Kalpurush

There is this father-son conversation in the climax of 'KALPURUSH'. I quote the English DVD-subtitle version. Shumonto tells his father: "I may not have become someone, but when I see two people in love, I smile. And when I see someone eating alone, I cry." Ashvini, his father, replies wistfully: "I wish I could've lived my life like you did." These 2 lines, perhaps, comprise the gist of this new film by Buddhadev Dasgupta - director of teeny-weeny gems like 'Tahader Katha', 'Bagh Bahadur', 'Uttara' & 'Mondo Meyer Upakhyan' - which took nearly 3 years to reach the cinemas in India.

The film opens with a man called Ashvini following a younger man called Shumonto, who, we are told, is his son. It seems that the father is stalking - or haunting, rather - his son. As the film progresses and we meet Shumonto's ambitious wife, Supriya, and his mother, Koyel, who seems to be tied up with something in her past, we realise that the son is, indeed, haunted by his father who was a somebody. He was a successful doctor and they had this beautiful family, but something - or someone - comes in and this happy husband-wife-child drift apart. This drifting apart is too hard for these three to endure, and the son, we see, is unable to lead even a proper relationship with his wife.

I don't know of too many father-son films from Bollywood or other Indian language films. I've seen only Ramesh Sippy's 'Shakti' & Feroze A. Khan's 'Gandhi, my father'. Both were the powerful types with dramatic, sad endings. I've also seen 'Thevar Magan' & its Hindi remake 'Virasat', but they were different. KALPURUSH is drama, but not the powerful type. It is, like other Dasgupta films, creatively- photographed, dream-like, poetic & soft. This keeps the viewer absolutely un-prepared for the surprise ending, for the film hardly feels like a father-son film. It starts like a husband-wife story, creates the tension, goes to become a mother-son film, and then explains why it is so, why the son is so, what was his relationship like with his father, what happens to the father, the mother, what the son's wife does, and how the son carries on with his life.

It would be unfair to dub KALPURUSH strictly for Buddhadev Dasgupta fans. However, I do suggest that the viewers acquaint themselves with Dasgupta's films before going to see KALPURUSH. Dasgupta's films are often accused of having a near-invisible storyline. KALPURUSH is no different. It starts, too, in a very un-Buddhadev Dasgupta-ish way. Instead of bare landscapes of Puruliya & Midnapore, one sees the trams of Calcutta in the opening credits. It helps, though, for it is like - What is this, urban Bengal? Soon after this, the film turns typical Dasgupta. The rural Bengal, this time, are the scenic outdoor locales of coastal Orissa.

The actors are stupendous. Mithun Chakraborty is a legend. This is his second film with Dasgupta. He plays his age, suits the part, one just has to see him in this one. Rahul Bose is so silent one could feel the loss of his loser character. Sameera Reddy has looked good in just 3 films - 'Musafir', 'Migration' & 'Kalpurush'. I haven't seen 'Ami, Yasin ar amar Madhubala' so I can't comment on that. She better shift to the Bengali film industry. A mentor like Dasgupta would surely do her a lot good. Sudipta Chakraborty's Other Woman role is short, but long enough to bring in that right amount of glamour, desire & heartbreak. Labony Sarkar is natural with a capital N.

With the usual Buddhadev Dasgupta tropes in place, KALPURUSH is a visual treat. There are bare landscapes, dry leaves flying in the wind, haunting background score, mysterious folk artistes in even more mysterious costumes & masks, dilapidated, old buildings, and things rustic and antique. This time there is also the sea and an aeroplane flying right outside the open window. KALPURUSH is a film which needs to be seen.

Kalpurush is the movie of one who knows how to live life...he is representative of all middle class family man. He is not very successful in his profession or not in marriage life..but his magic is to handle the tremendous pressure which a patriarchal society has been given to. The movie is like visual fragments of memory. Director seems to tells us a most realistic story in very unreliable way.

The movie is ostensibly about a father and son and the parallelism in their lives. In reality, there is much too little substance in the story to merit a two hour movie. The director seems enamored with certain visual and musical metaphors. It will not be unkind to say that he does not spare a thought for the poor viewer who has taken two hours out of his life to watch his movie. The acting is uniformly poor, and the fact that none of the protagonists can speak the language unaccented makes it worse. But in the end, leaving aside the overindulgence in metaphors and camera angles and the poor movement, there is just nothing in the story or the dialog to hold an intelligent viewer's attention for longer than 30 minutes. A poor effort.

Watched such a soothing movie after a long time. Kinda movie, that brings tear in one's eyes, that leaves a soothing touch in one's mind- in one word made my weekend.

I was browsing in Hoichoi for a weekend watch. Found this movie under the 'Unconventional dramas' section. Saw Rahul Bose, one of my favorites, never disappoints me with his role play and good choice in movie, in the starred list. Also Mithun Chakraborty starred in the movie. What a father-son duo in cinema.

The movie starts with a tune of a flute, which comes over throughout the movie on multiple instances, and your heart aches for the tune, it blends perfectly with the sadness, innocence of the story and aches your heart without any reason. Shumonto, the son, is adult now. Father of two children. He has grown himself into an exceptional type. A calm, out of the wind type man. His father tries to reconnect with him after a long gap between their lives. Both men, passing their adulthood, share their common grounds and memories they preserved with much adoration.

The story was exceptional. It was not a one sided tale. Not a decisive one too. It simply shows life as it is. Didn't feel I was watching a drama, it felt like observing a great art. Felt I was roaming in Bohrompur, the vast greeneries, a car in a muddy road passing by me. Felt the tune of flute touching my every inch of skin. The Bengali home with their elegant vintage furniture, the first light of morning falling on the greenery of Bengal, 'jatradol' dancing in their costumes- were so captivating throughout the whole film. They had no dialogue, but cut them out, the art would be missing some vital parts.

This one is gonna be worth your time if you are a Bangla movie amateur. Serve yourself a cup of tea and enjoy, say bye to the busy, concrete life for 2 hours...

Let me start this review by saying it's my personal opinion and you may or may not like this movie, that's up to you. Kalpurush released in 2008 in India and I was just 14 years old then and it was a beautiful ,very pleasant and nostalgic period.Now, in 2020,I am 26 and going through a life full of ups and downs , challenges,hardles and then a bit of success and then again there is hardle and it goes on.In between all of this I watched Kalpurush and blown away.This is my first Buddhadeb Dasgupta experience. It's a father -son relationship drama with so many shades.We all have so many dreams and sometimes they sound funny but we still live in them because we love to have a dream ,we love to live,yes sometimes we just love to live. In a disturbing time we are living in right now and to make it even worse we are surrounded by pessimistic people; this movie is like oxygen. Each and every actor ,Be it under -utiliesd great Mithun Chakraborty or Rahul Bose or now retired Samera Reddy have done an extraordinary job but Chakraborty deserves a standing ovation among them.In minor but important roles Laboni Sarkar and Bidipta Chakraborty are fantastic. The movie runs through a non -linear antiplot structure with a number of metaphors that blurs the boundary between realism and fantasy . Cinematography by Sudeep Chatterjee captures the mood brilliantly whereas Raviranjan Moitra's editing makes the non linear structure much more impactful and not to mention background score by Biswadeb Dasgupta .The flute music took me to my childhood days.

Now , would you watch it ? If you are a Buddhadeb Dasgupta fan then you might have watched it so far otherwise it depends on your taste .If just typical masala entertainers are your cup of tea then there is 99% chances of getting bored but if you like to carry a movie with you for long after having watched , if you like slow -burners and feel the essence for so many years then never miss it.