Nirontor

Biplab Sen (Prasenjit) and his much younger, new colleague Bhaskar (Satyam Bhattacharya) are on a trip to the high mountains to finalize a plot for a hotel project on behalf of their company. They are like chalk a cheese, Sen is mature, confident and in control of the situation, while Bhaskar is edgy, restless and impatient. In many days and nights they spend together on the trip, their relationship starts with contempt towards each other, but slowly warms up with each confessing to his own share of problems and explaining the philosophy of life. We are given to understand that Sen takes such trips to temporarily run away from his manic depressive wife, and Bhaskar has taken this trip to bolster the courage to introduce his wife from the north-eastern states to his super conservative family.

On the eve of their departure back to Kolkata, tragedy strikes. Young Bhaskar succumbs to a cardiac arrest and dies, leaving Sen distraught and unsettled. Whilst Sen does the needful to fly down the dead body of his colleague back to Kolkata, he avoids meeting Bhaskar's family and returns home. Sen bottles up his feelings inside, takes leave from his office and stays home with his unstable wife, and shares no details with her, until one day he discovers that Bhaskar's wife had given birth to a baby girl and was accepted into the latter's family. He realizes why Bhaskar hadn't mentioned about the fact that his wife was so close to childbirth and decides to go and meet Bhaskar's family, thus confronting his demons.

Nirontor is an arthouse production by Prasenjit himself, directed by Chandrasish Ray. It's slow, languid pace and brevity of the story balance the depth of human emotions, relationships and reactions to situations that arise in the film. Prasenjit is mellow and sensitive in his portrayal of Biplab Sen, a man who has had to deal with his wife's disintegration due to the inability to conceive. He uses the project tours as an opportunity to escape from a suffocating marriage, but attempts to rebuild the bridge with his wife after the tragedy reveals to him that whilst individuals may perish, life continues through others connected to them and must be lived responsibly. Satyam Bhattacharya makes a sound impact. Anita Majhi as the depressive wife battling her condition as well as the growing distance with her husband is sensitive too.

A generic art movie where you'd feel the movie is going nowhere. Eventually you get the point, but not before second chapter.

The movie seems to be divided into two chapters.

Not a must watch! But a good experience for someone looking for good cinema. Kudos to Bengali cinema for such profound effort.

"The sun will set and the sun will rise, and it will shine upon us tomorrow in our grief and our gratitude, and we will continue to live with purpose, memory, passion, and love."

Till last week I have watched the movie at-least 10 times. Read/view all the interviews related to this movie. Why so much obsessed? Well, listing one by one. 1. Amazed by the acting of Ankita Majhi, Satyam Bhattacharyya and Prosenjit Chatterjee. Especially the fresh acting of Ankita. 2. Beautiful cinematography by Soumik. 3. Somehow I can feel the style of storytelling by 'Late Rituparno Ghosh' in this movie. 4. Beautiful songs especially the last one. 5. Amazing direction.

A brooding film on two conversational journeys on birth and death that have their own scores to settle with longing, loneliness, depression and missed encounters. The cinematography is spot on; so are the performances. The seemingly inconsequential and recurrent scene with characters that do not and yet do feature in the storyline lingers at the end. In the field of cinematic vision which was marked earlier by the protagonist's eyes, we see a young couple, out for evening walk, planning a quick trip to the hills before the summer arrives. Going back and forth with shadows first preceding and then following them, they deftly touch the outer lining of the story we have seen unfold throughout the film from the inside. Nirontor can be watched on ZEE5.

The meaning of the Bengali word Nirontor is continuous i.e without interruption like human life. The film dives into a conversational journey about life, death, communication, love and responsibility throughout its running time.The story of the film although well written is merely an envelope to the narrative of this film. The narrative structure of the film builds up mainly on silence, blank frames which reminds me of Ceylan and Angelopoulos's narratives. The film mainly revolves around three characters of Bhaskar,Biplob and Jonaki played respectively by Satyam Bhattacharya, Prosenjit Chattopadhay and Ankita Majhi. The contrast in their characters and perspective towards life works beautifully to enhance the brilliance in storytelling. Prosenjit Chatterjee delivers a performance which really matches the minimalistic approach of the film. Satyam Bhattacharya in contrast to the character of Prosenjit has given a effortless performance and really fits into his character.Ankita Majhi has played a role of an woman with acute depression with maturity, inhibiting the role completely. The film explores serious issues in a subtle away i.e not being overdramatic and preachy. The characters make you realize that all of them have regrets, tears to hide but they are silently strolling around in their life despite this. No one cries or shouts in this film but you will equally feel their tear and anger even when they are silent. Chrandasis Roy has done wonders in his debut directiorial venture .Soumik Halder's brilliant camerawork captures every details and frames and makes you feel the immersive silence in the film. The film is definitely not a joywatch but surely it is surely a rich cinematic experience.