Raktamukhi Neela is the name of a film being shot in a spacious bungalow on location some distance away from Kolkata. The film opens with the murder of the leading lady, top star Neela Sen, by poisoning. But there are no fingerprints either on the glasses or on the bottles. So, how was she killed, why and for whom? To find answers to this riddle and to solve the murder, police officer Chakrabarty steps in. A television channel, ATN Bangla, also comes in with its reporter and crew to cover the mystery. As he begins his series of interrogations of the members of the cast, the crew, the spot boys and the errand boys, one skeleton after another begin to topple out of Neeta’s cupboard of a hidden marriage, a dead son, a live-in relationship with the married hero of the film (within-the-film) and her impending marriage to the film’s ageing director Manish Burman. Much before the no-nonsense police officer can nab the culprit and close the file another murder is committed, this time, of the make-up woman with a nylon cord picked up from property room. A very puzzled Chakrabarty turns for help from Deepika, the new actress who is determined to make it big without the casting couch compromise mandatory for girls wishing to gain entry into films. But before that, another jaded actress is pushed off the terrace. Finally, Deepika and Chakrabarty lay a booby trap and the killer is nabbed. He is none other than Neeta’s unhinged husband who hates all actresses of the world though this hatred does not stop him from accepting financial help from his estranged wife. Why must every serial killer film justify the killer’s actions?

Technical expertise

This is the first Bengali, full-length feature to have been digitally shot with a 570 DV Sony camera and has theatrically released through a digital projector from a DVD player. The quality of the projection is sustained by the technical revolution and young director Debraj Sinha deserves a pat on his back for the courage to pioneer this revolution. But Sinha is too young and fresh to learn that technological innovations cannot save a badly-made film with little logic and no credibility of content especially for a suspense thriller. Apart from the good acting by Dipankar De as Manish Bardhan, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty as the police officer, Shakti Dey as the tea vendor and Bhaskar Banerjee as the film’s hero, who have desperately tried to do more than justice to their ill-defined characters, there is precious little to plug Raktamukhi Neela. The film is badly shot and edited, with very bad acting put in by the rest of the actors. June Mallya could have done well if the script had given her the chance to which it did not. Another sore thumb is the producer reduced to a cheap caricature with exaggerated movements and expression no real-life-producer will really care for.

Raktamukhi Neela in other words, is a classic example of good intentions and technical wizardry gone wrong for a young director dying to reach there before he is ready with the expertise and the skill.