Jaatishwar

When I started watching Jaatishwar, it did not strike me. It appeared dull, without any strong story line and probably a disappointment. Things started changing when Rohit (the lovelorn Gujrati guy who by now had left Kolkata to study Portuguese Colonial history in Humbolt Univeristy - my my !!) meets Kushal who recalls himself as Hensman Anthony reborn (and he indeed is)!

Little is known about Anthony Firingi who was born a Portuguese and adopted colonial Bengal as his home. He earned quite a bit of popularity as a poet and singer in the Bengali language during the early 19th Century. I don't know how much historically correct the account of the life of Anthony Firingi shown in the movie is, but the brilliance with which the stories of two different times are intertwined in the story telling is highly commendable. Especially the way the Kobi-r Lodai (Poet Duel) between Anthony and Bhola Moira mixes with a contemporary rock concert is memorable.

Overall the movie takes you through a journey of ages together, a journey of passion, poetry, devotion, music, love, desires and forgiveness. The music by Kabir Suman is probably the biggest strength which presents two different times in perfect harmony and melody. Sir, you simply rock!

Jaatishwar is a Bengali musical romantic drama. The plot mainly environs around the life of Hensman Anthony, a Bengali language folk poet. As the story traffics forward we get to know about the life stories of the other characters which were somewhat related to Anthony Firingee. There are many twists and turns in the story which I won't reveal for keeping the mysteries intact. I must say I am completely in love with the narration style of the entire flick with the magnificent melodies in between. Simply a prodigious director can depict the two periods running in parallel, the past and the present to pull the resemblances in between which makes the audience go awestruck.

Acting: This flick is actually the one of the best performances of Prosenjit Chatterjee. He conveys such a power-packed act in both the roles especially the character of Kushal Hazra is simply outstanding. No will dare to take a role in which individuals will start compare him for laying himself in Uttam Kumar's shoes. Jishu Sengupta has done a respectable job. Even I adored Swastika Mukherjee's role. Talking about the other credited casts we have Abir Chatterjee, Rahul Arunoday Banerjee, Mamata Shankar who are really good in their roles. I loved Ananya Chatterjee as Joggeshwari, it is short and stunning.

Direction: As I said before only a great director can portray such a wonderful narration. Though some scenes are a bit slow still it will not affect the entire film for sure. He has taken the best cast and best man for music and added his own ingredient and made it into a musical masterpiece. Srijit Mukherji's best after Baishe Srabon,for me.

Music: one word, Outstanding! It's a Kabir Suman show. Even the BGM by Indraadip Das Gupta adds a new feel to the movie.

Cinematography and Editing: Soumik Halder and Bodhaditya Banerjee - Sadhu Sadhu !!!

Verdict: I am really sad to see the empty seats of theaters. Please go watch #Jaatishwar. A must watch for all Bengalis, especially those who thinks it's a curse or do not feel proud for being the same. 4/5

I generally don't write any review. But the brilliance of this movie forced me to open up an account here to write a review of it. I won't discuss the story line in my review because EVERY Bengali should watch this movie. Watching the movie was like getting deeply intoxicated with drugs , a feeling which can only be felt deep down inside your mind and heart , but hard to explain in words. Like all Bengali who claims that it would take another 500 year to replace the "Jaatishwar song by Kabir Suman", similarly it would take some 100 years for Bengal industry to churn out a movie of this calibre. Truly this is Srijit and Prosenjit's best work till date. Suddenly i forgot "Prabir Roy Choudhury" as "Kushal Hazra" completely over shadowed him. I don't know how many times I have watched this movie so far. Even if I watch it , it doesn't quench my thirst to watch it again. Last but not least Kabir Suman is incomparable. The music will stay with me till I die.To conclude, I would say one thing,there are some movies which you need to watch before you die & Jaatishwar is the only movie of that category. Highly recommended, if you miss this one, you are surely missing something great. A movie that will stay with me till I die.

This movie is a tribute to 19th century Bengali folk music and its trace back to the time when the folk song was at its peek.Its an awesome concept as not much emphasis have been given on the subject.The story telling wise it made me really think that there was character name Anthony, and direction wise it is beautifully directed. The way the movie tells us about the emergence of the Bengali folk song culture is really beautifully depicted in a satirical phrase. Its such an important thing and I would personally feel that many researcher who are doing research on Bengali folk music may actually take a cue from this film. The way this movie depicts the journey from 19th century Bengali culture to this modern Bengali culture and of course the band culture is quite interesting. This one film really made me think that the subject have really been untold of, and to make such a marvelous film with such a delicate and sensitive subject kudos and hats off to the makers. I personally feel film like this can be source of inspiration to people who believes in music, live in music and pray for music. Again well deserve applaud or standing ovation no words van describe the feeling to SRIJIT MUKHERJEE,KABIR SUMAN,PROSENJIT CHATTERJEE AND OTHERS FOR MAKING SUCH A SPELLBOUND FILM.

Jatishwar - The best possible start of a year Tollywood can expect.

Surely Srijit's best work till date. The style of linking that old KOBIGAAN with today's BAND Performances, the way of using skip scene to relate between very two different generation of Bengali Music was just marvelous. Apart from those aspect ,maintaining a proper storyline with some subtle emotion and a sublime love story - he deserves accolades for that. About acting everybody was good to their part.Jishu looks and acts beautifully.But when Prosenjit is there and decided 2 act it is hard 2 notice anything else. Top notch performance by our own Bumba DA, it is at per with Moner Manush,Autograph,22e Shrabon if not something more. Now comes DA best part of this movie - Kabir Suman. Credit goes to Srijit to let him explore the Bengali music at his own will. Suman almost played with Bengali Music in this film. One moment we are in 18th century Kobigaan asor with Vola Moyra and within a blink we come down to psychedelic rock of Sidhu,Rupam. Total 22 song in this film and it finishes with "E Tumi kemon tumi" and "Jatiswar". It wouldn't be possible by any other person apart from Suman.

A treat to watch. A musical journey. A nostalgic representation of Bengali Music.