'Kaberi Antardhan'
To me, Kaushik Ganguly has been one of those directors with whom I can have blind faith. I can close my eyes and say that his movies won't disappoint me.
When I first heard that Kaushik Ganguly's next will be a detective thriller, I was skeptical. I was tired of this trend running in the Bengali film industry where every second or third film is a detective thriller, it was just tiring. But when I finished watching 'Kaberi Antardhan' it was a complete satisfaction to me. This so-called detective thriller doesn't have any formula at all. I mean, this film has hardly any thrill in it whatsoever.
So why am I calling it a good film? A detective thriller should have thrills right? Well, not necessarily. You see some films have subplots that are much more stronger and engaging than the actual plot of the film. Films like Ranjhana, Haider, and even Apocalypse Now have similarities in them. They all have a very simple plotline but the Subplots make these films so special. 'Kaberi Antardhan' is just like one of them.
Set in the great '70s of Calcutta. The Great Naxal Period. It is interesting to see how well the political views shown in the film, the violence upon youth by the government and administration. The payback of political ideologies, and in between all of that a murder of a police officer. Connecting all the dots.
There are so many things different about this film that I liked. But there are some that I want to point out. First of all, the police are not useless. Unlike every other detective thriller, the police are not just a puppet of the protagonist, rather the director has shown some real darker sides. Second, the detective is not undisputed. So again, unlike every other detective thriller film, our detective is flawed, has very less into solving the case, and is definitely not as smart as everyone thinks. Rather I'd say he feels more real. Thirdly and most importantly, Churni Ganguly. This actress, omg she is something. The pain she carries within herself, the suffering, and the agony we see in her eyes is just brilliant. No wonder she's one of the finest.
Although the lack of thrill in a thriller film is a setback, the very Welly written subplot makes it up for me.
As I always believed, after Rituporno Ghosh, there's Kaushik Ganguly who can do justice to the Bengali Film Industry's legacy.
I'd give this film a good 4/5
~ Subhodeep Chakraborty
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