Bow Barracks Forever English Movie

Feature Film | 2007 | Drama
Critics:
Audience:
Jul 28, 2007 By Subhash K. Jha


Writer-director Anjan Dutt's second release in two weeks, after "Bong Connection", is not as powerful and poignant a portrait of the rapidly disintegrating Anglo-Indian community in Kolkata as Aparna Sen's "36 Chowringee Lane".


Sen's film had a hauntingly intimate quality to its tragic theme of a woman's solitude and emotional exploitation.


"Bow Barracks Forever" is more raunchy and scathing. The spoken word is constantly harsh and the songs, composed partly by the director, cheer up only for a few seconds.


The film, based on a real life story, shows the trials and tribulations of the Anglo-Indian community living in Bow Barracks - an old dilapidated building in north Kolkata.


The narrative largely scans the decaying tenement with ruthless directness. A lack of romantic yearning translated into the presence of a captivating candour.


What the saucy screenplay lacks is subtlety. The characters are as broadly bravura as they are uninhibited in their expressions.


The one tenement in Anjan Dutt's plot seems to encompass characters of every kind - from the rebellious housewife (Moon Moon Sen) to the battered wife (Neha Dubey) and from the footloose boy (Clayton Rodgers) who sneaks into Neha's bed to the strong and dignified mother (Lilette Dubey) who continues to believe that her elder son will call her to Australia though he hasn't spoken to her for four years.


And somewhere towards the end the gifted Roopa Ganguly shows up as an abandoned wife seeking solace from her husband.


These are real people given that cinematic tweak which separates the mannequins from the flesh-and-blood types.


The cinematography by Indranil Mukherjee gives the characters a life beyond the screenplay. The editing though could have been crisper as some of the situations tend to get really monotonous.


The skyline of the screenplay is ceaselessly scattered with salacious titbits. Lovemaking scenes come on with energetic emphasis to remind us derelict lives need not be dull.


Standing tall and stately at the centre of this awry universe of disoriented people is Lilette Dubey.


What an actor! Lilette plays her character with delicious abandon. And yet there's restrain and dignity in her gait and language.


The other imposing performance comes from the irrepressible Victor Banerjee. After seeing him do small roles in "Tara Rum Pum" and "Apne" it's a joy to watch the veteran actor essay a twinkle-eyed trumpet player who chuckles loudly in the face of adversity. He even asks Lilette for a little kiss just to remind you that life goes on ... come what may.


Another tale of inspirational deprivation? Not quite. "Bow Barracks Forever" turns the marginal stereotypes into something distinctly glorious, if not grand.


A must-see for those who love stories about tribulation and redemption.



Subhash K. Jha

   

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