Arjun Chakraborty’s directorial debut Tollylights does full justice to the phrase zara hatke through script, treatment and perspective. Tollylights explores the glitzy and seamy side of the film industry. It focusses on the changes in the lives of its two protagonists, Abhi (Arjun Chakraborty) and Krisnakali (Sreelekha Mitra.) When the film opens, Abhi is already into films, assisting directors and waiting for the big break for his first film. Krishnakali, on the other hand, is the younger bahu of an extended family rooted in tradition. Her husband pushes her into a film. Once her film becomes a hit, she refuses to quit. She is driven out, attempts suicide and begins a live-in relationship with an ageing and married actor. Abhi tries to cope with his failure to convince a producer with his script. Between these two stories, the film winds its way through the narrow alleys, the nooks and corners of the film industry, the corridors of power, fame and money, the casting couch, money squandered at the races, actors performing at philanthropic functions, a forgotten singing actress of yester-year reduced to penury and so on.

Technical expertise:
The film runs along two parallel tracks - one between the present, the past and back, and the other between shots in front of the camera linked to similar situations in Krishnakali’s real life and back. It is an unusual structure that fits into the jump cuts and razor-sharp ups and downs in the lives and loves of film people. The narrative cuts into Krishnakali’s husbands’ and parental homes, exploring the polarised reactions of different family members to her fame. Contrary to families often converted to satellites and parasites when a member becomes a film star, they sever all connections with Krishnakali. A brilliant scene is an interaction between Abhi and a forgotten star, as she unspools the tragedy of her life. Geeta Dey gives the best performance of her career. Arjun cuts it with a song in flashback with the old lady as a young actress and the entire orchestra moving with her along with the boom and the mike. This invests a light touch into an otherwise heavy-duty film. Amitabh Bhattacharya does a brief cameo excellently. “I’ll throw you in the gutter” reprimands an angry Debji (Abhishek Chatterjee). “I am already in the gutter my friend,” says a sozzled Amitabh, summarizing the film industry in one pithy line, albeit under the influence. Abhi and Krishnakali share a beautiful platonic relationship but do not fall in love.
Shoumik Haldar’s cinematography effectively captures the volatile moods of the film. The still shots of the commercial frozen in a montage suggesting the breakdown of Krishnakali’s marriage without the use of dialogue or music, is telling. As the screen comes alive, in a strikingly beautiful montage of archival shots, first in Black-and-White and then in colour, the audience gets a preview to a brief history of Bengali cinema. The camera cuts to zero in on Mithun Chakrabarty, a top star, facing the camera for a Swapan Saha film. The two dance numbers performed for a charity programme fall flat on their faces, thanks to Sreelekha’s ample thighs and Abhishek Chatterjee’s two left feet. The choreography is really bad but Tejendra Narain’s music is beautiful on the sound track but not very good in the contemporary songs.

Sreelekha brings alive the pain of emotional betrayal by her husband, parents, lover, lucidly while Arjun is restrained as the man sucked into the vortex of a world he cannot get out. The supporting cast has done equally well except Barun Chanda who’s anglicized Bengali cuts into the character of a man who does jatra. For a niche audience, Geeta Dey could be the film’s unique USP. A few warts notwithstanding, Tollylights speaks well of its director, and closes beautifully on a note of hope.
Rating:
Two stars for Geeta Dey, one for Sreelekha and one for the director.