Madam Sengupta: But where is the thrill?

Once upon a time, Bengal and Kerala created brilliant cinema. Helmers like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen, as well as John Abraham, Aravindan, Adoor Gopalkrishnan and Shaji N. Karun gave us films that filled us with joy and a sense of immense satisfaction. Now, we have just Adoor and Shaji, and they are not very active. Obviously, movies from these parts of India have been rather disappointing. So, when I saw Sayantan Ghoshal’s murder mystery, Madam Sengupta, arrive on Zee 5 after its theatrical run in Bengal, I was elated.

Bengali films are never released in Chennai – the city where I now live, and having grown up in Kolkata and being proficient in the language, I really missed them. But my anticipation turned into disappointment. Ghoshal’s efforts to keep his work realistic seem to have made Madam Sengupta dull and listless. The thrill flew out of the window, and a thriller without thrill loses its very soul. Added to this were poor performances. Both Rituparna Sengupta, who essays the title character and works as a cartoonist, and Rahul Bose, playing reporter Ranjan (yawn), appear to sleepwalk through their parts, failing to disappear into their characters.

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Sengupta is awfully superficial, and Bose is stiff and unconvincing as a journalist. Did I see her draw? Did I see him write? Ghoshal has perhaps tried to whitewash these glaring misses by creating a moody atmosphere that sometimes borders on the scary. In a plot where Madam’s daughter is murdered and the strangely emotionless mother vows to find the killer, the script fails to keep the mystery ticking. The narrative style crawls, leaving us thirsting for suspense and excitement. What we get, instead, are long pauses and a movie that plods not race. Added to these are poor performances.

Obviously, both Bose and Sengupta have not given their best. He was superb in Mr and Mrs Iyer. Yes, the movie was directed by Aparna Sen, who learnt her craft from men like her father, Chidananda Dasgupta, and Satyajit Ray (whose Teen Kanya was her first step into the world of motion and magic). And, yes, I still remember Sengupta in Paromitar Ek Din, which brilliantly explores friendship and loneliness through her nuanced portrayal of love and loss. Set in Kolkata, Madam Sengupta, with its picture-postcard illumination of the city’s landmarks, embraces sorrow, pining, betrayal and power. There is emotional volatility, there is dreadful deception, but not enough to keep the excitement in full throttle.

(THE WRITER IS A MOVIE CRITIC AND AUTHOR. VIEWS ARE PERSONAL)