Chander Pahar

Chander Pahar was a movie that made me repent about the following:

1. Why did I not read the book as a kid?

2. Why did I underestimate Dev the actor?

3. Why did I assume Kamaleshwar Mukherjee Movies will be too artsy for comfort?

4. Why did I think a Bengali film made on a budget of 15 crores can never match a Hollywood movie, forget getting close to even a Bollywood one?

I was wrong on all counts and how!

Ever since the movie opened with an eagle soaring through the skies and swooping down on Africa, I was stunned into submission and since then, the first cinematic adaptation of the iconic Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay's 'Mountain of the Moon' / 'Chander Pahar' managed to catch my attention over and over again... with me actually wishing the movie was not over!

Several sequences stood out for their cinematic execution – The desolate station and its nature loving station master Shankar captured against the various hues of the African skies, the roaring lion about to intimidate its prey, the Black Mamba slithering into existence, Shankar crossing over a devilishly deep chasm in a attempt to rescue Alvarez (played aptly by Gerard Rudolph) from a pack of Hyenas and cheetahs, the perilous hikes across the mountains, the desolate desert where you could no longer distinguish between hunter and prey, the excavation of caves of desire and what it was about to yield, and last but not the least the final farewell of a trusted friend. Every single sequence seamlessly added to the overall narrative while managing to retain its individualism.

Be it Dev the actor who grew by leaps and bounds (literally!) as he sprinted into the film with a heart firmly in place, or the director and his brilliantly astounding team – Cinematographer & DOP Soumik Halder, editor Raviranjan Maitra, or for that matter the Art Director, Set Designer, Costume Designer, and Action Director – all of them effectively brought to life the effective and engaging script and screenplay, aided by some haunting background score by Indradeep Dasgupta.

To be honest, the movie was not as perfect as Mackennas Gold, Indiana Jones, or The Life of Pi - far from it! But just as the protagonist Shankar wished to lead a life as adventurous as that of David Livingstone, Mungo Park, and Marko Polo, Shree Venkatesh Films helped ensure that this movie could be counted as an extraordinary successor to the movies listed above for its sheer audacity in bringing to life an extraordinary tale of action adventure from early 19th century Bengal.

In hindsight, the protagonists weren't the best of actors around. But what they lacked in skill, was compensated by a tremendous self belief and determination that showed, and had me rooting for the roles they portrayed.

To borrow a line from the movie itself, 'its better to travel well than to arrive' which is why I can say with pride and certainty that that this is not just the best ever action / adventure / fantasy movie to have come out of Bengal, but also one of the best of its kind to ever be made in India. After a long time, it's time again to say, and hope, that what Bengal things today, India shall think tomorrow. I would rate it an 8 as a film that warrants a repeat viewing and give it an extra star for being the best ever example of its genre from India to close it as a 9/10.

P.S: You will, like me, enjoy the film irrespective of whether or not you have read the book. But then, I am anyway going to after watching the film... What about you?

After the brilliant Meghey Dhaka Tara, director Kamaleshwar Mukherjee has pulled off another masterpiece. At this point in time, I regard him as the best current Bengali director, a couple of notches above Srijit Mukherjee.

I know this is not a fashionable opinion I hold. I almost did not watch this movie after reading some reviews on certain Bengali movie websites. I realize now that I should not have taken those reviews seriously, since they reflected a typically strange attitude - that Dev cannot act. First of all, I think Dev acted wonderfully in this movie. Second, this movie is not only about Dev - that would make it more like a 3rd class Hindi movie which has no substance but the cheap pull of its leading man. That would be a insult to a director of Mukherjee's calibre.

I don't want to reveal too much about this movie - so I wont go into details. I would request people to watch this movie - and make up their own minds. Let me put it simply, without revealing too much.

I will compare it to 2 recent movies which received better reviews - Satyanweshi by Rituparno Ghosh and Mishar Rahashyo by Srijit. In both those movies, I fell asleep at various points - especially in the turgid effort by Srijit with its high faluting moralizing and lack of pace and punch. In this movie, I was drawn to the action from start to end - the pace never slackened, the next event never became apparent, and the story never dulled.

Proloy was another great movie made recently - but this is the best Bengali movie of 2013.

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Mountains of the Moon come to reel. One of the best movies made lately. It is one of my favorite escapade hardback and I am really happy with its reel product The movie is a true gem and bids extensive detailing of African biota. Director adds some of his own accounts to the story which is something new, which could have been edited but still it doesn't matters to you in the end. You'll actually love it.

Acting: Dev has a done fabulous job. The character of Shankar is drawn very well by him. Especially the last 15 minutes, he has done his best till date. It seems that he was made for this role. Gérard Rudolf does a praiseworthy job, loved him as Diego Alvarez.

Direction: Salute to the director, Mr. Kamaleswar Mukherjee for being audacious to make such a movie. He is the one who bring to us Dev in an innovative way and makes Gerard Rudolf speak Bengali in a Portuguese accent.

Cinematography: Soumik Halder does it yet again. Every bit of scenes he captured, from the landscapes to the chased thing, he made us Teleport to Africa.

Sound: I liked the Background Score but it could have been better for such a paced film. The song at the end credits is too average.

VFX: The worst part of this delight. When they can spend such a big amount, they could have spent some more for the VFX. The computer generated Volcano was bad and the Buniyp was terrible.

Verdict: A Bengali movie is up over the moon with this production. They went directly to Africa which is truly a daring task to attempt. Kudos to that!! Make it a success for the entire Chander Pahar team, Go and watch it. It's a must watch one. 4.5/5 for sure!

Chander Pahar............

Its really a journey if I forget Deb If I forget Bibhutibhusan and if I forget Kamaleshwar..Its still a journey for a Bengali movie to have come this far and a must watch for any Bengali...Animations are amateur no doubt but still the amount it has shown is a great leap for Bengali movie. The story line has been maintained around 80 percent with some overthrown because of infrastructure and difference in the art form. Deb has come a long way from what we know of him......But still I feel some other would have gone far in critic sense but in commercial angle Deb has been viable.

Music and background score is good.But the editing has not been up to the mark with us feeling bored at the end of first half. Alvarez was excellent except the language with which he decides to speak... Bunip was a poor creative...but the lion scenes excellent .. A good effort and a new market that could take Bengali movie to great heights and can make many of our Bengali classics commercially viable.... Cant give less than 4 out of 5 as a Bengali........................

Despite several accusations on the village-minded acting of DEV, it was a right decision to go and watch Chader PAHAR at first day. The movie had a irregular graph of suspense, several ups and downs, still it managed to glue me to my sit for the whole 150 minutes.

Rightly predicted by Kamaleswar Mukherjee, this movie will drag the standards of tollywood to one level up. Beautiful landscapes of South Africa & Mount Kilimanjaro are added flavor to the epic story-line, which has been nostalgia among Bengalis irrespective of age group.

Loved the presence of Gerard Rudolf as Diego Alvarez, boosted the reality in the movie, and I missed the voice of Sabyasachi Chakraborty as a narrator, which had been perfect, considering the fact that jungle is his specialty. Also the background score could be better.

But all in all, a must watch movie to see the hard work Chader Pahar team has put to make this a success. Viva, montanha da lua !