Click to play videoCast: Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Shyan Munshi, Soumitra Chatterjee, Raima Sen
Direction: Anjan Dutt
There's very little to like about this week's new release The Bong Connection, and my problems start with the film's title.
The word 'bong' is an extremely tiring stereotype, one that's been used far too often and never in a flattering light.
The film itself, directed by Anjan Dutt, seems to lack a cohesive and coherent plot. It's about two young men, and their search for a better life. Parambrata Chattopadhyay plays Apu, who leaves Kolkata for the US.
He's tired of his life in this dead city and intends to make it big in America. Shayan Munshi, meanwhile plays Andy, a Bengali boy who moves from New York to Kolkata, hoping to pursue a career in music, and also to renew his bond with his paternal family.
Now to this mix, add one oversexed Bangladeshi taxi-driver who makes out with an assortment of American strippers, a gay roommate who likes to fool around with his lover with his door wide open, a shreiky aunt who spends pretty much the entire film howling at the top of her lungs, and veteran actor Soumitra Chatterjee wasted in the role of a paralysed grandpa who doesn't move an arm in the film - quite literally... It's very simple really, the film doesn't work because it's full of cliches that we've seen a hundred times before.
In all honesty, The Bong Connection models itself after Hyderbad Blues but without all the spontaneous humour!
There are about one or two good scenes in the film, and they all involve Shayan Munshi and his uncle. Of the actors, the only one who leaves a mark is Raima Sen, who plays Apu's girlfriend. Raima is spirited and feisty and she's an absolute natural on screen.
It's to her credit that she makes an impression even though the character she plays isn't exactly dynamic. Also, someone please tell me what's with Victor Banerjee's embarrassing accent - it's not exactly American, and it vanishes every now and then.
Of course, the biggest tragedy is the manner in which they completely underutilise an actor of the calibre of Soumitra Chatterjee.
I'm going to go with two out of five for director Anjan Dutt's Bengali film, The Bong Connection, it's not entirely unwatchable, but it's not a film you're going to remember even five minutes after you've left the cinema.
Rating: 2 / 5 (Average)
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