As the Covid hangover seems over, the return of Bengali cinema to the big screen has been a welcome change in West Bengal. Director Pijush Saha, who has been credited with making commercial stars of the calibre of Soham Chakraborty, Ankush, Rubel Das and all, has come up with his new venture ‘Jaalbandi’. Based on Samaresh Majumdar’s novel of the same name, Jaalbandi’ has been released amidst much interest among film enthusiasts and youngsters. This time around, Pijush Saha has given his son Prince a fitting realistic story, a role who walks on the tight rope of life. Neither a rom-com nor a ‘boy meets girl kind of a story, Jaalbandi is a fresh distraction from all the stereotypical feelgood films released recently in Bengal.
The opening scene of Jaalbandi itself is so symbolic of the character Anish played by Prince, who is an insurance agent by profession. In a target-based world, where achievements are defined by time-bound fulfilments, Prince doesn’t have the luxury to live in a comfortable zone. As his life goes on, Anish gets entangled with different events, which change his life forever. The unpredictable nature of his job and subsequently his journey in life itself is the essence of this rollercoaster story.
The ensemble cast of the film itself has been a big asset. Veteran Dipankar De, Kharaj Mukherjee, and June Malia have been true to their roles onscreen. The chemistry between Prince and Darshana has been lively, to say the least, and as usual, Payel Sarkar has been pivotal in getting the glam quotient of the film. The editing of Pronoy Dasgupta has been top class and ever-dependable and industry stalwart cinematographer Gopi Bhagat has weaved magic frames with his usual finesse. Amit and Ishan’s music is fresh and for a change, synced well with the story.
Director Pijush Saha deserves accolades for believing in the new format of modern-day commercial storytelling. This film has all the ingredients to be remade in other vernacular languages, and even better to some extent. In the changing film dynamics of Indian cinema, when commercial southern films like RRR, Pushpa are making new records almost every day, Bengal needs to promote films such as Jaalbandi for keeping its true essence with the look, feel and treatment of the story. No additional melodrama or plethora of expressions, Prince has won hearts with his sincere attempt in his debut film. No doubt, he seems to have a big career ahead on the big screen.
