friday film

Teen yaari katha
Starring: Parambrata Chattopadhyay, June, Rudranil Ghosh, Neel Mukhopadhyay, Rimjhim Mitra, Gargi Roy Chowdhury and Saswata Chatterjee
Directed by: Sudeshna Roy and Abhijit Guha
Running time: 121 minutes

Having been in the pipeline for over five years, Teen Yaari Katha’s 2012 release piqued expectations, which, one has to say, were undoubtedly matched by directors Sudeshna Roy and Abhijit Guha.

Teen Yaari Katha is an entertaining comedy with a heart, that takes you on a laugh riot, laced with typical boy-humour in its unadulterated glory, while still being rooted in the harsh reality checks of real-world challenges.

Three suburban young men, Shyamal, Antu and Bilu, in search of love, laugh their way through life and its obstacles, anchored in the knowledge that in the end, even if they are left with nothing at all, at least they have their friendship to fall back on.

The Teen Yaari Katha team came for the Friday evening premiere in Priya cinema in an auto steered by Rudranil Ghosh, who plays an auto driver in the film! Parambrata Chattopadhyay and Neel Mukhopadhyay were Rudranil’s front-seat passengers, with the three girls — June, Gargi Roy Chowdhury and Rimjhim Mitra — in the back. “The auto ride was as much fun as it was shooting for the film,” said Neel. “I enjoyed driving the auto,” smiled Rudranil. “I love auto rides, though we were all worried if Rudra could still drive one after so many years!” laughed June. Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Who would have thought that a simple porn magazine would have such enormous value that even a casual glance at its revealing pages could be bartered for cigarettes and power amongst frustrated friends, and that it could comically end in the colossal damage of major house furniture as three overgrown desperate youths fight over who gets to, er, read it first, only for one of them to later try and kill the other in his sleep for carelessly ruining it with a burning mosquito coil!

Neel is hilarious as the leading player of this perverted trio, who goes to any lengths to spy on the sensual boudi neighbour played to the hilt by June. Initially, he begins by hanging from a fan to look down her cleavage. He then shifts into second gear and climbs a tree to peep through her bedroom window; and then takes it to the next level of desperation where he drills a peephole in the wall, precariously disguised by a tea-cup, so that he and his friend can get to see some live action! Ultimately, as he is in the midst of a fantasy dream starring his boudi, he is woken up to the bad news that both she and her husband (played by Saswata Chatterjee), have tried to commit suicide due to an inability to cope with their financial situation. How he takes this situation by the horns reveals his growth and depth as a harmless fun-loving guy with a heart of gold.

Prosenjit, the producer of Teen Yaari Katha, looked cool in linen shirt and trousers

Parambrata convincingly plays an unemployed theatre actor, who is in love with an older theatre actress, played by the charming Gargi, who aspires to become a TV serial actress. His financial predicament is established right in the beginning as his mother, who is a schoolteacher, supports him with her meagre salary. The way his bitter-sweet ending plays out just goes to show that despite the veneer of light fun and explicit jokes, the film continues to touch on the ruthless reality of these boys’ lives which is strongly grounded in their economic reality.

Rudranil, with his ‘trademark’ comic timing, plays an auto-driver in love with the landlord’s daughter, played to the tee by Rimjhim. This high-reaching, aspirational love story is a source of entertainment, thanks to Anindya Bose’s script, as we witness this auto-driver’s repeated pathetic attempts at getting his girl. Despite all the tomfoolery, and consistent with the underlying theme of the film, this character too is strongly rooted in a real-world awareness of his socio-economic status.

In the context of the uniqueness of the subject, while the music and, at times, the pacing seem to unfortunately get in the way, the film’s overall charm lies in the camaraderie of these three roommates whose individual character graphs end up revealing what turns out to be a coming-of-age story.

Today, it’s exciting to witness Bengali cinema’s over-arching acceptance of all kinds of genres and modes of expression that would allow a space for fresh voices to be heard.