




Technical Expertise
Premer Kahini is a remake of the Kannada film Mungaru Male. Bengalis never watch Kannada films even on television so it is quite safe to borrow. Dev is an actor to watch out for. He is a rough diamond waiting to be polished specially in the emotional scenes when he has a change of heart. He desperately needs a makeover in looks, hairstyle, costume and body language. For the first time, Bengali cinema has a true macho hero waiting to deliver. Someone must tell Koel Mullick to tone down her mannerisms, her shrill voice and her overdose of dramatics when they are not needed. Her performance improves when things get serious. Ranjit Mullick is a complete misfit as the ex-colonel. Too many songs break the continuity of the film. The action scenes may not be a patch on Race or Dhoom2 but in terms of Bangla films, Dev is quite good at action.
Verdict
The ‘family’ scenes are sickeningly false and overdone. What takes one’s breath away are the beautiful backdrop and setting in a hill station. The film is 150 minutes long and snipping away 30 minutes of footage would have improved its quality.
One star for Dev and another for the picturesque backdrop.