POSTO – a review

BY     Dola Dutta Roy

Nandita Roy and Shiboproshad Mukherjee are no new names in the Bengali movie industry today.

The journey for them making movies of substance has been long and arduous at times. But with the startling success of Ichche and Muktodhara in 2012 --followed, in quick succession, by hits with Olik Shukh, Ramdhonu, Bela Sheshe and Prakton, the duo have created ripples in the genre of new wave movies by treading cautiously on the line between offbeat cinema and mainstream fares. Today they are proud partners of a production company – Windows Productions.

The title 'Posto' evokes the taste of relishing the delicious poppy seeds so loved by most Bengalis in their food and the audience is, perhaps, half-expecting a movie drawn in a comic vein. At least, I was. But it is far from a comedy of any sort. This is not the story of any culinary feat. It is simply the story of a seven-year old child who is loved enormously by his grandparents who wouldn’t give up their parenting rights to hang on to him at any cost.

Dinen Lahiri (Soumitra Chatterjee) and his aged wife, Gouri (Lily Chakraborty), are the grandparents of little Posto (Argha ) who live in their country home in Shantiniketan. Posto’s biological parents are a struggling but ambitious couple making a life for themselves with hard work in Kolkata -- like so many young couples in the city. They thought it right to leave Posto with his grandparents till they felt financially secure enough to take him back with them. Their regular visits to their country home to see their son does add some colour to the boy’s otherwise routine existence, especially when they drown him with attractive gifts from the big city much to the dislike of Dinen and Gouri.

When Posto’s dad, Arnab or Anu (Jisshu Sengupta) and his mother, Sushmita (Mimi Chakraborty), decide to take Posto off to England with them where Anu would join his friend Bonnie ( Babul Supriyo) to start a business, Dinen and Gouri object to this ridiculously rash and unreasonable decision. Matters go so out of hand that a legal battle follows between father and son to gain the custody of the child.

Based on a real High Court case on the custody of a child between a set of parents and grandparents in 2007, the story unfolds the agony of the two warring parties and especially that of the boy who gets traumatized by the long drawn court case.

Beautifully captured on celluloid with extraordinary photography at times, the story keeps you glued to the screen till the dénouement -- when the verdict is given in court.

The screenplay is remarkable and the tempo of the movie, natural.

Exemplary performance by Jisshu Sengupta as ‘Anu’, the tormented son and father, was really moving. Sohini Sengupta as Anu’s advocate -- engaged in a battle of words with seasoned actor Poran Bandopadhyay as Dinen Lahiri’s advocate—was simply intriguing. Shohini made the courtroom drama truly curious and alive. Mimi Chakraborty looked pretty and succeeded in adding a bit of glamour to the role of a tough working woman but a mother who breaks down evidently having no say in the matter of this custody conflict. And, of course, Dinen Lahiri, Anu’s autocratic, offensive and often viciously critical father could only be played by a thespian like Soumitra Chatterjee.

Little Posto (Argho) melted our hearts with his smile,  expressive eyes and heartbreaking looks.

The music seemed a bit hollow, in my opinion, and perhaps could be done without. The songs, except for a couple of Tagore songs, were irrelevant and failed to leave an impression. The quiet moments Anu and Posto shared together riding down the thickets in Shantiniketan, could be more appealing with an intimate dialogue than a superfluous number like “Jonaki”. Immediately the magic of the moment was gone. The same with the song sung by the parents with Posto at home in Kolkata where they share some fun together. It seemed forced and outlandish -- on the verge of being ridiculous.

Shiboproshad Mukherjee and Nandia Roy’s movies have always moved their audiences. 

Each of their stories succeeded in touching a chord in the heart of many relating to contemporary issues that are irking society in general. Evidently, man is faced with countless challenges today struggling to survive in this warped and changing world. He is often at a loss wondering how to be able to endure the pressures of life and move on.

But our directors here believe that with a little love and humility one can tide over all hardships that we call living.

By :  Dola Dutta Roy

Copyright (c) DDR