Will His Magic Last?

Prabuddha Neogi

Chotushkone, the Srijit Mukherji thriller, released some weeks back and has already turned out to be a major hit of the year. His earlier, Jaatishwar, which released in January, didn’t exactly set the cash registers ringing and could collect only `1.20 crore at the box office, against its budget of `4 crore. Chotushkone, on the other hand, has brought smiles to his producers—Reliance Entertainment—who weren’t exactly satisfied with the returns from Jaatishwar, despite the film creating at a roar at the 61st National Film Awards. 

(L-R) Goutam Ghose, Aparna Sen, Srijit Mukherji, Parambrata Chatterjee
and Chiranjit in a working still from Chotushkone

Urban audiences have crowded the theatres to watch Chotushkone—about four directors who come together to direct a film—involving four short stories. As always, the music has garnered rave reviews with Laganjita Chakraborty’s Basonto Ese Geche turning out to be the most favourite. Casing wise, the film is being touted as Chiranjeet Chakraborty’s rebirth. The veteran actor was roped in after Anjan Dutt walked out of the project, reportedly over creative differences with Srijit. Parambrata, too, has come up with a stellar performance as one of the three other directors

I have never missed a single Srijit film since his debut with Autograph and was the first among my peers to watch it. Over the years, the director has developed some signature styles that are found in all his films, like great music, superb dialogues and crisp editing.

But Srijit, bound by contractual obligations, seems to be in a tearing hurry to make films. He already has had six releases in four years and his seventh, Nirbak with Sushmita Sen, is scheduled for a 2015 release. He has also begun the pre-production for Rajkahini, expected to star Rituparna Sengupta, Bratya Basu and Supriya Devi in key roles. Even this film is to be released in 2015. At this pace, Srijit is likely to hit the creative roadblock soon, like his mentor Rituparno Ghosh. Readers would recall that Rituparno had made eight films between 2003 and 2008 and several of his later films didn’t befit the director’s talent. Mediocrity sets in when the non-conventional starts courting market demands and Srijit is walking that path.

Music, the hallmark of all Srijit films, has already begun to sound repetitive. The Srijit-Anupam combine has delivered in all films right from Baishe Srabon to Chotushkone, with the exception of Jaatishwar. Even Autograph’s music, if rumours are to be believed, was largely composed by Anupam. He always reserved his best for Srijit. The music, despite the chart topping Basonto Ese Geche, is typically Anupam. The tracks often sound strikingly similar to that of Baishe Srabon and Hemlock Society. The music director has to come up with fresh tunes if he wants to retain his popularity among the urban masses.

It’s time for Srijit, the talent powerhouse that he is, to venture out of the archetypical. He should also slow down and not go on a filmmaking spree. It reminds me of a famous dialogue from Satyajit Ray’s Nayak: ‘Amra mosai ekhono quality sambondhe conscious hote parini. Amader motto e hochhe to produce more and produce rubbish’ (that we are never conscious about the quality and over-production is our motto). Maybe the filmmaker should take a hiatus for a couple of years to get his creative juices flowing again. Srijit is undeniably one of the best things that have happened to the industry in a long time. Our expectations are huge and we will never want him to plunge into the average.