Bengali Movie Amar Ami 2014 (Bengali Flim Review)

Aamar Aami

Cast: Indrasish, Arunima, Biswanath, Kamalika, Hindol, Jhilik

Direction: Orko Sinha.

You just need to see the first few frames, or even the opening credits, to know that a handful of photographically sound people have worked hard on this film. Emotionally stirring black-and-white shots, musically charged situations, smoke and alcohol blurred narration - the camera captures it all. Needless to say, cinematographer Souvik Basu is the reason Orko Sinha's film doesn't fall apart, despite having numerous discrepancies.

There's nothing unique about the story (or should we say, the interconnected stories!). It's almost as if the film deliberately keeps losing track of the subplots to reinstatethe fact that nothing can be perfect. Despite the generously sprinkled point-of-view shots, the essential point or message of the film is lost in the disjointed screenplay. Blatantly premeditated punchlines such as "Bhari tar face ar buk, tate abar facebook" and "Erom takiyo na ami kyabla hoye jai" in the name of dialogues too fail to impress.
Performers such as Kamalika Banerjee and Biswanath Basu and Indrasish Roy have been underutilized - their gifts hardly exploited. Especially Kamalika, who only comes on screen to worry over a daughter who doesn't exchange more than three lines with her - Kamalika's "aami"ness or individuality is never established! Arunima Ghosh follows the script to the T and delivers her dialogues, but without the intended effect.

In spite of their few and calculated screen appearances, three actors - Upal Sengupta, Hindol Bhattacharya and little Ayush Das - make an impression. While Upal is his usual charming self (it's almost easy to understand why people from all age bands adore him!), "ulto jangiya pora" Hindol amazes with his crisp comic timing. As for Batul the Great-reading Tutul, aka Ayush, he is thoroughly endearing in the scene where he practises winking.
Music by Kabir and Shiba is another reason why the film doesn't fall flat. Almost all the songs - Aamar aami, Chena chena mukh and Onno keu thakbe - are melodious and have been woven seamlessly into the narrative. So, in a way, they tend to hold together the otherwise jumbled storyline.

Digs at paribartan, society, the film industry, generation gap, class distinction and corporate culture later, one tends to lose the "aami" the film tries to speak about. But then, perhaps that was the message all along!