Tuesday, July 6, 2010

New Lifestyle in Bengoli Movie


Antaheen- a tale of new Relationship and lifestyle:
Antaheen(2009)- A Film By Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury
Cast: Aparna Sen (As Paromita), Sharmila Tagore (As Abhik’s Unt) Kalyan Roy (As Ranjan), Mita Vashisth (As Shalini Mehra), Shauvik Kundagrani (As Mr. Mehra), Rahul Bose (As Abhik) , Radhika Apte (As Brinda)
Director/Story: Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury
Music Director: Shantanu Moitra
Producer: Screenplay Films
Presented by: Mumbai Mantra
Lyrics: Anindya Chatterjee, Chandril Bhattacharya
Cenematography: Abhik Mukhopadhyay
Release date: January 23, 2009

Antaheen Specials:

1. Director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury(directed his seconf film)
2. Aparna Sen with her writer husband Kalyan Ray for the first time in a movie
3. Rahul Bose is back to share screen space with Aparna Sen for the first time (He worked under the “director” Aparna before in 3 films)


Brief Review:
Just like the first film by Aniruddha Roy Chowchury – Anuranan, his second venture brings back another unique story/drama in Bengali Cinema that revolves around Kolkata, the daily life, relationships and so on. The film Antaheen revolves around 3 couples. Aparna Sen plays the role of a successful career woman; Rahul Bose plays the role of a cop. The film tries to capture the diffect states of human relationships -

1. Mita and Shauvik – married but they don’t love each other
2. Aparna Sen and Kalyan Roy – they are separated but still loves each other
3. Rahul’s Unt Sharmila Tagore lives by herself – still she is not alone. She shares some common things with Rahul. She gets close to some unknown caller who would call her numerous times a day.
4. Rahul Bose – an introvert cop but overly romantic Bengali guy. He starts chatting with someone and comes close to his chat-mate.
5. Radhika – a journalist with unique identity – She is the Chat-Mate of Rahul. She also works under Aparna Sen at Star Anand

Antaheen has been shot mostly in Calcutta. “It’s about relationships and the role gadgets play in relationships. People are facing various difficulties on their life Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury brilliantly pick them and shown into this movie which we don't figure it out. There’s love, waiting, distance between two people and love that develops from a distance.” – the director said. We must all see the movie. During a period of romance and actions films flooding the Tollywood, Antaheen is simply like some frsh air. Unique in its treatment. Aniruddha Roychowdhury’s direction deserves merit. He previously made ‘Anuranan’ (Resonance), a film that dealt with urban relationships. It ends hitting the perfect note. There are many sub-plots in the movie and he handles most of them brilliantly. ‘Antaheen’ is very emotional movie and to sustain the emotional quotient till the very end is commendable. He also extracts great performances from the cast especially the newcomers. There is no doubt Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury will add some value un Bangla film industry infuter and of course he will have long career of Bengali Film direction.

‘Antaheen’ is a collage of love stories, without saying the most abused phrase in Hindi cinema ‘I love you’or in Bengali 'aami tomake bhalobashi' even once. Perhaps that is why I identified with it so much. The love shown here seems real, one that can happen in our lives and change them forever. Love comes in many different ways at various points of the lives of the characters in ‘Antaheen’. Love is watching Kolkata in the rains, a de-familiarized landscape. Love is Persian poet Rumi’s love poem written on the glass divider and rain drops falling on it. Love is talking about a kite trapped in an antenna. Love is also patiently waiting for the phone to ring so that one can hear the voice of the unknown caller. Love is also a phone call to one’s separated wife and requesting her if he can come over and stay with her for a few days just to feel that emotional attachment and the sense of belonging. Love is also a nod from a busy and indifferent businessman to his servant to give his wife medicine, when she suffers from migraine.
Moments like these make ‘Antaheen’. It is in all these fragments that we understand the totality of love in this film.

The editing compliments the cinematography perfectly. There are frames where the camera lingers on for couple of seconds more before its transition to the next scene which makes them extra special. The pace is slow. But that is ideal for a movie like this. It is almost a contrast to the fast paced urban life in the movie. I think the slow pacing is deliberate to bring out the pathos of loneliness in the middle of urbanity.

The soundtrack of ‘Antaheen’ is awesome! The songs with their picturization are special, especially ‘Jao Pakhi’ and Pherari Mon. Also, the songs merge into the narrative very smoothly.

Talking about performances, Antaheen has a stellar star cast with performers like Aparna Sen, Sharmila Tagore and Rahul Bose. There are also two debutants, Radhika Apte and Kalyan Roy. Let’s talk about the debutants first. Both Radhika Apte and Kalyan Roy are phenomenal. They are so good that one forgets about Aparna Sen and Rahul Bose although they have similar screen time as the debutants. Radhika Apte’s eyes speak a thousand words. Her performance is one of the most spontaneous performances in recent times. Kalyan Roy as the laidback, separated husband who loves books, foreign wines and Sensex is equally brilliant. It is the star performers who falter to an extent. Rahul Bose is his usual self. Also, his one dimensional character didn’t help. Aparna Sen on the other hand has an interesting role. I don’t think she played a corporate lady before. It was a new look for her too. Yet, she looks a tad tired with her performance. Sharmila Tagore is wasted in a small role. Except one scene where she talks about her story, all she does is bring Jasmine tea.
The biggest flaw of the movie is the endorsements which keep coming in almost every frame of the movie like a pop-up. It becomes an irritant and makes some scenes a laughing stock. Also certain scenes went a little overboard and became melodramatic. Rahul Bose quoting Jim Morrison in a hostage situation is hard to digest.
The movie becomes the journey of all the characters on a self discovery trip and long for love. Some end alone, some together. But the longing remains.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Jumping Jack-iPhon Application

Jumping Jack We dont know anything about Jack. All we know is that jumping is his second nature. So take charge of his outrageous long jumps as he springs all the way up and beyond! How to Play ...