{"id":4574,"date":"2018-10-25T15:20:51","date_gmt":"2018-10-25T09:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=4574"},"modified":"2018-10-26T05:53:26","modified_gmt":"2018-10-26T00:23:26","slug":"manojder-adbhut-bari-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/manojder-adbhut-bari-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Manojder Adbhut Bari \u2013 A Whiff of Fresh Air"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Manojder Adbhut Bari<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

How relevant can a children\u2019s novel written four decades ago remain in the age of Avengers, Transformers and Super-heroes? As a literary text it is highly debatable indeed considering the fact that reading as a habit has steadily waned over the last decade or so. Bengal has a rich literary culture and particularly a legacy of popular children\u2019s fiction in the vernacular language. The natural extension to this literary legacy could have been children\u2019s films. Unfortunately that has not been the case till date and children\u2019s films are hard to come by. Satyajit Ray\u2019s Felu-da stories however is one genre which gets repeated with a fair precision, thanks to Ray\u2019s son Sandip. The other writer whose fame among the young minds is sky high is Sirshendu Mukherjee. There have been a few attempts to translate his children\u2019s stories into films \u2013 notable being Rituparno Ghosh\u2019s first feature Hirer Angti<\/em> apart from others\u2019 ventures including Patal Ghar<\/em>, Chhayamoy<\/em> and Gosain Baganer Bhoot<\/em>. Unlike most other writers, Sirshendu\u2019s style involves an ensemble of characters mostly set in a \u2018mofussil\u2019 town or any quaint Bengali village. It is by the power of his pen, like many great literary giants of the language, that Sirshendu could make the urban, elite, and sophisticated young Kolkatan associate himself or herself with the simple, rustic characters of his stories.<\/p>\n

In this context when the psychological shift over the last decade or so has been paramount it is of some interest and importance to understand if a story published in 1978 can be relevant in 2018 or it will just pass away as a whiff.\u00a0 Sirshendu\u2019s \u2018Manojder Adbhut Bari\u2019,<\/em> the exceedingly popular novel is a difficult text to filmise precisely because of its plethora of cameo characters who all add value to the buildup. Their minimalistic presence in the original text is justified within the contours of literature but in the context of cinema they may become placid if left to their meager little background and active actions. Director Anindya Chatterjee hence had to make some modifications, getting rid of a few minor characters, adding one of two of his own to the benefit of the narrative though he maintained the literary progression of events as well as the essence of it to the tee.<\/p>\n

Among the different distributaries of his literary genre, Sirshendu\u2019s apparent innocent storylines have a few repeating characters \u2013 a police chief, a religious sadhu may be a tantric guru, dacoits, petty thieves, domesticated ghosts, a scientist along with some of his innovative inventions and so forth. For this film the director hand-picked a few such trademark situations and characters in line with this milieu even if they weren\u2019t there in the original text like the petty thief doubling up as an insurance agent. Even the convenient forgetfulness of Manoj\u2019s father who always boasts about his memory and eventually jeopardises his dialogues during the rehearsals of a forthcoming theatre production is an intelligent addition to the main plot. However the crow incident in its entirety and the reference of Manoj\u2019s youngest uncle who is a scientist isn\u2019t fleshed out sufficiently well. The scientist himself isn\u2019t well conceived and in the climax his inclusion with his invention \u2013 \u2018Goriman\u2019 is quite stale in comparison with the rest of the film. By changing the original \u2018Goriman\u2019 (a mix of Gorilla and Hanuman) to a more human incarnate the director created a feeling of awe and fear associated with Frankestein rather than the comic one associated with an ape. Similarly the 3 musicians who were captured by the dacoits didn\u2019t mix well even as a subplot though the purpose of the sequence to introduce the missing prince as a converted dacoit is well understood.<\/p>\n

\"Manojder

The aged queen of a dilapidated palace earns a living by selling cow-dung cakes<\/p><\/div>\n

One basic premise of Sirshendu\u2019s stories in their humble settings that remains as an undercurrent is the importance of nonsense in our daily lives. By taking life less seriously than one may assume, his characters are more often than not happy-go-lucky simpletons. That is why one finds a police chief often reduced to a mere human with frailties and fear, a music teacher who is filled with self-pity for not achieving the musical excellence he thrives for, a teacher who is able to teach only when seated in a particular posture or an aged queen who has to sell cow-dung cakes to earn a living. Sirshendu\u2019s stories in general and \u2018Manojder Adbhut Bari\u2019 in particular have no villains as such. Even the dacoits have a humane side, an ulterior benevolent aspect to their apparent misdemeanor. In this circus of life we find unexpected strength of character of unusual personalities. That is why the old aunt of Manoj\u2019s father whom everyone refer to as \u2018Thakurjhi\u2019 has an iron shield to her veneer \u2013 she uses it not only to discipline the inmates of the family but also while dealing with outsiders, from a petty thief to the police chief.<\/p>\n

\"Manojder

Detective Barada Charan and his assistant<\/p><\/div>\n

In the same vein most of Sirshendu\u2019s stories also have the sublime recurrent theme of timid people rising to glory by miniscule triggers and situations. This is why Bhoju Bajaru, the second uncle of Manoj overwhelms himself to lead a pack of dacoits forgetting the daily ignominies he suffers from his own people. Probably the film portrays Bhoju Bajaru as a not so reticent person as a result his sudden transformation while holding a pistol doesn\u2019t have the same connotation as the one experienced while reading the original text. But these are minor aberrations in a thoroughly enjoyable film.<\/p>\n

Acting in an ensemble cast of almost eccentric people entangled in a weird mesh of events is indeed challenging. Most of the actors do justice to their reputation. However Bratya Basu as Detective Barada Charan shines out with his supreme comic timing and delectable wit. He will make the informed audience remember some of the stalwart comic actors and roles of Bengali cinema.<\/p>\n

The background score and the songs of the film (specially the hilarious courtesan dance sequence \u2018O Go Luchi\u2019) are mostly well presented. The build up to the sequence of the prince-turned-dacoit\u2019s return to the palace is a bit hackneyed but in the final sequence the film does live up to its expectation and ends rather nicely. The credit must go to the director since most of the children\u2019s films and also the ones based on Sirshendu\u2019s stories start off well but end in a whimper. Anindya Chatterjee’s faithfulness to the literary text and his expertise in the craft of transcreation ensured that the film sailed steadily and ended well.<\/p>\n

\u2018O Go Luchi\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n