Movie Review: Kahaani

This KAHAANI is interesting!

By Jyotsna Kumar

I always thought there are two kinds of actors- good and bad, until, I met the third kind- The intelligent kind- good actors with a knack of interesting scripts, Vidya Balan is one such actor. Fully aware of her ‘body type’ Vidya, very subtly encounters the ‘damsel-song- and- dance- beauty queens’ of Bollywood. First with The Dirty Picture and now with Kahaani, she brilliantly managed these roles on screen which most of her contemporaries wouldn’t dare to due to certain awkwardness. With Kahaani she diligently replaces the memory of her last performance with a sparkling new one.

Kahaani is a jigsaw puzzle which is brilliantly let out in a perfect setting, laden with interesting, intriguing details with fine clues. Barring the climax, this thriller does enough to keep you at the edge of your seat. The high point of the film is the interval. Like an engaging sitcom thriller this one too leaves you at the peak of your anxiety level right before the interval break.

Kahaani is about a pregnant woman- Vidya Venkatesan Bagchi, who is in her third trimester enters the frantic pace of Kolkata in search of her husband- Arnab Bagchi. She is a London based software engineer- a Tamilian married to a Bengali who disappears within two weeks of his visit in the City of Joy. In her quest to find her husband she befriends many people only to complete her journey, walking alone- ekla cholo re. Discussing the plot further would ruin the film completely. At times the bare minimum information is all you need.

Sujoy Ghosh direction is tight but the screenplay and script is bit confusing and in conflict. But having said that, Sujoy builds enough anticipation and tension without relying too much on the background score. Post Jhankaar Beat his love for R.D Burman was quite evident in this one. Along side Vishaal & Shekhar racy soundtrack Burman’s classics like Tere Bina from Ghar, Lekar Hum from Yaadon ki Baarat as well as Bangla version of Jaanejaan (Jawani Diwani) adds so much more to Kahaani and Kolkata.

Apart from the in-your-face stereotype Kolkata, Ghosh Kolkata is surprisingly brewing with friendly, sympathetic inhabitants like Satyoki aka Rana (Parambrata Chattopadhyay) whose earnestness and affection towards Bida was endearing. So were the kids who’ll melt your heart with their smiles. On the extreme end you have Bob Biswas (Saswata Chatterjee) who does enough to give you goose flesh.

Ghosh gave Kolkata an eclectic mix in this film. On one hand you’ll find stark areas, congested by lanes, the chaos, the breathlessness, a complete claustrophobic setting (almost like Aamir) on the other hand you’ll witness Kolkata’s beautiful architecture, soulful, enigmatic, unchanging festive setting. It’s only fair to say Kolkata in Kahaani adds so much character to the film.

Despite flaws Kahaani is a safe bet. The tale is rather too interesting and gripping to find flaws!

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