Bornoporichoy Film Review
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Bornoporichoy Film Review
Bhaumik's attempt at introducing intricate complexities in the film falls short of expectations. While he draws inspiration from Indian and specifically Bengali philosophical texts and literature to add layers to the crimes depicted, he fails to give the audience enough time and space to truly engage with those dimensions and derive enjoyment from the experience. Furthermore, the references themselves do not contribute significant complexities, as they are presented in a straightforward and easily solvable manner. As a result, the climax lacks the element of surprise.
The central plot of Bornoporichoy revolves around a cat-and-mouse game between a murderer (Abir Chatterjee) and police officer Dhananjay (Jisshu Sengupta). The series of mysterious crimes committed by the murderer devastates Dhananjay, causing him to lose everything, including his wife Malini (Priyanka Sarkar) and son Gogol. The murderer continuously puzzles Dhananjay with his seemingly unpredictable methods. In the relentless pursuit, Dhananjay neglects his relationships, leading to Malini leaving with their son.
After committing five murders in a calculated manner, the cunning murderer takes a two-year hiatus. Upon returning, he begins to follow the pattern of Pancha Mahabhut, the five primary elements - fire, earth, water, air, and sky, selecting locations and methods of killing that align with these elements. Deliberately leaving behind clues for the police, he targets more victims. In contrast, Dhananjay succumbs to deep depression following the separation from his family and resigns from his job. He immerses himself in alcohol and becomes obsessed with meddling in the evidence left behind by the murderer.
He goes to visit his son on his birthday, drunk, and therefore, his wife doesn’t allow him to meet Gogol. Dejected, Dhananjay again drowns himself in alcohol until his mother-in-law shows up the next morning and urges him to get back to handling his case so that he can find peace.
The rest of the plot narrates how Dhananjay unravels the case. Strangely, what seemed to be the most puzzling case for him, suddenly turns quite easy for him to unravel, after he dons his police avatar again. Before he returns to the case, he says the murderer has committed all the murders without leaving any clue. However, in drunken state, he is often seen to be immersing into the evidences left behind. Nevertheless, post intermission, leaving one instance, he begins to win in almost every stage of the case that once took away so much of his attention that he forgot all his responsibilities towards his family.
The murderer is attributed with certain psychotic traits which allow him to commit crimes in cold blood. While committing the crimes, he refers to his favourite lines from poems or philosophical texts to justify his acts in a broader sense. The mystery lies in his continuous references, which eventually explain his motive behind getting into such heinous acts.
The director has also taken help of the classic trope of creating an uncanny bond between the murderer and the police officer, inherent in many detective and thriller stories and films, which leads to a predictable ending.
Abir Chatterjee could have been much more dramatic in his avatar of a psychopathic criminal. His monotonous act hardly brings the dangerous traits of his character. In the brief moments of vulnerability, his performance is extremely one dimensional. Also, Bhaumik could have infused more depth in delineating the character, that has turned into a psychopathic murderer because of some personal loss. Had there been more agony instead of smartness in his traits, perhaps, his character could have had more impact.
Jisshu Sengupta delivers an average act as the drunk police officer, who suddenly turns out to be extremely suave and smart while solving the crimes. His act during his moments of helplessness do not produce much impact.
Priyanka Sarkar seems to be in a hurry while delivering her dialogues.
Writer Anwoy Mukherjee has penned some heavy dialogues for the characters. While speaking, the characters promise to come up with a lot of challenges and twists, which the narrative doesn’t justify. Also, some of his dialogues lose coherence as the plot progresses, creating confusions.
Director of photography Ramyadip Saha and editor Sanglap Bhowmik adopted a stylised cinematic approach, that could have been fit for a richer content. Both the technicians had a lot more to offer but were not given the opportunities.
Composer Indradeep Dasgupta’s lead guitar-based background score appears extremely monotonous throughout the film. Anupam Roy’s composition 'Bishonno Chimney' is a well written song, rendered by Arijit Singh. It goes well with the gloomy mood of the separated couple who yearn to get together.
Bornoporichoy is a huge let-down in terms of its content. The film is so monotonous and filled with repetitive dialogues that you can guess any part of the storyline even if you have missed 15 to 20 mins of it. Also, Bhaumik could have put more efforts in dramatizing the equation between the chased and the chaser, which could have turned into the USP of the film and made it more engaging. Also, the film is quite short in length and gives away the feeling that the director could not think of many more elements or twists to incorporate before the climax.