Kolkatay Kohinoor review: Director Santanu Ghosh’s latest venture Kolkatay Kohinoor that premiered recently at Priya Cinema, Kolkata, distinguish es itself as the most absorbing, intelligent, well-crafted film. The film marks the directorial debut of Ghosh, who has broken new grounds in exploring a territory never hitherto trod by other film makers in Bengal.
The Kohinoor diamond, known as the mountain of light, was the prime focus and, though a work of fiction, Ghosh has left no stone unturned in authentically unravelling the history surrounding it. He went through a laborious task of heavy research to present the truth in the garb of fiction. The script attempts to solve some of the secret signs, conundrums and veiled mysteries concealed between the lines of verse poetry. The adept cinematography coupled with the story-telling technique managed to rivet audience attention from start to end.
Giving full credence to the screenplay and story idea were the commendable performances of the entire cast headed by the veteran actor Soumitra Chatterjee. Despite advancing age, Chatterjee is not in the least senile and wins hearts yet again with his deep and impactful voice. His role as the aging detective reminds one of Magaret Rutherford as Jane Marple, the British sleuth in the detective films of Agatha Christie. His screen presence was one of the reasons that kept the audience’s interest alive.
Chatterjee’s eponymous detective manages to wax eloquent his knowledge of ancient history and, in unveiling complex puzzles and solving of clues that often lead to dead ends and red herrings, weaving itself intricately into the plot like a leitmotif in and around characters and situations.
Barun Chanda, whose cameo at the opening scenes and in flashback sequences as the father leaving behind a rich legacy of a treasure trove for his granddaughter, has a certain dramatic edge over others in setting the pace of the film. Facts blend subtly with fiction when Indrani Dutta as the dissolute daughter given to emotional tantrums gave a credible performance as the return of the prodigal.
New discoveries like Anup Pan as the investigative journalist and Mona Dutta as the granddaughter did justice to their respective roles. Sabyasachi Chakraborty makes in an appearance in the second half of the film as the suave villain endowed with a rich baritone voice and enviable height. He is pitted against Chatterjee, the aging sleuth, as the museum head, least suspected of his manipulations of intrigue in kidnapping and hijacking innocent victims, was finally unmasked and taken to task by the police force. That said, Kolkatay Kohinoor is worth a watch and, stands out for its sustained pacing, clever dialogues embellished with rich encyclopedic wisdom of ancient history in tracing the saga of the precious stone—the Kohinoor.
The film managed to keep the audience on the edge. One has a lot to take back from it besides entertainment. A compact movie running a little over two hours takes the audience through exciting escapades of the elusive gem. In the process, the rich dialogues of the movie inform the audiences a lot on Indian history.