Adrenaline-pumping car chases, slow-motion action sequences, an item number thrown in for entertainment — these were hallmarks of Hindi or, more recently, pan-Indian potboilers from the South. Abhirup Ghosh brings these theatrical elements to Bengali cinema in his latest directorial Mrigaya: The Hunt, and he doesn’t disappoint.
Mrigaya is a pacy thriller that follows a pair of cops as they investigate the brutal murder of a sex worker (played by Priyanka Sarkar) in Kolkata. The premise may not be new, but it’s the treatment that gives the film an edge.
Vikram Chatterjee plays young police officer Animesh, who has been assigned the case. Assisting him are three very different cops: the seasoned OC Debanjan Datta (Ritwick Chakraborty), the tech expert Indra (Anirban Chakrabarti), and the chameleon-like Imran (Rezwan Rabbani Sheikh).
One of the more interesting casting choices is Saurav Das in a negative role. He slips into the part with ease, giving us a villain who is menacing without being cartoonish.
The screenplay, written by real-life police officers Debasis Datta and Pallab Malakar, is based on a real-life 13-day covert operation, lending authenticity in the way procedures unfold and how the power dynamics play out. That said, Mrigaya is no gritty, documentary-style procedural drama.
The predator and prey constantly swap roles in the story. Everyone in the film, at some point, is either hunting or being hunted. The narrative taps into the moral murkiness of revenge and justice.
Abhirup Ghosh has never shied away from genre experimentation, and here, he fully embraces the masala action format. From high-octane chases and sword fights to item numbers, Mrigaya ticks off the expected tropes. A fight scene involving a fish as a weapon will keep you on the edge of your seat.
The writing, by Ghosh, Aritra Banerjee and Soumit Deb, is peppered with punchy one-liners (including the already popular ‘motka gorom’) and nods to genre classics, right from Gangs of Wasseypur to Scarface.
Despite its occasional unevenness, Mrigaya: The Hunt stands out simply by virtue of ambition. In an industry dominated by relationship dramas and detective thrillers, a massy action film rooted in a real case is a welcome detour.