Enthralling !!

Film: Kahaani 
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chatterjee & Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Genre: Drama | Thriller 

Kahaani is truly a jack-in-the-box surprise. Kahaani is that rare film which gives each and every person associated with it an equal opportunity to shine.

After watching smarter than the smartest BBC show ‘Sherlock’, I never actually expected ‘Kahaani’ to work for me. But the film rose over and above my expectations. From the very word ‘go’ till its shocking climax, it made me bite my nails. Surprise and suspense are very well blended by director Sujoy Ghosh and am happy to announce that film is ‘original’.

The movie centers on 7 months pregnant Vidya Bagchi (played by Vidya Balan) who travels far & wide, all the way from London to Kolkata to find her missing husband, Arnab Bagchi. In Kolkata, she goes to the local police station for help where she’s treated nicely and is given the necessary attention & aid.  Film takes plenty of U turns & atmosphere becomes frightful when this case gets interlinked with the terrorist who is responsible for the metro massacre which killed hundreds of innocent citizens. So cops opt to catch that terrorist first and what about Vidya Bagchi’s husband? Right. What about him? Well, there is a question mark on his existence but there’s a hope too.

Vidya is proficient enough to hack servers of national data center and tries her best to find her better-half but police instead of taking her case into consideration begs for her help to hack that system again so they can grab hold of main culprit and poor lady instead of walking away helps them, but with blatant disappointment in her eyes.

Central character is so beautifully sketched that however stone-hearted you are, you will sympathize. With Kahaani, Vidya makes sincere effort to win National Award next year. The way she befriends kids in the movie is really cute and from pain to disappointment to wrath, each phase is skillfully rendered by her. Actress confidently delivers yet another memorable performance.

Anurag Kashyap’s ‘That Girl In Yellow Boots’ had plenty of characters and characterization was vague plus their presence remained unjustified till the end. But writers (Ritesh Shah, Sutapa Sikdar & Sujoy Ghosh) triumph here. All the characters here are for a reason and each and every actor is gifted with very-well written character. 

Nawazuddin Siddiqui as hyperactive cop delivers credible performance and he definitely is the man to look forward to in upcoming days. Every time you see him in a conversation with Vidya, you expect something phenomenal to happen and that’s the charisma of his personality. However, my favorite character is - Rana (played by Parambrata Chatterjee). Throughout vidya’s journey we see cop Rana helping her without any personal interest. Honesty is not only in the character he plays but in his performance too. He is the most endearing character in the film. Also, there’s a funny-looking but impious contract killer who kills witnesses with ease. Yes, just like Bourne films.  

Severe problem of Vidya Bagchi seem surmountable when legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan lovingly sings "êkla chôlo re". It’s undeniably the best moment of the film. 

I also loved the way humor sprouts in the film. You’ll literally smile when local Bengali people instead of uttering Vidya will utter “Bidya”. And ignorance of computer in police-station is dramatically depicted.   

Kolkata clad with the luminous decorations of Durga Pooja is a feast to eyes. Film is gloriously shot by cinematographer Setu. He wisely takes actors and viewers for a jog in the heart of Kolkata.

Above mentioned aspects of this 115 mins long film easily overcome its only drawback i.e. leisure pace. Not a problem but still brisk pacing could have acted like cherry on top.

There is much more than what I’ve written so don’t let your imagination fill in the rest, go watch this enthralling thriller right away !

Rating: 3.5/5

For all those of you, who loved 'êkla chôlo re'


Bengali Phonemic transcription


Jodi tor đak shune keu na ashe tôbe êkla chôlo re,
Êkla chôlo, êkla chôlo, êkla chôlo, êkla chôlo re.
Jodi keu kôtha na kôe, ore ore o ôbhaga,
Jodi shôbai thake mukh firaee shôbai kôre bhôe—
Tôbe pôran khule
O tui mukh fuţe tor moner kôtha êkla bôlo re.
Jodi shôbai fire jae, ore ore o ôbhaga,
Jodi gôhon pôthe jabar kale keu fire na chae—
Tôbe pôther kãţa
O tui rôktomakha chôrontôle êkla dôlo re.
Jodi alo na dhôre, ore ore o ôbhaga,
Jodi jhôŗ-badole ãdhar rate duar dêe ghôre—
Tôbe bojranôle
Apon buker pãjor jalie nie êkla jôlo re.


Translation into English


Here is the translation in prose of the Bengali original rendered by Rabindranath Tagore himself. 


If they answer not to thy call walk alone,
If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall,
O thou unlucky one,
open thy mind and speak out alone.
If they turn away, and desert you when crossing the wilderness,
O thou unlucky one, 
trample the thorns under thy tread,
and along the blood-lined track travel alone.
If they do not hold up the light when the night is troubled with storm,
O thou unlucky one,
with the thunder flame of pain ignite thy own heart
and let it burn alone.