Feluda and his cousin Topshe goes to Lucknow with Topshe's father to
spend the Puja vacation. They arrived at the house of Dhirendra Kumar
Sanyal, a friend of Topshe's father. That evening ...
Director: Sandip Ray
Writers: Sandip Ray (screenplay),
Satyajit Ray (novel)
Stars: Dwijen Banerjee,
Paran Banerjee,
Biswajit Chakraborty |
Storyline :
Feluda and his cousin Topshe goes to Lucknow with Topshe's father to
spend the Puja vacation. They arrived at the house of Dhirendra Kumar
Sanyal, a friend of Topshe's father. That evening Dr. Shrivastav also
came to Dhirendra Kumar Sanyal and tells him about last night, a thief
tried to steal his 'Ring of Aurangzeb' (The Emperor's Ring) which was
given to him by Pyarilaal Seth. After the incident Dr. Shrivastav has
been afraid and asks Dhirendra Kumar Sanyal to keep the ring safe.
Dhirendra Kumar Sanyal agreed and keeps the ring to his home. But
someday the ring goes missing from there. Then Feluda and Topshe started
investigation for the culprit. Meanwhile, Feluda meets an interesting
person in doctor's neighborhood, Mr. Bonobihari Sarkar. Bonobihari babu
has ferocious and poisonous creatures like crocodile, African tiger,
hyena, rattlesnake, scorpion and black widow spider in his own home.
Feluda also meets Mahavir, late Pyarilal's son and a film actor who
believes a foul play ...
Badshahi Angti Movie Reviews :
Sandip
Ray's previous Feluda-venture 'Royal Bengal Rahasya' (2011) was no less
than a masterpiece. And considering the book 'Badshahi Angti' is one of
the best Feluda adventures ever, I was expecting this to become the
best Feluda-movie of all-time. But the overall experience left me
discontented.
The film was essentially a tale of two halves. The
1st half was almost a disaster. One of the hall-marks of the Ray-films
are the adrenalin- pumping openings, aided with pulsating background
music. But since RBR, Ray has inexplicably decided to do away with these
2 USPs of his films. While these were the only drawbacks in RBR, here
it spoils the mood to such an extent that it never gets recovered until
post-interval. It's not that there weren't any options. From Pierilal's
death to the burglary in Dr. Srivastav's house, there were possibilities
galore; but the director simply didn't show any interest!
The
intro-scene of the new Feluda-&-Topshe is well-shot. But after that
the entire episode involving Dr. Srivastav and the 'ring' is narrated
through simple dialogues for 10-15 minutes, which is not just boring but
also tough to follow! There should have been some use of flash-backs or
graphic depiction of the history of the ring (as in 'Gorosthane
Sabdhan') to add some element of interest. Even after that, the 'Bhool
Bhulaiya' is another letdown. Some of the long-shots are digitally
implanted which don't evade the eye. Things pick up from the visit to
Banabihari Babu's residence; but that's not enough to salvage the 1st
half.
Just when I had resigned to this being another
disappointment from Ray after 'Jekhane Bhooter Bhoy' (2012), the man
engineers a stunning comeback in the 2nd half! It becomes an altogether
different film post- interval with the events picking up pace and the
mystery thickening. The audiences are forced to apply their brains all
through or else they run the risk of losing track... just as it should
have been from the start. It seemed the director had finally rose from
his slumber after snoozing all through the 1st half!
The
cinematography is one of the high-points of the film as it captures all
the myriad beauties of Lucknow and Haridwar in all its splendor
(Although the detailed closeups of the Galouti Kebab and Biriyanis were
comical!). The VFX of the animals are satisfactory by Tollywood
standards.
Cast-wise, Abir Chatterjee's pre-built image as
Byomkesh makes it all the more easy to accept him as Feluda. Sourav Das
as Topshe could have been better, while Paran Bannerjee is a revelation
in perhaps the strongest role of his career! It's only Tathagata who
manages to stand out among the rest of the cast. Special mention must be
made of Dwijen Bannerjee whose particular casting was a masterstroke!
The
film is a clean-&-simple family entertainer; but not a proper
suspense-thriller. Although the director continues with the whodunit
format, the eventual disclosure of the culprit won't come as any
surprise to anyone (unlike RBR). It's because just 2 of the wide-bevy of
characters are properly cultivated and developed. Hence, the other
characters don't arise any kind of suspicion, which is unlike the novel.
This is one of the few stories featuring Topshe's father and I had
hoped for his interactions with Feluda-&-Topshe to be explored a bit
more.
This isn't Ray's best Feluda-film by any stretch (even
'Kailashe Kelenkari' and 'Tintoretor Jishu' were better films for their
times); but it's far better than his non-Feluda flicks like JBB or
'Chaar'. What's worrying is that the man has turned an outstanding novel
like BA into just a moderately good film. Hence, when he adapts a
not-so-good 'Gangtoke Gondogol' up-next, one must really keep their
fingers crossed for the end-result...!
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