There is a word in Italian called sprezzatura, which refers to making the most complex thing look simple. Eagoler Chokh by “Arindam Sil and team” manages to do that. The film does not have a very complicated storyline. It does not have loud acting, it does not have a bravado in shot-taking, it does not have a deafening background score, it does not have an excess of heightened melodrama. But what it does have is an aesthetic control over all aspects of filmmaking which is a very complex thing to do for a filmmaker and yet on screen it looks so simple. Sprezzatura.

This is not a review since I don’t write reviews as a matter of principle where it is a film made by a colleague. These are just some random thoughts penned down after watching Eagoler Chokh. I think that the making of this film deserves some discussion particularly in the perspective of current Bengali films. I will divide my write-up into four random sections which I think deserve some analysis.

Care and attention to detail
As can be observed right from the posters, Arindamda’s film is made with a lot of love and care. Just notice the form in which the name of the film is written juxtaposed with a fantastic full figure of Apuda (Saswata Chatterjee) in black. The way the ‘horshoee’ is written in Bangla has the pictorial representation of an eagle swooping down on its prey. I am sure the designer deserves credit for that but he/she is a person of Team Arindam Sil. About detailing and care let me give a couple of more examples.

When Shabor and his assistant go to visit Jahnavi’s (Riya Banik) house there is one camera angle from top. As we see the three of them walking out, at the far end we see Jahnavi’s ‘maami’, clearly worried about the intrusion of the two strangers in their house but then she walks away after some time. Now this will probably evade the normal eye but that is exactly the point. The film is replete with such little touches from a filmmaker not making it in your face.

Similarly, we see Anirban Bhattacharya’s (the mentally tormented entrepreneur) younger counterpart but isn’t he so believable at that? I am sure the team had searched a lot in order to find that person. These minor things add to the experience of the audience and make it so enriching.

However, I can’t help but point out a minor flaw. Though Anirban is clearly a great actor, it is a tad difficult to believe that he is a millionaire entrepreneur (if I remember correctly there was a BMW and another expensive car parked outside his bungalow). Also the film focuses on his past mental trauma and hence it is hard to believe his current economic status. 

Camera and shot-taking 
Soumik Haldar’s camera work is as confident as the film. The camera angles and camera movement show some serious thought which propel the storytelling. Again it is such a right balance in which one does not show off camera work — like unnecessary swish pans or weird camera positioning but at the same time it is not lazy camera work where the scenes are just canned — though canning is an anachronism now — somehow. Except in one shot I thought there might have been an attempt to point out, ‘Wow: what a frame’. It is where Apuda’s face is captured in a small mirror in Anirban’s house. Those who have seen the film can figure that out. Otherwise the control was immaculate.

Music and editing 
Well, I have enough reasons to be biased here since both Bickram Ghosh and Sujay Dutta Ray are a part of my team as well. If not for anything, I should mention this for full disclosure. I think the background score of the film is exceptionally good. It captures the psychedelic mindscape of the protagonist so well. And given the fact that it is a percussion-based score I was looking for areas where Bickramda has gone overboard. I must agree that throughout he has maintained that control brilliantly. And he knows that I can be brutally honest with him if I felt otherwise. More importantly it is a case in point that one does not need a loud score to make a film more attractive. Music is often used to hide lacunae in other aspects of filmmaking but here it just sustains the story. Shouldn’t that be the purpose of a background score?

And I have already become a fan of Armeen Musa from Dhaka. What an evocative voice! Welcome to Bengali films, Armeen. The editing is such a key element in this film and Sujay has brilliantly held the tempo. The nuanced manner in which the story unfolds is a treat to watch. It is almost classical editing with a modern outlook. 

Saswata, Saswata and Saswata 
Finally Shabor himself. What an actor this man is. Who else can carry a climax scene while pushing the wheelchair of Jaya Ahsan? And he does nothing. Just walks. And therein lies the class of an actor. Throughout the film he maintains a cool composure while emanating inner feelings with minimalist expressions. Never an iota of histrionics. He is just into the character and that is enough. Talking of which Jaya is also fantastic in that wheelchair scene. 

All of these aspects combine to make a crime thriller with panache.