Bhalobasa Bhalobasa is Ravi Kinnagi’s film. Kinnagi is the man who made magic with Saathi and gave Bengali cinema its new matinee idol, Jeet. The film broke all box-office records in Bengali cinema and its music is still top priority at festivals and film functions. So, when Kinnagi directs a film, people’s expectations are heightened. Does Bhalobasa Bhalobasa live up to them? Not really because the film is nothing compared to Saathi, in terms of the star-launch, it terms of its music and in terms of the film as a whole. Yet, it clicks because the storyline is original.
It is about a young boy, Sidhu (Himon) who loves his father but is fed up with the older man’s constant spoon-feeding the entire family. A successful businessman, the father (Sabyasachi Chakraborty) leads the family with an invisible iron hand. No one, except Sidhu, has problems with this control. His wife is content purging out her musical dreams in the Inside Out kitchen. His elder son is permanently relegated to the background. The daughter-in-law either paints her nails or does petit-point embroidery. The younger daughter practices her beautician’s lessons on the servant and the other members because Daddy Dear does not want her to work in or open a beauty parlour. The older daughter is constantly on the cell talking to her husband somewhere abroad. Sidhu leads a double life. He is the goody-goody boy at home, but outside, he has fun with his friends, drinking away to his heart’s content. Working in his father’s office is an embarrassment because his father has already given orders through the telephone. But then, Sidhu meets the beautiful, no-holds-barred, simple and honest Priya and his life changes forever. He makes two decisions - one, to choose his vocation and the other, to choose his life partner. However, when Priya arrives at their palatial mansion for a test-trial of seven days, Sidhu’s father’s genes show up in him and Priya refuses to marry him at the end of the week. What happens later is anyone’s guess. The unusual but practical storyline may turn out to be the major draw of the film.
Technical Expertise
Kinnagi’s films are also known for a memorable music score and lovely songs, thanks to music director S.P. Venkatesh. Frankly, the magic in music too is missing in this film. There are quite a few romantic songs between the young lovers and two song sequences were shot in Salzburg, Austria. But this does not add to the USP of the film. The beautiful Srabanti makes a comeback as Priya. She had to shed a few kilos to fit into the role but still looks much older than her hero. She is spontaneous and natural but is dressed up like a Christmas tree that goes against the grain of the character, a strong and honest young girl who is a happy departure from the usual stereotype. The boys who play Hiron’s cronies look more like goons than friends. But this is normal in any Bengali film. Sidekicks are hard to come by and are in terrible short supply in relation to demand. Hiron plays Sidhu with a constant frown on his face. He has screen presence but needs to polish his act before facing the camera again. Sabyasachi Chakraborty is rather ill-at-ease as the father while Laboni as the mother is her usual, melodramatic, sweet-and-syrupy self. Locket Chatterjee and Kamalika Banerjee as the daughter-in-law and older daughter, respectively, are dressed up like the bahus in the K-serials. Two stars for the film; one for the storyline and one star goes to Srabanti’s comeback performance as Priya.
