{"id":5176,"date":"2019-08-19T06:25:42","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T00:55:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=5176"},"modified":"2019-08-19T10:18:43","modified_gmt":"2019-08-19T04:48:43","slug":"shantilal-o-projapoti-rohoshyo-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/shantilal-o-projapoti-rohoshyo-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Shantilal O Projapoti Rohoshyo: A Character Study Disguised as a Detective Film"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shantilal O Projapoti Rohoshyo<\/em> poster<\/p><\/div>\n

Cast:<\/strong> Ritwick Chakraborty, Paoli Dam, Sanghasri Sinha Mitra, Ambarish Bhattacharya
\nRating:<\/strong> 3 and \u00bd stars<\/p>\n

This one\u2019s a rare bird \u2013 a \u2018detective\u2019 story on the surface but one that consistently breaks the tropes associated with the genre. This is not surprising given that when the film-maker first wrote it \u2013 his script of the film, then titled Ink<\/em>, was selected for the prestigious Sundance Screenwriters Lab in 2013 \u2013 he did not think of it as a detective film. It is also not surprising that Pratim approaches the material in the manner he does. His films have always been more than what you see. The edginess of Shaheb Bibi Golaam<\/em> and the quirkiness of Machher Jhol<\/em> camouflaged their essence. Ahare Mon,<\/em> for all practical purposes, is a love story, but dig a little deeper and you are aware that it\u2019s more a meditation on the loneliness of the human condition. So also Shantilal<\/em> \u2013 avoid the pitfalls of judging it by what you see on the surface and you realise that this is essentially a character study disguised as a detective film.<\/p>\n

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Shantilal (Ritwick Chakraborty) is a weather reporter at an English newspaper, The Sentinel<\/em> (Pic: Facebook)<\/p><\/div>\n

Shantilal (Ritwick) is a weather reporter at an English newspaper, The Sentinel<\/em>. By all accounts, he is trapped in a dead-end job, reporting on mundanities like \u2018The Heat Is On\u2019 (even though the met department says that the average temperature has been lower this particular summer). In nine years on the weather beat, he has had no by-lines (except for the time when Cyclone Alia came calling \u2013 but as he says wistfully to his mother, \u2018Storms don\u2019t come every day, do they?\u2019). One of the few pleasures of his life is his stack of porn DVDs and that\u2019s what leads him to a life-changing experience. One particular film catches his attention for the tattoo of a butterfly engraved on the actress participating in it. When he accidentally espies the same tattoo on the current heart-throb of the Bengali film industry, Nandita (Paoli Dam), who is contemplating a career switch to politics, Shantilal knows he is on to something big. What follows is his journey into the dark world of the snuff film and body doubles. A journey that takes him from Kolkata to Chennai and to Singapore, in search of Padma Pictures (one-time purveyors of porn who have now become producers of respectable \u2018family\u2019 entertainers) and the elusive Roshni (Sanghasri Sinha Mitra) with whom lies the secret of Nandita\u2019s past.<\/p>\n

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Paoli Dam as Nandita (Pic: Facebook)<\/p><\/div>\n

As befits a character study, the film is leisurely paced. Even as Shantilal goes through the motions of his life and then grows obsessed with the butterfly tattoo and the superstar, the film grows on you. The director draws you in, not with any hyper-kinetic action or blood or gore, but with the nuances that underlie the characters of Shantilal and Nandita and the way they evolve. In a film that has for all practical purposes just two characters, it helps that both Ritwick and Paoli are in top form. What a pleasure it is to see Ritwick in almost every frame of a film. Here\u2019s an actor who can make the simple gesture of placing his palm on his chin and looking out at the city go by while travelling in an auto speak volumes. Whether he is eavesdropping on a conversation of his more happening and cool colleagues at a restaurant or slyly negotiating the breaking news he has with his editor, you simply can\u2019t take your eyes off him lest you miss that understated gesture, that nod of the head.<\/p>\n