When a film's opening scene has a woman writing her last note before ending her life, you know the film's tone is going to be morbid. Yet, Srijit Mukherjee's latest Bengali film 'Chotushkone' is surprisingly charming and clever and manages to bring a smile or two on the viewers' face during its two-and-a-half hour run on the big screen.
'Chotushkone' is the story of four directors who embark on a journey to meet a prospective producer who has agreed to make a film with four stories directed by them. The only condition that the producer has made is that all the four stories have to include 'death' in one way or the other. Trina (Aparna Sen), Dipto (Chiranjeet Chakraborty), Sakyo (Gautam Ghose) and Joy (Parambrata) are all successful director-actors and are familiar with each other from before. While Trina and Dipto share a past together, Sakyo is the third wheel for the duo. Trina is also familiar to Joy who urges the trio to bury their past and come together for the ambitious project. While travelling to a quaint sea-side bungalow to meet the producer, their past is discussed and some revelations are made much to everyone's surprise.
It's a twisted plot with a very bumpy narrative -- with constant flashbacks merged with present day. But that works for the film immensely, as the viewer is engaged right from the beginning. While Srijit Mukherjee deserves applause for writing such a story, he actually scores more for his brilliant casting. There are some prominent Bengali actors playing cameo roles; and of course there are stalwarts like Sen and Chakraborty. All perform brilliantly and justify their roles well. Mukherjee's favourite Parambrata Chatterjee, who has worked with the director previously in two films, adapts to his character Joy well. As the slightly under-confident actor-director, Chatterjee makes Joy so lovable that you almost sympathise with him in certain scenes.
The star of the film, though, is Chiranjeet Chakraborty. Chakraborty, who ruled the Box Office in the Bengal film industry in the 1980s and 1990s, has been the face of commercial cinema for a long time. The actor is mostly associated to slightly over-the-top, melodramatic films that ruled Bengal in that era. In 'Chotushkone', he is out of his comfort zone, pitted against stalwarts like Sen and Ghose -- who are both doyens of the New Age and Art Cinema in Bengal-- but Chakraborty holds his own very well and plays the cynical, ageing superstar Dipto with absolute perfection. His scenes with Aparna Sen are perhaps the best moments of the film.
My only problem with the film was that there were certain sub-plots that seemed unnecessary in the story. Too many sub plots actually made the film a bit cluttered initially. But the director manages to connect them well in the end. Anupam Roy's music in Srjit Mukherjee's films has always been splendid, and the duo do not disappoint this time either.
A well thought-out story, brilliant set of actors and fabulous music to complement the story -- 'Chotushkone' is a bitter-sweet experience which engages you right from the first scene.
Ratings: 3.5/5
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