Soukarya Ghosal’s Pokkhirajer Dim invites us into a world where the lines between the ordinary and the otherworldly blur gently, like ink on wet paper.
With this spiritual successor to Rainbow Jelly, Ghosal returns not only to the world of his breakout film, but also to the boy at its beating heart. Ghoton (Mahabrata Basu) is older now, a teenager, still struggling in life as a special child, but far removed from the oppressive cruelty of his uncle that haunted his childhood.
It begins, as all great adventures do, with failure. A zero in mathematics. A teenager with a mind wired differently. A forgotten spaceship that once fell from the sky.
Now a resident of the sleepy, scenic Akashgunje, Ghoton attends school, FaceTimes his friend Poppins (Anumegha Banerjee) for geography lessons, and is trying to find his footing in a world that doesn’t always understand him. But when a zero in maths threatens to derail his academic path, his hopes hinge on a re-test from the quirky Prof. Batabyal (Anirban Bhattacharya).
Of course, in Ghosal’s universe, nothing ever goes to plan.
On his way to seek Batabyal sir’s mercy, Ghoton chances upon a strange sphere buried deep within the ruins of an alien spaceship — a relic that can read human emotions. If that sounds like something out of a Leela Majumder tale illustrated by Satyajit Ray, it’s entirely intentional. Pokkhirajer Dim is soaked in the sensibilities of Bengali children’s literature.
Naturally, a British researcher (Alexx ONell, whose presence never quite rises above caricature) and the henchman (Anujoy Chattopadhyay) of a local politician are in hot pursuit of the magical sphere, and it’s up to Ghoton to save the day, with a little help from Poppins and Batabyal sir.
Nostalgia is the driving force of Pokkhirajer Dim. There’s a touch of Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay’s whimsy, a whisper of Ray’s science fiction short stories, and a heartfelt echo of the innocence that once defined Anandamela’s golden years.
That said, Pokkhirajer Dim is not without its bumps. The pacing in the first half wobbles, and the subplot involving a budding romance between Ghoton and Poppins feels more awkward than endearing. These detours dilute the urgency of the central narrative. Even the climax feels rushed with all loose ends tied too conveniently.
Ghosal may not have made a film as tight or inventive as Rainbow Jelly, but Pokkhirajer Dim still casts a gentle spell. You leave the theatre smiling, and maybe — just maybe — wondering where your own Pokkhirajer dim might be hidden.
