I seldom see a film on the big screen though cinema is one of my dearest loves. And always when I love I realise once is not enough: you must return to it over and again even though it stays in your heart.

When I saw Param (Parambrata Chattopadhyay) gently cock his head to listen to Koel’s (Mallick) song in Hemlock Society, I was charmed and thought here is an actor Mr Sinha (Tapan Sinha) would have loved…

When I went to see Hawa Bodol after a genteel ladies’ lunch and an acquaintance’s exhibition, rushing to reach the premiere in a very hot and bad mood, I was thinking of ways to escape home without hurting my darling’s (Raima) feelings, even though she had forgotten to invite me to see the film!

I was unable to.

Well into the film I sat mesmerised (cooled by Priya’s hospitality) to watch two friends pool their talent with utmost generosity and great understanding of their script, the sensibility of the absurd and carry it off with great finesse of a big successful bank robbery!

Rai (Raima) in her simple incoherent excitement told me, “Ma you might not like it… it’s the story of two boys” and “Ma, I am hardly there…”

I was committed and a little apprehensive — just those two, Rudra and Param, for two-and-a-half to three hours; another one of Raima’s blink-and-miss roles? Too late.

I’ve fallen in love again with Param and Rudra (a favourite of mine from a TV show I had been a judge of). Contrasts — physically; in their upbringing; and maybe their acting experiences, but what camaraderie and how critical of each other’s mannerisms. How difficult it is to swap your soul for another.

Please see it just for their performances. To hear their lines/dialogues and see a different world; their boys’ world portrayed tastefully and true. And to magnify their strengths there’s an uplifting background score. Rudra is probably given a song to sing for the first time in his acting career and he has done a very good job because it’s very difficult to lip-sync! And that must have been with Param’s help and knowledge of music.

I hate to do this to Param but Rudra wins as the lovable mongrel — you’ll never have to wear a hat and be a cowboy, like you were in Necklace, again.

But Param, your long rhythmic shots, the swollen river (the Ganges, a recurring motif in Hawa Bodol), the car journeying on and on, all over Calcutta, you showed a lot of Calcutta very beautifully and the cloud-filled skies, you gave nature her due, and to our childhood and to our parents, simply and sweetly. And one day you will tone down your ‘Bangaliana’ and your canvas will be more international — I will be almost as proud as your parents!

Each budding flower in your garden held their own and you nourished them, let them grow with no jealousy and not a drop of water in excess.

I loved the seduction scene between Rudra and his boss’s wife (Kamalika). It’s a fantastic scene!

I sat fearfully right from the start because I was wondering how he’s going to wind up the story, is he going to do the cliched ending; will the climax kill the film; will it be the same silly end of the boys trying to commit suicide together or waking up from a nightmare? Either way I was petrified.

But Param you did it; you made a film! You not only made a film, you made a very good film. Congratulations!

PS: And my Raima, thank you for giving her her space; she took it all away with those huge big eyes (in the scene where she screams and asks Rudra to get out of her house). Good girl!

Hawa Bodol.

The best compliments that team Hawa Bodol has got from inside and outside the industry

PARAMBRATA CHATTOPADHYAY:

I’ve got many compliments for Hawa Bodol. But there are two that really touched my heart. Arindam Kanjilal, who follows me on Twitter, called me up and said that he was going through a depression after a break-up with his girlfriend. But Hawa Bodol made him happy and he is looking forward to life again. This indeed touched my heart. The second compliment is from the industry people and they are saying that Hawa Bodol is Rudra’s comeback film and that’s really made me happy because Rudra is a dear friend. Some of them are also saying that Rudra’s performance is better than mine. This too is a compliment because Rudra has always been a very good actor, but somehow his films were not clicking. I am very happy for Rudra.

RAIMA SEN:

My Twitter page is overflowing with comments about how much they liked Hawa Bodol and me in the film. But people have liked me in the serious scene, where my character Tanuka screams at Raj (Rudra) and asks him to get out.

RUDRANIL GHOSH:

Everyone is telling me ‘Rudra, fatafati acting’. I had gone to Nandan and people were clapping, there were wolf whistles and all.... While I was coming out of Nandan, a bunch of young guys stopped me and said: ‘Rudrada this is your best performance.’

NEHA PANDA:

After the premiere, Arindam Sil (actor-director-producer) told me: ‘The more I see you, a bigger fan I become’! That’s a huge compliment coming from someone who’s been an industry insider for a very long time.

INDRAADIP DASGUPTA (music director):

Srijit (Mukherji) told me that Hawa Bodol has a brilliant background score. The Mone porle and Bhoy dekhash na tracks are a hit. A lot of people have loved the Tagore track, Mor bhabonare (sung by Sahana Bajpaie), too.

KABIR BHATTACHARYA:

People have loved the ‘Baba bhijbe’ dialogue (Kabir’s Tojo tells Param’s Jeet when the two are driving through a rainy Calcutta). Some of them said ‘cute bachcha’!