THE BONG CONNECTION
OF MAJHI RE FISH FRY AND WHO AM I?
By Vishal Verma

Rating:- * * *

What is it?
Now its seems it’s the turn of our very own intellectuals and art loving fraternity metro politically nicked named ‘The Bongs’ to find their true identities. After experiencing this crossover identity crisis of the bongs in Mira Nair’s ‘Namesake’, now we get another benglish eye opener from Anjan Dutt apparently titled ‘The Bong Connection’.

So does this Mishti Dohi blends well with the American Chopsey’s ? The answer is Yes! But hang on there’s always a catch. Though the mishti dohi (Shayan Munshi) track is quite convincing. The American Chopsey ( Parambrata Chattopadhyay ) track along with the cabbie (Shauvik) is somewhat confusing.

But anyway it doesn’t takes away the credits from Anjan Dutt in churning out a youthfully entertaining self inventory curry.

Whats it all about?
The story is about two characters? No three, the third one will be disclosed later. Andy (Shayan Munshi), who is a young Bengali musician from New York and the Kolkata based Texas aspirant Apu (Parambrata Chattopadhyay) – No, not the one from Satyajit Ray’s classic Aparajito this fellow has some different type of an ego. The musical joe cannot relate to living in a country that seems beyond Indian culture, so he rocks his way to 'amar sonar Kolkata' whereas the desi wiz kid sees Bengali culture as outdated and would rather live a free life in a city like Texas. So the wiz kid bugs into the land of opportunities and meets pseudo Americans.

Musical joe meets a strict sweetie pie (Raima Sen) who follows the principal of no kissing but meeting anywhere, because she has already fallen for the wiz kid who on the other hand cannot control his drinks and clings to a typical American brat bong ( Peeya Rai Choudhuri).
                
Wizie (do not look for a dictionary ,this word is my discovery – it means a highly talented yuppie). Also encounters a mastikhor cabbie Hasan- another bong but from Bangladesh played by Shauvik- this is the third connection in this bong connection which I kept as suspense. The cabbie too tells his own kahani in Anjan Dutta Ki Jubani in this universal bong uprising adventure.

Musical Joe and Wizie go through various realizations in their lives through the movie. Musical joe does not gets his notes and chords in the land of Rabindranath Tagore and our Wizie suddenly cries foul against Gary (Victor Banerjee) and fights for the rights of his room partner who wears pink pajamas (my term logy used for gays ). Cool dude eh ! But paradoxically it’s Aparajito at a different Bay.

But hey, the guys takes a U-Turn. ABDM(American Born Dejected Musician) gets an offer to do a crossover film produced by a Hollywood banner but directed by a Bollywood director.(Hmm! Here is an example what you mean by cross over) and flies back to NY (not yours). Well anyway, Wizie is also not left behind he too gets back to his sweetie back in apna desh with an offer from some Rakesh Ganguly who calls himself a second class American and always appears holding a glass in his hand – this one is played by a dusky 43% very young Premnath look alike. Premnath ? Well this guy has worked in more than 45 films, more than dozens as villain and the rest as a hero and character roles.

But the cabbie is not so lucky and the poor full of life mastikhor meets an untimely death. Not fair Anjan ? why unnecessarily kill a character who is full of life.

What to look out for?
An intriguing Bengali soul curry told in a simple way by Anjan Dutt.
Anjan deserves credit in bringing out some fabulous performances. Shayan Munshi is excellent. Parambrata Chhatopadhyay  impresses. Raima Sen does not get the required scope but she looks beautiful and excels in whatever footage she gets. Peeya Rai Choudhuri – well this lively brat is a pleasant surprise and delivers a striking performance. Shauvik also leaves his mark as an actor. Veteran Victor Banerjee is as competent as ever.

Music by Neel Dutt is in sync with the feel of the flick . ‘Pagal Hawa by Rabrindranath Tagore is the one you carry along with you. Cinematography by Indranil Mukherjee is fine. Production Values are adequate.

What Not?
The additional track of Hasan and his bravados is uncalled for. It does not zeal with the flick though it’s somewhat entertaining. Sound recording is not up to the mark. The volume goes high and low at some places. Who is rakesh is not explained.

On the whole Moxie Entertainments ‘THE BONG CONNECTION’ is a good onetime watch at your nearest cinema.