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.

Waited for this since it was a rumor. Liked the end product.

Theme: Its an adventure movie. 90% of the movie is shot in either wild or desert. Chander Pahar is the story of a young Bengali man's adventures in Africa in the years 1909-1910. Shankar Roy Chowdhury, the protagonist, is a 20-year old man, recently completed his FA(graduation) and about to take up a job in a jute mill, a prospect he absolutely loathes. He yearns for adventure, wild lands, forests and animals. He wants to follow the footsteps of famous explorers like Livingstone, Mungo Park, Marco Polo, all of whom he has read about and idolizes. By a stroke of luck, he secures a job as a clerk in Uganda Railway through a fellow villager already working there and goes to Africa without a second thought.

Character development: The character of Shankar is drawn very well. His transformation from a Bengali village boy to a wanderer is drawn very carefully. Two things made it possible i.e. make-up and Dev's somewhat mature acting.

Direction: The director first gets a nod for daring to make such a movie. Then he again gets a nod to make Dev act. Non-linear narration was used to tell the story. He took artistic liberty to tweak few story points. At times actors took time to react to their environment which should have been taken care of. Man vs. Wild scenes are very well captured and they are a treat to your eyes. The thrill and excitement is very well built and executed. He gets nod for creating few edge-on-the seat action scenes. Still more work should have done Dev's expressions. Why is he smiling in almost all scenes?

Cinematography: This and this only makes all sins made by Dev go away. Beauty of Africa, wild animals, chase scenes are very well executed.Hats off to the DOP Soumik Haldar.

Acting: Dev tries and tries very hard. Till he's accompanied by Alvarez he poses an immature look on his face and casual approach to situations around him. May be its intentional to make his character feel more out-of-place without Alvarez or its his weakness. Still, till Alvarez is alive he at times appears annoying. Gerard Rudolf as Deigo Alavarez did a very commendable job. Very good acting by this gentleman. Kudos to him.

Songs and background score: Only one song and I did not like it. Background score was apt to the mood of the scenes and never overwhelms the scene.

Editing: The dialog parts are too slow for the high paced movie like this. Editing could have been more good. Few unnecessary scenes are kept which can be removed. Specially the scene where Shankar Alvarez gets to meet three Masai tribe members in wild. This is an important part of the book but when pictured this scene does not add any value to the move. One or two more scenes like this could have been edited.

Entertainment value: Apart from the occasional slowness this a very good adventure movie. Full of African wild animals and edge-on-seat thrill. I would recommend this.

Verdict: Tollywood never did an adventure movie. Did not do in India and leave alone Africa. But the director and more-over the producers took the risk to do the impossible. The risks were great. What if it tanks, what if it does not live up to the expectation of people. Making movie from a classic is always a risky business. Still they braved this and we get a very good Christmas present in the form of a movie. Should you watch it? Why not? Most of us had read the book and imagined the locations in our mind. This is a dream-come-true for all of us. The director does not cheat us here. If not 100% but I would say 80% of your thirst would be quenched. Yes Dev hams at the beginning of the movie but later he throws a good acting example. Ask me, I liked what I had seen. A warning, don't expect much as VFX from a movie whose total budget was 15 crore.

Chander Pahar: The Movie

Huge disappointment. Way worse than expected.

The movie started out good with great visuals, direction, cinematography. The first half was somewhat good. Dev was actually pretty good then. VFX wasn't that good, but not bad either.

Then arrived the second half. Oh my god. It was total down slope then onwards. The acting, the dialogues, the direction, everything came crashing down. And then it was actually just another Indian movie hopelessly trying to level with Hollywood.

And the VFX. They were terrible. They used unnecessary VFX, and very poorly executed ones. I mean, why spend 2.5 crores for making scenes which were never even in the book, and make them look horrible? Why couldn't they just show what little was there in the book, and make them look good?

And why did they show Bunyip? It wasn't even there in the book even. If they stuck with the book, we wouldn't have had to see the horrible 3D avatar of Bunyip. The volcano scene, too, was as bad.

And Dev's acting. It started out good, ended kinda good, but the middle part was worse than we expected.

The real winner in this movie was the cinematography. Yes, the teleportation to Africa did happen. And it was amazing.

However, they did put a lot of effort & dedication in the movie, and it showed. It might not turn out to be a modern day classic, but it will definitely be remembered for many years to come. And not just for good reasons.

3/5

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........................