Swarthopor
Director: Swapan Saha
Cast: Anubhav, Rachana Banerjee, Jisshu Sengupta, Laboni Sarkar, Razzak, Locket Chatterjee, Rimjhim Gupta, Raja Chatterjee, Dulal Lahiri
5/10
Swarthopor asks an interesting question in its promos, “Who is more selfish?the father or the son?” Within the first hour of the movie it strikes home that the question was purely rhetorical. The villainous sons and wives carry parental neglect to the level of finally committing patricide. In fact, a typical Swapan Saha film, and undoubtedly very entertaining. The slack script camouflaged by melodrama, and the sophistication of filmmaking ruthlessly discarded for a brutal commonness, propounding much used ‘Hindu’ values of Indianness (don’t even think of Kamasutra as being Indian heritage). Very deadly weapons if wielded properly.
Result: a formula film. The actors perform stereotype roles with gusto, except that one feels a bit worried about Laboni, she has shed so much tears in so many films of this nature that she stands a serious chance of getting dehydrated. Fulfilling the demands of the targeted rural audience to the T. In other words, a film easy to make, easy to act in and sure to rake in lots of money. Sounds surprisingly like Karan Johar. Clever act, but selfish, very selfish.
Sunayani Ganguly
