkling tina cooks' has gone down to a
rank of 30!!! That’s like suicide – have not posted there for 3 months now I guess.
And I am thinking of starting another blog! These days I keep feeling I am
losing market share! Hahaha another FMCG marketing funda, we keep discussing
all the time.
Ok
let’s come back to the original post. I watched a few Bengali movies – seems like
ages since I saw a Bong movie – forget watching at the theatre. So both will be
up for review soon (and this time I’ll make sure it will be soon and not
S----O----O----N!)
Mach
Mishti & More by Mainak Bhaumik is a Jan 2013 release but I watched
it late and so the review is late but nonetheless it’s for the set of people
like me (who are not in Kol and can’t get to see a Bong movie). This Urban tale
is about a typical Bengali household which has a fun loving dadu (grandfather), a caring &
perpetually tensed ma, a retired baba (father), and three brothers with
their own problems – both professional & love life crisis.
The cosmopolitan
‘City of Joy’ acts as a charm where people contemplate, fall in love, figure
out their life’s calling and get their partners. This movie is fun and very
different from the movies that has been doing the rounds in the Bengali film
industry recently (what I see when [and if] I switch through the Bengali music
channels).
The
story starts with the eldest brother Rahul
(Shauvik Kundagrami) who lands up from US with his wife Reena (Swastika Mukherjee) with an undisclosed plan in his mind. He
drops the bomb at dinner table and the family is stunned to hear that he left
his high paying job in the US and has returned to fulfill his dream of becoming
a chef! He wants to open a restaurant – ‘The American version of Bhojohori Manna’ [Any Bengali from
Kolkata or who has visited Kolkata in last 5 years would know about this].
Rony (Parambrata Chattopadhyay) the
second brother is trying to get a foothold to scale up the corporate ladder and
is happy with his paycheck and Swati
his ‘Marwari’ girlfriend. His only problem is Swati’s demand of getting married
quickly and her pushy businessman father who wants only the best for his
daughter (no harm there).
The
youngest brother Raju (Anubrata Basu)
thinks he is different from his family and is wiser than the rest. He likes his
own space and doesn’t like his mother to enter the room without knocking (read:
he needs time to hide his ‘male friendly’ magazines) and he also doesn’t
believe in serious relationships. He aspires to be an actor.
But
for me the hero of the movie is the dadu
– Soumitra Chattopadhyay – (he still is effortless even at this age.) He is the
most lively character of the movie who believes in ‘living life king size’ and
doesn’t bother about the doctors prescribed way – either in his diet or being
confined in his room. He likes to visit a nearby tea stall and enjoy his ‘singaras’ (samosas) and observe the
younger generation. He believes if the mind is in sync with the body one can
lead a happy life. He doesn’t think before helping a young girl Sunny (Parno Mittra) to get to the guy
she admires, he helps with his tips on love and courting.
Now
going back to the elder brother, Rahul
finds it difficult to get works done for his restaurant by the workers. He is
helped by June (Pamela Singh) and
associate of his friend but things doesn’t work out much with delays thanks to
the holiday and festival loving mindset of people there. And before he realizes
he is in an extramarital affair with June. His wife Reena is bored and unhappy in the city alone away from the
lifestyle she had in US. She moves back to her mother’s place after finding out
about this affair.
Rony on the other hand finds himself
dumped by Swati for delaying marriage
plans. He finds himself suffocating with the rich father-in-law-to-be gifting
them flats, advancing hefty amount for a Satya Paul lehenga, booking their
honeymoon to Pattaya (for some reason the actress pronounces it as Pa-te-ya !!
I don’t know why) and so on. He happens to meet his long time college friend Ishani (Raima Sen) in the city who works
as a yoga instructor and reiki practitioner (some color therapy mumbo jumbo).
Ishani helps Rony to find his true
calling – whether he is happy with his relationship with Swati and over the time falls in love with him.
Raju on the other hand meets Neha – a young girl from Mumbai working
with Yash Raj Films – who also happens to be a long distant family friend’s
daughter. She is the rock solid character who shows Raju the way – from his career to life.
Well
I can’t be telling you the entire story here. But there are few things that I have
to mention. It’s not the story which is extra ordinary or something. It’s a
regular story and that is what does the trick. It’s the real characters from
everyday life that makes all the difference. With the panic stricken mother lamenting
“Ranna
korbe bole oto boro chakri ta chere chole elo!!” to the Marwari
businessman telling, “Bangalis
toh sirf adda hi mar sakte hai” or him enquiring about Rony’s salary “Forty five thousand after tax or
before?”
Mainak
Bhaukim you have done a good job and I am happy that I watched this movie. I
liked the fact that the female star cast has been given meaningful roles. They
are the people who are the pivots and change the outlook/thoughts of their
counterparts. I am tired of watching females being portrayed as the docile girlfriends
or being a second fiddle to the heros. Good story line, distinct characterization
and good humor in places. There is no song dance sequence in exotic locations (which
is the current trend in Bong movies I think) and the music is nice.
But
Soumitra Chatterjee takes the cake with his small and delightful role though.
You
will also have to watch till the end to figure out what is Maach Mishti &
More J.
My rating – 4/5
The
movie is already out in Youtube and you can watch it here. [No it’s not a paid
review and no one has asked me to market/advertise/propagate about it]
P.S.
– If you are wondering that I know each actors good name inspite of not being a
Bengali Movie enthusiast let me tell you it’s all with the help of IMDB &
TOI otherwise I am really out of touch Tollywood currently.
