Abohomaan

It is one of the gems which are made by Rituparno Ghosh. And this is the 3rd time i'm watching the movie. All the actors are brilliant and also a film which is very much relatable by everyone.

On the surface, 'Abohomaan' looked quite promising. I had only seen bits of it and expected something interesting as I liked some of Ghosh's works. So the movie starts off with an ailing director and his family dealing with the situation and their relationships. Then there's a sad actress who is on her way to visit. Soon after this tension builds between the characters...and that's it. The movie does not move beyond this.

Ghosh seems to have been inspired by 'Les Invasions Barbares' but his movie isn't near as effective. His direction and screenplay are below average. The cinematography is poor even though there are many photographic visuals. Only the art direction seems adequate. The editing is terrible. There is plenty of rambling on and the only bits that I enjoyed were the poetic recitations of Tagore. This is perhaps Ghosh's most boring movie.

Dipankar Dey delivers a transcendent performance, stealing the show with his restraint and quietness. He definitely more than manages to rise above the lacklustre writing while the rest of the actors' performances suffer mostly due to poor dialogue delivery. However, Ananya Chatterjee is competent.

'Abohomaan' has been one disappointing movie. It's hard to sit through such films while trying to stay awake.

ABOHOMAN is a movie which could have become another extra-marital tale out of Rituparno's arsenal but instead it leaves you spellbound. Rituparno created magic with an extremely powerful cast and a screenplay that can be well contested with any Hollywood movies of recent times. There has been a rumor that the movie is loosely based on the relationship between the stalwart Satyajit Ray and actress Madhabi Mukherjee but I think he has been able to manage a far more deeper channel of thought than just to please his audience with just a mere affair. We have seen a movie being portrayed inside a movie a lot of times but never have we been not able to understand the difference when one blends into the other. The way the character SHIKHA moulds into BINODINI and comes out of it, is just unimaginable as they possibly share the same pain without being born decades apart. Mamata Shankar playing the role of DIPTI creates an enigma that you cannot solve till the end. Holding the family together single-handedly while not compromising the value of good talent for the sake of family is something that keeps us stupefied and glued to our seats. Dipankar De once again proves to do more than justice to a role and yet again show to the world why ManikDa (Satyajit Ray) preferred him so much in his movies. Jishu Sengupta is perfectly sketched to fit the character of APRATIM which also means Beyond Comparison. A son going an extra step to share his father's personal affairs with the world with a niche that even surprises the father himself. The scene where the keyring drop out of the hand of an ailing Dipankar aka ANIKET and being picked by Jishu aka APRATIM is really beyond comparison. Rituparno has once again made us travel a whole new world of his own thoughts and expressions by just switching rooms. A prolific use of the word SOPHISTICATION added an extra wing to our flight of thoughts which starts taking off as the story evolves and finally flies away with winning accolades. I am none to decide whether a film should be called GOOD or BAD, but the sheer warmth and emotional influence that movie wraps us in is just APRATIM (Beyond Comparison).

In literature and films, there is no scarcity of plots on extra-marital affairs. It's used in many films like the way light is used to attract bugs. But there is another way to look at this plot. To discover the reality in it. Rituporno Ghosh brought this plot with an unconventional view to us.

I am not gonna go into details. Like Rituporno's most of the films, it carried me deep into the story. The screenplay had simultaneous scenes from two different timelines and it was so synchronous. The palpability of this whole film left me mesmerized.

Abohoman-- means flowing.... And the story keeps flowing, into the past, takes a peek at the present and goes back into the past again.. It is this fluidity which keeps the spirit of the film alive.. Right from the first scene, the comparison between the bygone days and the present day has been drawn.. Two parallel stories- one about the situation after the demise of world renowned film director Aniket dies and the other while shooting for his film Binodini...

According to tinsel town gossip this story was loosely based on the relationship between Satyajit Ray and Madhabi Mukherjee... But in this narrative Rituporno transcends the story to a greater height, make it more than a tale of scandal.. The dilemma between the characters, the personal journeys, everything has been portrayed with a certain glitz.

The two stories often get intermixed intentionally to obscure the boundaries between the characters of Sikha and Binodini. The acting has been top notch from all the actors,with a special mention to Dipankar Dey and Ananya Chatterjee..

This film is not above flaws,, and draws much from Rituporno's own earlier film The last Lear.. the editing has been lackluster with the dubbing not being proper,,.. But all this minor flaws can be overlooked considering the heart of the film.. Such type of films should be encouraged and it definitely deserved the National award.