Bow Barracks Forever
Barracked Connection!
By Vidhushi Tikoo

Rating:- * *

The question that still pops up is whether the movie was about the lives of Anglo-Indians or about Anglo ladies having extra marital affairs and their physical desperation!  The connection seemed to have thinned down in the start and then eventually thickened in the latter part of the movie.

Though the movie delivers what it says, it could have been put up in a better way. Sex seems to be used as the selling factor for the movie. To Anjan Dutt’s (Writer, Director) credit where he claims it to be based on Anglo Indian Community… it makes one really wonder how they are living under constant threat of demolition. Of course of everything kept apart, the feel was perfect. Every small detailing had been taken care of, maybe because it was shot entirely on real location ,also the scent of the home made wine and freshly baked cake could have been easily hallucinated.

The acting seems to be immature in the start combined with poor dialogues but eventually picks up in the second half. The one thing that I thought was the most stupid of all was to give Bengali dialogues without English subtitles, bearing in mind that all Bengali dialogues were crucial part of the movie. And not all know Bengali I suppose Mr. Dutt!  Music (by Neel Dutt) is alright…not that good and not that bad but the lyrics( by Neel Dutt and Anjan Dutt) are wonderful.

But the chocolate on the cake is Usha Uthup who makes a special appearance only to woo the viewers.

The story of course…
It’s a collective story of Anglo Indian families living in a heritage building under the constant threat of demolition in Kolkata who survive on hope, courage, determination, repentance, misfortune and destruction.

The story takes off with one family from the building shifting to Australia and builds up connecting to 8 other stories. The first is about Bradly(Clayton Rodgers) who is dedicated towards music and is accustomed to loose his job but  is in love with a Ann ( Neha Dubey) . Ann is married to Tom (Sabyasachi Chakravarty) who is a smuggler and beats his wife regularly and thus the marriage is on rocks. Bradly’s mother , Emily (Lilette Dubey) who makes living selling wines and cakes goes to the telephone booth everyday to talk to her other son who is in London but for past four years is just leaving messages on voice mail. Her Friend Peter the Cheater (Victor Banerjee) who is a complete drunkard but has a lot of unsaid pain that echoes in from the sound of his trumpet. Then there is Rosa(Moon Moon Sen) who has an extra marital affair with her insurance advisor and wants out from that place and her husband who she thinks doesn’t understand when a women needs to be loved. Sally (Sohini Pal) is a spoilt flirt who loves Bradly and dreams of marrying him.

All of them have a story within them some said some unsaid but all have one common threat, the demolition of their building. The story is about everyone’s loneliness and courage that they come up with to change the things around them.

To Look Out For….
The meanings behind the words and the picture behind the story. The integrate complications of one’s self with the truth of their souls.

Victor Banerjee for performance par excellence.

The trumpet!

The story and concept (by Anjan Dutt) and the fact that it is real!

Understanding the importance of relations through mere actions.

Tonmoy Chakraborty’s art maintains the atmosphere and feel through out the movie.

Not To Look Out For ….
Physical desperation of individuals in the first half was not required.

Immature acting by some of the best actors of industry in the first half

Editing by Arghyakamal Mitra needed more finishing.

Conclusion : The entire movie seems to be working only in the second part. Only recommended if you are able to go through the first half of the movie!